Poet
William Blake
English poet · 1757–1827
The TygerThe LambAuguries of Innocence
William Blake was a printer, painter, and visionary who engraved his poems by hand and sold almost none of them in his lifetime. Songs of Innocence and of Experience pairs simple, song-like poems that ask enormous questions — most famously "The Tyger," which wonders how the same hand could make both the tiger and the lamb.
Dismissed as mad by many contemporaries, Blake is now regarded as one of the most original artists England ever produced.
49 poems by William Blake
Full text, free to read — all in the public domain.
A Poison Tree
William Blake · 1794
I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.I was angry with my foe:
16 lines · lyric
The Tyger
William Blake · 1794
Tyger, tyger, burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eye
24 lines · lyric
- A Divine ImageCruelty has a human heart,…8 lines
- A DreamOnce a dream did weave a shade…20 lines
- A Little Boy Lost"Nought loves another as itself,…24 lines
- A Little Girl LostChildren of the future age,…34 lines
- A Poison TreeI was angry with my friend:…16 lines
- A SongSweet dreams, form a shade…32 lines
- Ah SunflowerAh Sunflower, weary of time,…8 lines
- Divine ImageTo Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,…20 lines
- Earth's AnswerEarth raised up her head…25 lines
- Holy ThursdayIs this a holy thing to see…16 lines
- Infant Joy"I have no name;…12 lines
- Infant SorrowMy mother groaned, my father wept:…8 lines
- Laughing SongWhen the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,…12 lines
- LondonI wandered through each chartered street,…16 lines
- My Pretty Rose TreeA flower was offered to me,…8 lines
- NightThe sun descending in the west,…48 lines
- Nurse's SongWhen the voices of children are heard on the green,…16 lines
- On Another's SorrowCan I see another's woe,…36 lines
- Songs of Experience: IntroductionHear the voice of the Bard,…20 lines
- Songs of Innocence: IntroductionPiping down the valleys wild,…20 lines
- Spring Sound the flute!…27 lines
- The AngelI dreamt a dream! What can it mean?…16 lines
- The BlossomMerry, merry sparrow!…12 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part IThe daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks,…43 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part IIO little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell me…31 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part IIIThen Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed.…29 lines
- The Book of Thel. Part IVThe eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:…22 lines
- The Chimney SweeperA little black thing in the snow,…12 lines
- The Clod and the Pebble"Love seeketh not itself to please,…12 lines
- The Echoing GreenThe sun does arise,…30 lines
- The FlyLittle Fly,…20 lines
- The Garden of LoveI laid me down upon a bank,…20 lines
- The Human AbstractPity would be no more…24 lines
- The Lamb Little Lamb, who made thee…20 lines
- The LilyThe modest Rose puts forth a thorn,…4 lines
- The Little Black BoyMy mother bore me in the southern wild,…28 lines
- The Little Boy FoundThe little boy lost in the lonely fen,…8 lines
- The Little Boy Lost"Father, father, where are you going?…8 lines
- The Little Girl FoundAll the night in woe…52 lines
- The Little Girl LostIn futurity…52 lines
- The Little VagabondDear mother, dear mother, the Church is cold;…16 lines
- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: The ArgumentRintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,…22 lines
- The SchoolboyI love to rise on a summer morn,…30 lines
- The ShepherdHow sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot!…8 lines
- The Sick RoseO rose, thou art sick!…8 lines
- The TygerTyger, tyger, burning bright…24 lines
- The Voice of the Ancient BardYouth of delight! come hither…11 lines
- Thel's MottoDoes the Eagle know what is in the pit?…4 lines
- To TirzahWhate'er is born of mortal birth…16 lines