Songs of innocence and experience (Ellis facsimile) 29

Edwin John Ellis (1848–1916) was a British poet and illustrator. He is now remembered mostly for the three-volume collection of the works of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

he edited with

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

. It is now criticised, however, for weak scholarship, and preconceptions.

Life

Ellis was a son of

Alexander John Ellis Alexander John Ellis, (14 June 1814 – 28 October 1890), was an English mathematician, philologist and early phonetician who also influenced the field of musicology. He changed his name from his father's name, Sharpe, to his mother's maiden na ...

. He was a long-term friend of

John Butler Yeats John Butler Yeats (16 March 1839 – 3 February 1922) was an Irish people, Irish artist and the father of W. B. Yeats, Lily Yeats, Elizabeth Yeats, Elizabeth Corbett "Lolly" Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats. The National Gallery of Ireland holds a nu ...

, sharing an interest in aesthetics, and from 1869 a London studio in Newman Street; but was not on good terms with Susan his wife. Ellis was in an association with

John Trivett Nettleship John Trivett Nettleship (11 February 1841 – 31 August 1902) was an English artist, known as a painter of animals and in particular lions. He was also an author and book illustrator. Life He was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire on 11 Februa ...

, and Sydney Hall, also followers of Blake, as well as John Butler Yeats and George Wilson (1848–1890, a Scottish Pre-Raphaelite inspired artist). Called ''The Brotherhood'', the group was set up in 1869, with Hall leaving early. When the Yeats family moved to Bedford Park in London, which occurred in 1879, Ellis met the son William Butler Yeats. W. B. Yeats became close to the "vague and depressive" Ellis in 1888. Their joint study of Blake began in 1889, and resulted in a major textual discovery, the manuscript of ''

Vala, or the Four Zoas ''Vala, or The Four Zoas'' is one of the uncompleted prophetic books by the English poet William Blake, begun in 1797. The eponymous main characters of the book are the Four Zoas (Urthona, Urizen, Luvah and Tharmas), who were created by the fall o ...

''. Ellis took part in the gatherings of the

Rhymers' Club The Rhymers' Club was a group of London-based male poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. Originally not much more than a dining club, it produced anthologies of poetry in 1892 and 1894.''The Oxford Companion to English Literature' ...

, and contributed to their

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

. R. F. Foster describes his relationship to W. B. Yeats as that of a collaborator, repaid as other rhymers or mentors were by inclusion in Yeats's ''

Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935 The ''Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935'' was a poetry anthology edited by W. B. Yeats, and published in 1936 by Oxford University Press. A long and interesting introductory essay starts from the proposition that the poets included should b ...

''.

Works

*''Fate in Arcadia, and other poems'' 1892 *''Facsimile of the original outlines before colouring of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience executed by William Blake'' 1893 *''The works of William Blake, poetic, symbolic and critical'' 1893 (with W B Yeats) *''The Real Blake; a portrait biography'', 1907 *''Seen in Three Days'' *''Sancan the Bard''

Family

Ellis was married, with a German wife who died around 1922.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Edwin John 19th-century British poets 1848 births 1916 deaths British male poets