Auguries of Innocence
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Auguries of Innocence is a poem from one of William Blake's notebooks now known as The Pickering Manuscript [1]. 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 William Blake. The poem contains a series of paradoxes which speak of innocence juxtaposed with evil and corruption. The poem is 132 lines and has been published with and without breaks that divide the poem into stanzas.
[edit] Allusions in popular culture
The lines "Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night" are quoted by Jim Morrison in the song End of the Night by The Doors from their debut album, and they also appear in Tim Willocks' novel Green River Rising.
The same lines were used by Agatha Christie in the 1967 novel Endless Night.
A 1985 compilation album of music by Nick Drake is titled Heaven in a Wild Flower, taken from the second line of the poem.
The lines "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" were said by Lara Croft in the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Hannibal Lecter used the lines "A robin redbreast in a cage / Puts all heaven in a rage" in the 2002 thriller Red Dragon, as a clue to FBI agent Will Graham.
Bob Dylan recorded the song 'Every Grain of Sand' for the 1983 album Shot of Love, which also appeared on Biograph (1985). Its lyrics read: 'In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand / In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.'
Nobody the Indian (Gary Farmer) in the Jarmusch film Dead Man cites lines from this and other Blake poems.
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