Auguries of Innocence

"Auguries of Innocence" is a poem by William Blake, from a notebook of his now known as the Pickering Manuscript. It is assumed to have been written in 1803, but was not published until 1863 in the companion volume to Alexander Gilchrist's biography of Blake. The poem contains a series of paradoxes which speak of innocence juxtaposed with evil and corruption. It consists of 132 lines and has been published with and without breaks dividing it into stanzas. An augury is a sign or omen.

The poem begins: "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"

It continues with a catalogue of moralising couplets, such as: "A Robin Red breast in a Cage Puts all Heaven in a Rage"

and: "The wanton Boy that kills the Fly Shall feel the Spiders enmity"

The following lines are quoted in full in the film Dead Man, in Agatha Christie's 1967 novel Endless Night, and the last triplet of these lines was used by Jim Morrison in the lyrics to The Doors ' song "End of the Night": "Every Night & every Morn Some to Misery are Born Every Morn and every Night Some are Born to sweet delight Some are Born to sweet delight Some are Born to Endless Night"

The poem has recently regained popular acclaim on Twitter, with users quoting the introduction of the poem in response to the demands of modern life.