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Who really said it

What is now proved was once only imagined

Written by William Blake 1757–1827 · English Romantic poet, painter & printmaker
Verified Free to reuse

From “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” (composed c. 1790), in the “Proverbs of Hell” on plate 8. Blake’s own engraved text reads “What is now proved was once, only imagin’d” — the familiar modern wording simply regularizes the spelling and drops the comma.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“What is now proved was once only imagined” What is now proved was once only imagined. —William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (Proverbs of Hell), c. 1790

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Provenance

The source

Work
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Section
Proverbs of Hell (plate 8)
Composed
c. 1790 (illuminated printing)
Author
William Blake (1757–1827)

The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow.

What is now proved was once, only imagin’d.

The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbet: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.

As engraved by Blake on plate 8 of “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” Spelling and punctuation are Blake’s own.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell on Wikisource

How we traced it

  • The line sits among the aphoristic “Proverbs of Hell” on plate 8 — confirmed in the Wikisource text ↗.
  • Blake’s engraved wording is “What is now proved was once, only imagin’d” — per the Erdman edition of Blake’s Complete Poetry and Prose ↗.
  • “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” was composed and printed by Blake around 1790 — see the William Blake Archive ↗.
Public domain

“The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” was composed and printed around 1790 and Blake died in 1827, so the work and its text are firmly in the public domain in the United States.

Fact-check

A note on the wording

The attribution to Blake is correct — but the line is almost always quoted in a lightly modernized form.

William Blake (genuine, but regularized) mis-worded

Modern quotations read “What is now proved was once only imagined,” whereas Blake’s engraved plate reads “What is now proved was once, only imagin’d” — with a comma after “once” and the archaic spelling “imagin’d,” per the Erdman edition ↗.

The thought and the words are genuinely Blake’s, from the “Proverbs of Hell” in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ↗; only the spelling and punctuation have been smoothed over time.

Context

Why it endures

The “Proverbs of Hell” are deliberately provocative aphorisms voiced from Blake’s infernal, energy-affirming perspective in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. This line distills his lifelong conviction that imagination is not idle fancy but the seedbed of reality — that what is later demonstrated or built began as something merely conceived.

What is now proved was once, only imagin’d.

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Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

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Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (full text)en.wikisource.org

Free full text; the line is in the Proverbs of Hell.
Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake (Erdman ed.)blake.lib.asu.edu

Scholarly edition preserving Blake's original spelling on plate 8.
The William Blake Archive — The Marriage of Heaven and Hellblakearchive.org

Digitized copies of Blake's illuminated plates and dating.
Proverbs of Hellpoets.org

Academy of American Poets text of the Proverbs of Hell.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (Project Gutenberg)gutenberg.org

Public-domain ebook edition of the work.

The true author

About William Blake

William Blake

1757–1827 · English Romantic poet, painter & printmaker

William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter and engraver, now regarded as a seminal figure of the Romantic age though largely unrecognized in his lifetime. He produced his major prophetic works as “illuminated books,” etching text and image together and printing them by hand. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (c. 1790), with its provocative “Proverbs of Hell,” is among his most quoted works.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

William Blake, “Proverbs of Hell,” in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 8 (composed c. 1790).

MLA (9th ed.)

Blake, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Plate 8, “Proverbs of Hell,” c. 1790.

APA (7th ed.)

Blake, W. (1790). The marriage of heaven and hell.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘What is now proved was once only imagined’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/what-is-now-proved-was-once-only-imagined

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