“I asked a thief to steal me a peach:
He turned up his eyes.
I asked a lithe lady to lie her down:
Holy and meek, she cries.
As soon as I went
An angel came.
He winked at the thief
And smiled at the dame—
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree,
And still as a maid
Enjoyed the lady.”
I Asked a Thief
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792)
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William Blake 249
English Romantic poet and artist 1757–1827Related quotes

“Once a thief, always a thief, only now I steal from the enemy.”
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Escape (2003)
Context: Until two days ago,' she went on suddenly, 'I thought that my life depended on other people. On employers. Now I think it depends on me. You taught me that. But I still need money.'
'Money's easy,' said Sharpe dismissively.
'That is not the conventional wisdom,' Sarah said drily.
'Steal the stuff,' Sharpe said.
'You were really a thief?'
'Still am. Once a thief, always a thief, only now I steal from the enemy. And some day I'll have enough to stop me from doing it and then I'll have to stop others from thieving from me.'
'You have a simple view of life.'
'You're born, you survive, you die,' Sharpe said. 'What's hard about that?

"Question and Answer in the Mountain" https://books.google.ca/books?id=hQ6lGvyMZMMC&pg=PA15

“I was my own thief, the words came out of nowhere and caught me.”
Source: The Hunger Angel (2012), p. 4