William Blake
William Blake
William Blakewas an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic works have been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth28 November 1757
This life's dim windows of the soulDistorts the heavens from pole to poleAnd leads you to believe a lieWhen you see with, not through, the eye.
You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough
You never know what is enough unless you know more than enough.
Your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep.
The moon, like a flowerIn heaven's high bower,With silent delightSits and smiles on the night.
A petty sneaking thief I knew - / O! Mr Cr-, how do you do?
There is a smile of love,And there is a smile of deceit,And there is a smile of smilesIn which these two smiles meet.
I looked for my soul but my soul I could not see. I looked for my God but my God eluded me. I looked for a friend and then I found all three.
I heard an Angel singingWhen the day was springing,"Mercy, Pity, PeaceIs the world's release.
Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius
Children of the future AgeReading this indignant page,Know that in a former timeLove! sweet Love! was thought a crime.
Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow, too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief?
Can I see another's woe, / And not be in sorrow too?
I must Create a System, or be enslaved by another Man's; / I will not Reason and Compare; my business is to Create.