.
First Book of Urizen, plate 6: "I sought Pleasure & found Pain" /"Unattainable": William Blake, 1796/? c. 1818 (Tate Collection)
I askèd a thief to steal me a peach:
He turnèd up his eyes.
I asked a lithe lady to lie her down:
Holy and meek, she cries.
As soon as I went
An angel came.
He wink'd at the thief
And smil'd at the dame;
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree,
And still as a maid
Enjoy'd the lady.
The Good and Evil Angels: William Blake, 1795/? c. 1805 (Tate Collection)
I heard an Angel singing
When the day was springing:
'Mercy, Pity, Peace
Is the world's release.'
Thus he sang all day
Over the new-mown hay,
Till the sun went down,
And haycocks lookèd brown.
I heard a Devil curse
Over the heath and the furze:
'Mercy could be no more,
If there was nobody poor,
'And pity no more could be,
If all were as happy as we.'
At his curse the sun went down,
And the heavens gave a frown.
Down pour'd the heavy rain
Over the new reap'd grain;
And Misery's increase
Is Mercy, Pity, Peace.
First Book of Urizen, plate 10: "Everything is an attempt"/"To be Human": William Blake, 1796/? c. 1818 (Tate Collection)
William Blake: "I askèd...", "I heard...": ms. poems, from notebook, 1791-1792
It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God alone.
