Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth-century literature. In this essay, Aubrey discusses how Milosz's discovery of the poetry of William Blake influenced his poetic vision in "Song of a Citizen" and other poems.

In his book The Land of Ulro (1984), Milosz reveals his high regard for the English romantic poet William Blake (1757-1827). Milosz first discovered Blake's poetry in Warsaw during World War II. Working as a janitor at the university library, which was closed to the public, he taught himself English and read a few of Blake's poems that he found in an anthology. Milosz writes, "In those times and in that landscape so inhospitable to a child's awe before the miraculous, Blake restored to me my earlier raptures, perhaps to my true vocation, that of lover."

Later in his life, Milosz would study Blake's work, including his...