William Blake
1757–1827
William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker from London. Largely unrecognised in his lifetime, he engraved and hand-coloured his own books, combining text and image in a technique he called illuminated printing.
Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794) contrast childlike vision with a world of oppression and repression; they include “The Lamb”, “The Tyger”, “London” and “The Chimney Sweeper”. His later prophetic books build a private mythology. The lines of “And did those feet in ancient time”, set to music as “Jerusalem”, are sung in England to this day.
Best-known poems
-
The Tiger
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye … -
The Tyger
Tyger Tyger. burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye. … -
The Little Black Boy
My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O, my soul is white!
White as an angel is the English child, … -
The Garden of Love
I laid me down upon a bank,
Where Love lay sleeping;
I heard among the rushes dank … -
My Pretty Rose Tree
A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said "I've a pretty rose tree," … -
Eternity (Blake)
Eternity
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy …
All poems (145)
A 14
- A Cradle Song (Blake, 1794)A Cradle Song
- A fairy skipd upon my knee* * *
- A flower was offer’d to me(Edited text)
- A Petty sneaking Knave I knew* * *
- A Pitiful CaseA Pitiful Case[4]
- A Pretty EpigramA Pretty Epigram for the Entertainment of those who have Paid Great Sums in the Venetian…
- A Woman Scaly & a Man all Hairy*
- An answer to the parsonAn Answer to parson
- An Epitaph (Come knock your heads against this stone)An Epitaph
- An old maid early eer I knew* * *
- And his legs carried it like a long fork* * *
- Anger & Wrath my bosom rends* * *
- Another Epitaph (Here lies John Trot the Friend of all mankind)Another
- Another Epitaph (I was buried near this Dike)Another
B 2
C 5
D 2
E 3
F 1
G 4
H 7
- Having given great offence by writing in Prose[Blakes apology for his Catalogue]
- He has observd the Golden Rule* * *
- He is a Cock would* * *
- Hear the VoiceHear the voice of the Bard,
- Her whole Life is an Epigram, smack-smooth & nobly pen'd* * *
- Hes a Blockhead who wants a proof of what he Can't Percieve* * *
- Holy Thursday (Notebook)Holy Thursday[1]
I 18
- I am no Homers Hero you all know* * *
- I askd my Dear Friend Orator Prigg* * *
- I fear'd the fury of my wind* * *
- I give you the end of a golden string* * *
- I heard an Angel singing* * *
- I laid me down upon a bank(The original text)
- I rose up at the dawn of day*
- I Rubens am a Statesman & a Saint* * *
- I saw a Monk of Charlemaine‘Seditious Monk’ said Charlemaine,
- I will tell you what Joseph of Arimathea[ plate m ]
- If I eer Grow to Mans Estate* * *
- If it is True What the Prophets write* * *
- If Men will act like a maid smiling over a Churn*
- If you play a Game of Chance know before you begin* * *
- If you trap the moment before its ripe* * *
- Imitation of Pope A Compliment to the LadiesWondrous the Gods more wondrous are the Men
- In a wife I would desire* * *
- Infant Sorrow (Notebook)INFANT SORROW
L 3
M 6
N 4
O 11
- O dear Mother outline of knowledge most sage* * *
- O Lapwing, thou fliest around the heath* * *
- Of H s birth this was the happy lot* * *
- Old acquaintance well renew* * *
- On F—— & S——I found them blind I taught them how to see
- On H—— the Pick thank* * *
- On H——ys FriendshipWhen H——y finds out what you cannot do
- On S—— (You say reserve & modesty he has)On S——
- On the Great EncouragementOn the Great Encouragement Given by English Nobility & Gentry to Correggio Rubens Rembra…
- On the Virginity of the Virgin Mary & Johanna SouthcottWhateer is done to her she cannot know
- OpportunityHe who bends to himself a joy
P 1
R 3
S 10
- Several Questions AnsweredSeveral Questions Answerd
- Silent, Silent Night* * *
- Since all the Riches of this World*
- Sir Joshua praised Rubens with a Smile* * *
- Sir Joshua Praises Michael Angelo* * *
- Some Men created for destruction come* * *
- Some people admire the work of a Fool*
- Songs of Experience/IntroductionIntroduction.
- Swelld limbs with no outline that you can descry* * *
- S—— in Childhood on the Nursery floor* * *
T 36
- Terror in the house does roar* * *
- The Angel (Notebook)The Angel[1]
- The Angel that presided oer my birth* * *
- The Caverns of the Grave Ive seen*
- The Chimney Sweeper (Notebook)The Chimney Sweeper [1]
- The Cripple every Step Drudges & labours* * *
- The Cunning sures & the Aim at yours* * *
- The Errors of a Wise Man make your Rule* * *
- The Garden of LoveI laid me down upon a bank,
- The Hebrew Nation did not write it* * *
- The KidThou little Kid didst play
- The Little Black BoyMy mother bore me in the southern wild,
- The modest rose puts forth a thorn* * *
- The only man that eer I knew* * *
- The PiperPiping down the valleys wild,
- The Question Answer'd* * *
- The Sussex Men are Noted Fools* * *
- The sword sung on the barren heath* * *
- The TigerTiger, tiger, burning bright
- The TygerTyger Tyger. burning bright,
- The Washer Womans SongI washd them out & washd them in
- These are the Idiots chiefest arts* * *
- To Chloes breast young Cupid slily stole*
- To English ConnoisseursYou must agree that Rubens was a Fool
- To forgive Enemies H does pretend* * *
- To F—— (I mock thee not)To F——
- To F—— (You call me Mad tis Folly to do so)To F——
- To GodIf you have formd a Circle to go into
- To H (You think Fuseli is not a Great Painter)To H
- To H—— (Thy Friendship oft has made my heart to ake)To H
- To Nancy F——How can I help thy Husbands copying Me
- To SpringO thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
- To S——d (You all your youth observed the Golden Rule)* * *
- To the MusesWhether on Ida's shady brow
- To the Royal AcademyA strange Erratum in all the Editions
- To Venetian ArtistsBlake manuscript - Notebook - page 061
W 10
- Was I angry with Hayley who usd me so ill* * *
- When a Man has Married a Wife* * * [2]
- When I see a Rubens Rembrant Correggio* * *
- When Klopstock England defiedIf Blake could do this when he rose up from shite
- When the voices of children are heard on the green* * *
- When you look at a picture you always can see* * *
- Why should I care for the Men of Thames* * *
- Why was Cupid a Boy* * *
- William Cowper EsqreFor this is being a Friend just in the nick
- With happiness stretchd across the hills* * *
