To Will [William Blake 1757 - 1825]
by Mark Lindsey Earley
"Poor Blake" they called you, friend and foe
You struggled hard, you did not know
The reason you did not succeed -
Make Albion's kin wake up and heed
To mighty visions and truest art
In truth you nobly played your part
In calumny, dirt, debt, loss and sorrow
You wrapped your gift to give tomorrow
Avoided by your peers' glazed eyes,
But those with hindsight, who are wise
can see the cogs of destiny
Turn to make obscurity
Your constant state throughout your time
In your time Will, but not in mine.
Your wit was made for broader minds,
seen clearly like your broad outlines.
In human form you saw the spark
Each one of us - of God, a part.
And fashion's vanity you could not mend.
Polarised by trade and vision,
"Grave" products mocked with hot derision.
Friends, it seems, who took you in,
They thought, perhaps, beneath their wing,
But held you fast to painting baubles;
Dark Satanic Mills.
Your windows opened out to Angels,
Did they blind your eyes or stay your falls?
Open to Eternity -
And yet still, you could not see
Your time, not yet to come.
Did you "suffer for your art"?
But you could no less cease your heart.
Anger, anger, burning bright
You blazed and burned, you fought your fight.
A genius, a Raphael?
Journeyman? Artisan? Not doing very well.
Had you lived alongside me
A diagnosis you would be.
Schizophrenic, depressed, deluded,
paranoid or persecuted?
But whisper to me, while it's still -
Did you see Angels?
Did you, Will?
Did your brother's ghost reveal to you
Inspired techniques, profound and new?
And with tears in yours and Kate's sweet eyes
Did you see his spirit rise?
Did you connect with ancient times
From trilithons to Gothic spires?
Kings and princes, priests and seers
The Bardic voice within your ears!
And sexual scenes of lust so livid,
Not repressed, or shamed, or hid.
Gay or straight, allowed to shine
Blessed by the Countenance Divine?
How many lives can heal your wounds?
How many tears can fall?
May angels soothe your bitter heart,
And wash away them all.
And all the ones who turned away,
What need you say to them?
In truth you need say only this-
ARISE JERUSALEM!
© Mark Lindsey Earley 2000,
Phone: 01626 867447
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