William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
Dedication of the Designs to Blairs GraveWilliam Blake (17571827)
To Queen Charlotte
T
That mortal eyes cannot behold;
But, when the mortal eyes are clos’d,
And cold and pale the limbs repos’d,
The soul awakes; and, wond’ring, sees
In her mild hand the golden keys:
The grave is heaven’s golden gate,
And rich and poor around it wait;
O Shepherdess of England’s fold,
Behold this gate of pearl and gold!
The visions that my soul has seen,
And, by Her kind permission, bring
What I have borne on solemn wing,
From the vast regions of the grave,
Before Her throne my wings I wave,
Bowing before my Sov’reign’s feet,
‘The Grave produc’d these blossoms sweet
In mild repose from earthly strife;
The blossoms of eternal life!’