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Augury

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Today is William Blake‘s birthday — English poet, painter and printmaker. So, in honour of his birth in 1757, I wanted to share the well-known opening stanza of his poem, Auguries of Innocence. But first things first…

au·gu·ry (noun)

  • A sign of what will happen in the future; an omen
  • The work of an augur; the interpretation of omens


Happy Birthday, Mr. Blake!

»Don’t miss previous {word wednesday} posts: pluck & quiddity.

Kindle-editions available here: Auguries of Innocence and Webster’s Dictionary.←

any thoughts on the meaning of the title, “Auguries of Innocence”?

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bet mercer

Bet Mercer is a poet-photographer who writes at Gimme Some Reads and Everyday Poetry. She loves quotes, reading her favourite books over again, great conversation, laughter, trees, films, and travelling the world. Follow along with Bet on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Etsy and Google+.

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6 comments on “Augury”

  1. I love new words. Especially ones with such great meanings…now to try to use augury in a sentence today…I also love the idea of “auguries of innocence” because it implies future innocence, and innocence is something usually seen as past.

    • i was thinking along those lines, too; but ‘omen’ has more of a negative connotation, so i was curious as to what was meant. is the innocence good? will its coming be good?

  2. Perhaps something to do w/ childlike wonder, seeing the world as if for the first time, letting go of time/space/the worries of the world, to stop and be still before our Maker…

  3. Wow, this gives me goosebumps. I love the idea of future innocence, and the idea of actually getting to *choose* innocence (if that is possible) when we are older.

    Augur, augur, augur. Going to fix that one in my memory. For some reason, the word sounds like part of a ship to me!

  4. Love this word… Now to figure out how to use it when the only person I am in the presence of is a 4 year old today… #nannyproblems :)