The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
by William Blake (1757–1827)
- Free to read
- 20 min read
- 10 chapters
- Reading level: 7th grade
"The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" by William Blake is a book composed between 1790 and 1793. This provocative work imitates biblical prophecy while expressing Blake's radical beliefs during the French Revolution. Blake reimagines Hell not as punishment but as a source of vital energy, challenging conventional morality and organized religion. The work features his famous "Proverbs of Hell"—paradoxical sayings designed to energize thought. Blake argues that contraries like reason and energy, good and evil, are essential to human existence and progression, creating a deliberately unified vision where Heaven and Hell must coexist.
Read the opening
The Argument
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
Once meek, and in a perilous path
The just man kept his course along
The Vale of Death.
Roses are planted where thorns grow,
And on the barren heath
Sing the honey bees.
Then the perilous path was planted,
And a river and a spring
On every cliff and tomb;
And on the bleached bones
Red clay brought forth:
Till the villain left the paths of ease
To walk in perilous paths, and drive
The just man into barren climes.
Now the sneaking serpent walks
In mild humility;
And the just man rages in the wilds
Where lions roam.
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
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About this edition
This free edition of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #45315, released 2014-04-04. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Poetry, British Literature, Philosophy & Ethics.
Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).
