poet William Blake

William Blake

#11 on top 500 poets

William Blake Quotes

  • ''Truly, My Satan, thou art but a Dunce,
    And dost not know the Garment from the Man.
    Every Harlot was a Virgin once,
    Nor can'st thou ever change Kate into Nan.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (Epilogue, l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    1006 person liked.
    		561 person did not like.
  • ''I see every thing I paint in this world, but everybody does not see alike. To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. letter, Aug. 23, 1799. The Letters of William Blake (1956).
    820 person liked.
    		488 person did not like.
  • ''For where'er the sun does shine,
    And where'er the rain does fall,
    Babe can never hunger there,
    Nor poverty the mind appall.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 13-16). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    662 person liked.
    		475 person did not like.
  • ''Want of money and the distress of a thief can never be alleged as the cause of his thieving, for many honest people endure greater hardships with fortitude. We must therefore seek the cause elsewhere than in want of money, for that is the miser's passion, not the thief's.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. letter, Aug. 23, 1799. The Letters of William Blake (1956).
    580 person liked.
    		422 person did not like.
  • ''Is this a holy thing to see
    In a rich and fruitful land,
    Babes reduced to misery,
    Fed with cold and usurous hand?''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    216 person liked.
    		119 person did not like.
  • ''My mother bore me in the southern wild,
    And I am black, but O! my soul is white;''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 1-2). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    88 person liked.
    		29 person did not like.
  • ''Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor;
    Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. Holy Thursday (l. 11-12). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    65 person liked.
    		28 person did not like.
  • ''When I from black and he from white cloud free,
    And round the tent of Godlike lambs we joy,

    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 (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 23-28). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    64 person liked.
    		30 person did not like.
  • ''The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
    Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    51 person liked.
    		27 person did not like.
  • ''"And we are put on earth a little space,
    That we may learn to bear the beams of love,''
    William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 13-14). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.
    142 person liked.
    		30 person did not like.

Read more quotations »
Poem Hunter ›
›
Quotations
Best Poem of William Blake

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Read the full of A Poison Tree

Earth's Answer

Earth raised up her head
From the darkness dread and drear,
Her light fled,
Stony, dread,
And her locks covered with grey despair.

'Prisoned on watery shore,
Starry jealousy does keep my den
Cold and hoar;

Read more »