William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908.
Poems from LettersTo my Dearest Friend, John Flaxman, these lines
I
Angels stand round my spirit in Heaven; the blessèd of Heaven are my friends upon Earth
When Flaxman was taken to Italy, Fuseli was given to me for a season;
And now Flaxman hath given me Hayley, his friend, to be mine—such my lot upon Earth!
Now my lot in the Heavens is this: Milton lov’d me in childhood and show’d me his face;
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, but Shakespeare in riper years gave me his hand;
Paracelsus and Behmen appear’d to me; terrors appear’d in the Heavens above;
The American War began; all its dark horrors pass’d before my face
Across the Atlantic to France; then the French Revolution commenc’d in thick clouds;
And my Angels have told me that, seeing such visions, I could not subsist on the Earth,
But by my conjunction with Flaxman, who knows to forgive nervous fear.