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
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.
As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.
O! why was I born with a different face? / Why was I not born like the rest of my race?
Every Night and every MornSome to Misery are born.Every Morn and every NightSome are born to Sweet Delight,Some are born to Endless Night.
The merchants are rich enough;Can they not help themselves?
Every Mortal loss is an Immortal Gain. The Ruins of Time build Mansions in Eternity.
When I tell any truth it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those who do.
There certainly are moments in history when poets and painters connect so closely as to be one and the same person,
When Sir Joshua Reynolds died / All Nature was degraded; / The King dropped a tear in the Queen's ear, / And all his pictures faded.
When I saw that rage was vainAnd to sulk would nothing gain,Turning many a trick and wileI began to soothe and smile.
To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour.
What is it men in women do require? The lineaments of Gratified Desire.What is it women do in men require? The lineaments of Gratified Desire.
What is now proved was once only imagin'd
What is now proved was only once imagined.