The Resume

(November 28, 1757-August 12, 1827)
Wrote and illustrated 'Poetical Sketches (1783),' 'Songs of Innocence (1789),' 'The Book of Thel (1789),' 'Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793),' 'Songs of Experience (1794)' and 'Jerusalem (1804-1820)'

Why he might be annoying:

He claimed to have mystical visions.
At age four, he started screaming because he said he saw God's face in a window.
He claimed to have 'conversations' with his dead brother his whole life.
He believed he was possessed by the ghost of John Milton.
Many people thought he was insane.
He popularized the term 'New Age,' opening the door for wackos like Shirley Maclaine, Marshall Herff Applewhite and Sally Kirkland.

Why he might not be annoying:

He suffered from gallstones.
His drawings and paintings are as famous as his poems.
His works are experimental and surreal (especially for his time).
He taught his wife to read and write when she was twenty.
He supported the idea of free love.
When his wife didn't have children, he suggested bringing another woman into the arrangement (but his wife shot down the idea pretty quick).
He and his wife had a long, happy marriage.
After he died, his wife claimed to have 'conversations' with him (they must have made quite the pair).

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 18th Century Painters
• 18th Century Poets
• 19th Century Painters
• 19th Century Poets
• BBC's The Nation's Favourite Poets [2012] (Ranked: 6)
• Bob Dylan References
• God Spoke to Me
• I Did Not Graduate High School [A-B]
• I Died in the City I Was Born In
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Lycos' Top 12 Bill/William Searches [July 2001] (Ranked: 8)
• Painters
• People Claim, I Returned From the Grave
• Poets
• Poets.org's Top 20 Poets [Spring 2007] (Ranked: 17)
• Profiles 13001-13250 (Ranked: 13138)
• Redheads - Male
• Top 100 Great Britons [BBC, 2002] (Ranked: 38)
• UK Guardian's Neil Griffith's Top 10 Books About Outsiders [2007] (Ranked: 7)
• Wieland Kalligaro's Profiles [Series 4]

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 36.84% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 60.87% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 35 Votes: 51.43% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 49 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 166 Votes: 45.18% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 134 Votes: 51.49% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 255 Votes: 52.55% Annoying
In 2004, Out of 47 Votes: 42.55% Annoying