from Auguries of Innocence

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

                                                William Blake

Born in 1757, William Blake was an English poet and artist. His poetry became part of the prominent Romantic Movement along with other great poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Romantic poetry is typically characterised by lyrical, descriptive language and central ideas which embody Nature and Art. We can clearly sense this in the extract given. Its themes often examine, too, the principles of Freedom and Equality.

Blake’s poetry often rebelled against injustice, rigid class systems and the hypocrisy inherent in organised religion at the time. Some of this feeds through and into later stanza in Auguries of Innocence.