William Blake is one of the most important influences on twentieth-century literature. This is true both for Modernism and for postmodernism. Increasingly, he seems like one of the most 'indulged' artists of the past. This study will ask why, suggesting that he is a figure central to the Modernist re-definition of past art. He also appears to be an acceptable sage for postmodernists, because he can be associated with an opposition to authority without imposing one version of his own mythology.