Lyric Poem · Nature

Ah Sunflower

by William Blake

Reading room

1Ah Sunflower, weary of time,

2 Who countest the steps of the sun;

3Seeking after that sweet golden clime

4 Where the traveller's journey is done;

5Where the Youth pined away with desire,

6 And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,

7Arise from their graves, and aspire

8 Where my Sunflower wishes to go!

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“Ah Sunflower” by William Blake — quilloak.com/poems/ah-sunflower

Quick facts

Poem: Ah Sunflower
Poet: William Blake
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Nature, Winter, Death & Loss, Short

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 8 lines · 2 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 8-10 syllables (median 9). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Text, source & rights

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Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: William Blake1757–1827
Source record: PoetryDBAh Sunflower by william-blake, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 4aaa6ac112b9e88a…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Nature Winter Death & Loss Short

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