William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, printmaker and painter. We associate him mainly for his poetry during the Romantic Period. We also remember him for that spine-tinglingly beautiful and atmospheric hymn, Jerusalem. I think he wrote his poem truly believing that Jesus Christ came to England (This was during the missing years of Jesus’s life)
Blake’s poem
And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands 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 Englands green & pleasant Land
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William Blake’s talent did not stop at waxing lyricals, he was also a very competent painter.
I think his painting of Newton has been made into a giant sculpture which now resides at the garden of the British Library here in London. It is worth a visit.
As quoted by Blake
A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.
~William Blake,
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
– W Blake
If you endeavour to please the worst, you will never please the best. To please all is impossible.
– William Blake
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
I love fun, but too much is abominable.
– William Blake
In Heaven the only art of living is forgetting and forgiving.
– William Blake
Love is not blind. It simply enables one to see things others fail to see.
~William Blake
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
~William Blake
The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.
~William Blake
There is no mistake so great as the mistake of not going on.
– William Blake
What is now proved was once only imagined.
– William Blake
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 that do.
~William Blake
You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough.
~William Blake