William Blake - 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.
….
What
actually does the world suggest? What we infer (thus, what we see as
an implication) tells a great deal about us. Once as a paranoid
schizophrenic, I perceived the world as threatening and preoccupied
with me. While I was certain I saw the world truly, actually I was
projecting my own deranged hopes and fears upon the world. In short,
what the world implied to me was totally dependent upon my state of
mind. Obviously some minds are more attuned to reality than others.
The opening lines of William Blake's “Auguries of Innocence”
combine our current inferences about nature with a religious
reflexive awe. As one atom can tell us much about our universe, and
as one cell can tell us much about life; so too can one present
moment encompass the absolute. We extrapolate not only the facts,
but extensively place them within a matrix of persistent and resonant
meaning. This arises not so much by willful and deliberate design as
by inherent haunting music firing autonomously throughout the
frontal lobes.
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