I . Eubie Blake
(1883–1983)
an US piano player and composer. Both his parents had been slaves. He began playing ragtime music and continued performing on stage until he was 99 years old. His successful songs include I’m Just Wild About Harry (used by President Truman as his political song) and Memories of You . Blake received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981.
II . William Blake
(1757–1827)
an English artist and poet who from childhood claimed to have visions (= religious experiences like dreams) and talk to beings from heaven. He had a very personal style, full of religious symbols. He produced ‘illuminated books’ of his work, containing his poems and paintings to illustrate them, done by hand. The most famous of these is Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). His best-known poems are Jerusalem (1804) and The Tyger . He was very poor all his life, and is buried in London in a common grave. The biggest collection of his paintings is in Tate Britain .