William Blake

"O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm:Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy."

"Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? For I dance, And drink, and sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing."

"The modest Rose puts forth a thorn, The humble sheep a threat'ning horn: While the Lily white shall in love delight, Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright."

"In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear."

"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."

"Pity would be no more If we did not make somebody Poor; And Mercy no more could be If all were as happy as we."

"My mother groan'd! my father wept. Into the dangerous world I leapt: Helpless, naked, piping loud: Like a fiend hid in a cloud."

"I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow."

"In the morning glad I see My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree."

"Children of the future Age Reading this indignant page, Know that in a former time Love! sweet Love! was thought a crime."

"Cruelty has a human heart, And Jealousy a human face; Terror the human form divine, And Secrecy the human dress."

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright in the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

"In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?"

"When the stars threw down their spears, And water'd heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

"What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care."

"But Want of Money & the Distress of A Thief can never be alleged as the Cause of his Thieving, for many honest people endure greater hard ships with Fortitude. We must therefore seek the Cause else where than in want of Money for that is the Misers passion, not the Thiefs."

"Fun I love, but too much Fun is of all things the most loathsom. Mirth is better than Fun & Happiness is better than Mirth."

"To the Eyes of a Miser a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun & and a bag worn with the use of Money has more beautiful proportions than a Vine filled with Grapes. The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the Eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all Ridicule and Deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my proportions; and some scarce see Nature at all. 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.."

"When a Man has Married a Wife He finds out whether Her Knees & elbows are only glued together."

"When nations grow old, the Arts grow cold, And Commerce settles on every tree: And the poor and the old Can live upon gold, For all are born poor. Aged sixty-three."

"Fiery the Angels rose, and as they rose deep thunder roll'd Around their shores: indignant burning with the fires of Orc."

"Acts themselves alone are history, and these are neither the exclusive property of Hume, Gibbon nor Voltaire, Echard, Rapin, Plutarch, nor Herodotus. Tell me the Acts, O historian, and leave me to reason upon them as I please; away with your reasoning and your rubbish. All that is not action is not worth reading."

"Art can never exist without Naked Beauty displayed."

"Art is the tree of life. SCIENCE is the Tree of DEATH ART is the Tree of LIFEGOD is JESUS"

"Jesus & his apostles & disciples were all artists"

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour."

"A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all Heaven in a rage."

"A dog starved at his master's gate Predicts the ruin of the state."

"He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men."

"A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent."

"Man was made for joy and woe, And when this we rightly know Through the world we safely go. Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for the soul divine."

"Every tear from every eye Becomes a babe in eternity."

"He who shall teach the child to doubt The rotting grave shall ne'er get out."

"The strongest poison ever known Came from Caesar's laurel crown."

"He who doubts from what he sees Will ne'er believe, do what you please. If the sun and moon should doubt They'd immediately go out."

"The harlot's cry from street to street Shall weave old England's winding sheet."

"Every night, and every morn, Some to misery are born. Every morn, and every night, Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to endless night."

"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"

"My specter around me night and day Like a wild beast guards my way, My emanation far within Weeps incessantly for my sin."

"And throughout all eternity I forgive you, you forgive me."

"Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau. Mock on, mock on — 'tis all in vain! You throw the sand against the wind, And the wind blows it back again."

"Terror in the house does roar, But Pity stands before the door."

"There is a smile of love, And there is a smile of deceit, And there is a smile of smiles In which these two smiles meet."

"This cabinet is formed of gold And pearl and crystal shining bright, And within it opens into a world And a little lovely moony night."

"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."

"The Stolen and Perverted Writings of Homer & Ovid, of Plato & Cicero, which all men ought to contemn, are set up by artifice against the Sublime of the Bible"

"Rouze up, O Young Men of the New Age! set your foreheads against the ignorant Hirelings! For we have Hirelings in the Camp, the Court & the University, who would, if they could, for ever depress Mental & prolong Corporeal War."

"And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic mills? Bring me my Bow of burning gold, Bring me my Arrows of desire, Bring me my Spear — O clouds, unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green & pleasant land."

"Time is the mercy of Eternity; without Time's swiftness Which is the swiftest of all things, all were eternal torment."

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street."