Re Laura's question: more....Romanticism of Blake invoked "infinity in the palm"

[Mark Kohut]

: I have several times heard the phrase "the world in grain of sand" and wondered what it means. Then I find out it is from a poet neamed Blake. What does this phrase mean? Thank you.
  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.
  A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a rage.
A dove house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state...
   
  Not wanting to get too "Twilight Zone" here, but from the little I understand of today's mathematics and physics, looking at Chaos Theory and the Mandelbrot set, Blake is indeed more literally right than he probably knew. The tiniest part of something does apparently indeed represent the entire construct, and the smallest thing can indeed have a huge effect - there's allegedly a butterfly near Tokyo who with the flapping of its wings has a helluva lot to answer for :)

       
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