English poet & painter (1757-1827)
Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
Where lambs have nibbled, silent moves
The feet of angels bright;
Unseen they pour blessing,
And joy without ceasing,
On each bud and blossom,
And each sleeping bosom.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Night
Forgiveness of enemies can only come upon their repentance.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Annotations to Lavater
The true method of knowledge is experiment.
WILLIAM BLAKE
All Religions are One
Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?
WILLIAM BLAKE
"The Divine Image", Songs of Innocence
Every Harlot was a Virgin once.
WILLIAM BLAKE
For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise
To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds's Discourses
Eternity is before me like a dark lamp.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Vala
God appears and god is light
To those poor souls who dwell in night
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Auguries of Innocence
But to the Eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself. As a man is, So he Sees. As the Eye is formed, such are its Powers.
WILLIAM BLAKE
letter to Rev. Dr. Trusler, August 23, 1799
Everything possible to be believ'd is an image of truth.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"Proverbs of Hell", The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
The weak in courage is strong in cunning.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Proverbs of Hell
For a tear is an intellectual thing,
And a sigh is the sword of an Angel King,
And the bitter groan of the martyr's woe
Is an arrow from the Almighty's bow.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"The Gray Monk", Poems from the Pickering Manuscript
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain'd
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof, there thou mayest rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"To Autumn"
But most, thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"London", Songs of Experience
How have you left the ancient love
That bards of old enjoyed in you!
The languid strings do scarcely move!
The sound is forced, the notes are few!
WILLIAM BLAKE
"To the Muses", Poetical Sketches
Angels are happier than men and devils, because they are not always prying after good and evil in one another, and eating the tree of knowledge for Satan's gratification.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"A Vision of the Last Judgement"
Never seek to tell thy love
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind does move
Silently, invisibly.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Poems from Blake's Notebook
Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming o'er the joys of night.
Sleep, sleep: in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.
WILLIAM BLAKE
"A Cradle Song", Poems from Blake's Notebook
He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars;
General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Jerusalem