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William Blake Quotes
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William Blake was 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. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" or "human existence itself".Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic". A committed Christian who was hostile to the Church of England , Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American Revolutions. Though later he rejected many of these political beliefs, he maintained an amiable relationship with the political activist Thomas Paine; he was also influenced by thinkers such as Emanuel Swedenborg. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Michael Rossetti characterised him as a "glorious luminary", and "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".



Wikipedia  

✵ 28. November 1757 – 12. August 1827   •   Other names 威廉布萊克, Williem Blake
William Blake photo
William Blake: 249   quotes 66   likes

William Blake Quotes

“The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of woman is the work of God.”

William Blake

Source: 1790s, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793), Proverbs of Hell, Line 22

Wisdom , God

“If you trap the moment before it's ripe,
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;
But if once you let the ripe moment go
You can never wipe off the tears of woe.”

William Blake

If You Trap the Moment
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792)

Tear

“True superstition is ignorant honesty & this is beloved of god and man.”

William Blake

1780s, Annotations to Lavater (1788)

God

“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, st. 8
1800s, Poems from the Pickering Manuscript (c. 1805)

Angels , Tear

“I am not a God afar off, I am a brother and friend;
Within your bosoms I reside, and you reside in me:
Lo! we are One; forgiving all Evil; Not seeking recompense!”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 1, plate 4, lines 18-28 The Words of Jesus to the Giant Albion

God , Forgiveness , Evil

“Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly bright.”

William Blake The Lamb

The Lamb, st. 1
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Life , Clothes

“He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars;
General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer:
For art and science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars.”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 3, plate 55, line 60

Art , Science

“…some say that Happiness is not Good for Mortals & they ought to be answerd that Sorrow is not fit for Immortals & is utterly useless to any one a blight never does good to a tree & if a blight kill not a tree but it still bear fruit let none say that the fruit was in consequence of the blight.”

William Blake

Letter to William Hayley (1803-10-07)
1810s

Tree , Happiness

“Pancrass & Kentish-town repose
Among her golden pillars high:
Among her golden arches which
Shine upon the starry sky.”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 1, plate 27, "To the Jews" 1) lines 9-12

“The look of love alarms
Because 'tis filled with fire;
But the look of soft deceit
Shall win the lover's hire.”

William Blake

No. 2, The Look of Love
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792), Several Questions Answered

Love , Lovers

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

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 87

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

William Blake

My Specter, st. 1
1800s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1804)

Way , Night

“Hear the voice of the Bard,
Who present, past, and future, sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walked among the ancient trees.”

William Blake

Introduction, st. 1
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)

Tree , Past , Future

“England! awake! awake! awake!
Jerusalem thy sister calls!
Why wilt thou sleep the sleep of death
And close her from thy ancient walls?”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 4, prefatory poem, plate 77, st. 1

Death , Sister , Sleep

“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”

William Blake

Preface
1800s, Milton (c. 1809)

Men

“My Brother starv'd between two Walls,
His Children's Cry my Soul appalls;”

William Blake

Ibid, stanza 5
1810s, Miscellaneous poems and fragments from the Nonesuch edition

Children , Soul , Cry

“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.”

William Blake London

London, st. 2
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)

Fear , Cry

“Poetry Fetter'd. Fetters the Human Race. Nations are Destroy'd, or Flourish, in proportion as Their Poetry, Painting, and Music are Destroy'd or Flourish!”

William Blake

To the Public, plate 3 (the last paragraph)
1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820)

Music , Painting

“This world of imagination is the world of eternity.”

William Blake

A Vision of the Last Judgment
1810s

World , Imagination

“For washed in life's river,
My bright mane forever
Shall shine like the gold
As Iguard o'er the fold.”

William Blake Songs of Innocence

Night, st. 6
Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Life

“What is a Wife & what is a Harlot? What is a Church & What
Is a Theatre? are they Two & not One? can they Exist Separate?
Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing? Brotherhood is Religion
O Demonstrations of Reason Dividing Families in Cruelty & Pride!”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 3, plate 57

Family , Religion

“They suppose that Woman's Love is Sin; in consequence all the Loves & Graces with them are Sin.”

William Blake

1780s, Annotations to Lavater (1788)

Love

“Sing louder around
To the bells' cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the ecchoing green.”

William Blake

The Ecchoing Green, st. 1
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Sport , Singing

“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.”

William Blake

Blake's Exhibition and Catalogue of 1809, A Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures: Number V. The Ancient Britons
1800s

History , Reading

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

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 9

Dogs

“Art can never exist without Naked Beauty displayed.”

William Blake

The Laocoön
1800s

Beauty , Art

“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.”

William Blake

No. 4, What Is It
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792), Several Questions Answered

Women , Men

“And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.”

William Blake

Introduction, st. 5
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Water , Joy , Happiness

“For every thing exists & not one sigh nor smile nor tear,
One hair nor particle of dust, not one can pass away.”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 1, plate 13, line 66 — plate 14, line 1

Smile , Tear

“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.”

William Blake

Prefatory Poem
1800s, Milton (c. 1809)

God , Mountain , Sleep , Time

“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

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 129

God , Soul , Light , Appearance

“The Old and New Testaments are the great code of art.”

William Blake

Oldest source found: "The Harvard Advocate" (Vol. 102–103), p. 268
Attributed

Art

“Pity must join together those whom wrath has torn in sunder”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Jerusalem The Emanation of The Giant Albion (c. 1803–1820), Ch. 1, plate 7, lines 62 The Words of Los to his Spectre

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

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 97

“And there the lion's ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold,
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold,
Saying: "Wrath by his meekness,
And by his health, sickness,
Is driven away
From our immortal day."”

William Blake Night

Night, st. 5
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Health , Tear

“Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.”

William Blake

Abstinence Sows Sand
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792)

Life , Beauty

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

William Blake

Book the First, 24:72
1800s, Milton (c. 1809)

Time

“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.”

William Blake The Human Abstract

The Human Abstract, st. 1
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)

Happiness

“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.”

William Blake

Mock On, st. 1
1800s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1804)

“There can be no Good Will. Will is always Evil; it is persecution to others or selfishness.”

William Blake

Annotations to Swedenborg (1788)
1780s

Evil , Selfishness

“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.”

William Blake

Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 107

Sun

“I have labour'd hard indeed, & have been borne on angel's wings. Till we meet I beg of God our Saviour to be with you & me, & yours & mine. Pray give my & my wife's love to Mrs Butts & Family, & believe me to remain.”

William Blake

The Letters Of William Blake https://archive.org/details/lettersofwilliam002199mbp (1956), p. 90
1790s

Love , God , Family , Angels

“A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.”

William Blake

Source: 1790s, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793), Proverbs of Hell, Lines 8–9

Fools , Star , Tree , Light

“I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me.”

William Blake The Little Black Boy

The Little Black Boy, st. 7
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Love , Joy

“Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor,
The watery shore
Is given thee till the break of day.”

William Blake

Introduction, st. 4
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)

“My silks and fine array,
My smiles and languished air,
By love are driv'n away;
And mournful lean Despair
Brings me yew to deck my grave:
Such end true lovers have.”

William Blake

Song (My Silks and Fine Arrays), st. 1
1780s, Poetical Sketches (1783)

Love , Smile , Lovers , Despair

“That the Jews assumed a right Exclusively to the benefits of God. will be a lasting witness against them. & the same will it be against Christians”

William Blake

Annotations to An Apology for the Bible by R. Watson
1790s

God

“The Angel that presided o'er my birth
Said, "Little creature, formed of joy and mirth,
Go love without the help of any thing on earth."”

William Blake

The Angel That Presided
1800s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1807-1809)

Love , Angels , Birth , Help

“When the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still.”

William Blake

Nurse's Song, st. 1
1780s, Songs of Innocence (1789–1790)

Children , Heart

“Then old Nobodaddy aloft
Farted and belched and coughed,
And said, "I love hanging and drawing and quartering
Every bit as well as war and slaughtering."”

William Blake

Let the Brothels of Paris, st. 2
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792)

Love , War , Drawing