In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors. ― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Composed between 1790 and 1793, in the period immediately after the French Revolution.
He whose face gives no light shall never become a star. — William Blake, from “The Proverbs of Hell,” The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. (Dover Publications September 1st 1994) Originally published 1790.
My whole heart was full at that moment; the recollection of so much that is past pressed in upon my soul […] — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther. (Weygand’sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 29 September 1774, revised ed. 1787)
I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity. ― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: A Memorable Fancy, The poetical works of William Blake: including the unpublished French revolution, together with the minor Prophetic books, and selections from The… Continue reading William Blake
–Memory’s distances, youth’s wishes, childhood’s dreams, the short joys of a whole long life and hopeless hopes come grey-clad, like evening mist after the sun has set. — Novalis, Hymns to the Night, trans. Dick Higgins (McPherson and Co., 1988)
When from our better selves we have too long Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop, Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, How gracious, how benign, is Solitude; — William Wordsworth, from “The Prelude.” Norton; 1st edition (1979) Originally published 1800.
Sometimes with the most intense pain a paralysis of sensibility occurs. The soul disintegrates–hence the deadly frost–the free power of the mind–the shattering, ceaseless wit of this kind of despair. There is no inclination for anything any more–the person is alone, like a baleful power–as he has no connection with the rest of the world… Continue reading Novalis
The Vale of Soul-Making 