Proverbs of Hell
A selection of The Proverbs of Hell, as revealed in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
illustrated by Mike Chisholm
As I was walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius, which to Angels look like torment and insanity, I collected some of their proverbs; thinking that as the sayings used in a nation mark its character, so the Proverbs of Hell shew the nature of Infernal wisdom better than an description of buildings or garments.
When I came home : on the abyss of the five senses, where a flat sided steep frowns over the present world, I saw a mighty Devil folded in black clouds, hovering on the sides of the rock, with corroding fires he wrote the following sentence now perceived by the minds of men, & read by them on earth:
How do you know but ev'ry Bird that cuts the airy way, is an immense world of delight, clos'd by your senses five?
