قراءة كتاب Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
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Notes and Queries, Number 195, July 23, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
successively in the vast Northern Suburbs of London vindicated, &c. Besides the above, there is another remarkable little piece which I have seen, beginning abruptly, "Here followeth a briefe exhortation which I gave in my owne house at my wife's funerall to our friends then present," by Blake, with the MS. date, 1650; and exhibits this original character in another not less amiable light:—"I was brought up," says he, "by my parents to learne Hail Mary, paternoster, the Beliefe, and learne to reade; and where I served my apprenticeship little more was to be found." He attributes it to God's grace that he fell a reading the Practice of Piety, by which means he got a little persuading of God's love to his soul:—"Well, my time being out, I set up for myselfe; and seeking out for a wife, which, with long waiting and difficulty, much expence and charge, at last I got. Four children God gave me by her; but he hath taken them and her all again too, who was a woman of a thousand." Mr. B. then naturally indulges in a panegyric upon this pattern of wives, and reproaches himself for his former insensibility to her surpassing merits: relating with great naïveté some domestic passages, with examples of her piety and trials, in one of which latter the enemy would tempt her to suicide:—"There lie your garters," said he; "but she threw them aside, and so escaped this will of the Devil."
In conclusion, let me inquire if your Highgate correspondents are cognisant of any existing institution raised upon the foundation of William Blake's Charity School at Dorchester House?
[Our correspondent's interesting communication suggests a Query: Is there any biographical notice of William Blake; and was he the author of the following piece, preserved among the Kings' pamphlets in the British Museum? "The Condemned Man's Reprieve, or God's Love-Tokens, flowing in upon the heart of William Blake, a penitent sinner, giving him assurance of the pardon of his sins, and the enjoyment of eternal happiness through the merits of Christ his Saviour. Recommended by him (being a condemned prisoner for manslaughter within the statute) unto his sister, and bequeathed unto her as a legacy." It is dated from "Exon Jayle," June 25, 1653, and was published July 14, 1653."—Ed.]
"Mr. Henry Cornish, merchant," was a coadjutor of Blake's in this charitable undertaking; and as that Alderman was not executed until 1635, this publication may be assigned to about that date.
Footnote 2:(return)
[It appears, from the following advertisement at the end of Silver Drops, that the plates of Time and Charity were used as receipts:—"It is humbly desired, that what you or any of you, most noble Ladies, Gentlewomen, or others, are pleased to bestow or give towards this good or great design, that you would be pleased to take a receipt on the backside of Time or Charity, sealed with three seales, namely, the Treasurer's, Housekeeper's, and Register's; and it shall be fairly recorded, and hung up in the school-house, to be read of all from Time to Time, to the world's end, we hope."—Ed.]
A POEM BY SHELLEY, NOT IN HIS WORKS.
The following poem was published in a South Carolina newspaper in the year 1839. The person who communicates it states that it was among the papers of a deceased friend, in a small packet, endorsed "A letter and two poems written by Shelley the poet, and lent to me by Mr. Trelawney in 1823. I was prevented from returning them to him, for which I am sorry, since this is the only copy of them—they have never been published." Upon this poem was written, "Given to me by Shelley, who composed it as we were sailing one evening together."
Philadelphia.
"The Calm.
"Hush! hark! the Triton calls
From his hollow shell,
And the sea is as smooth as a well;
For the winds and the waves
In wild order form,
To rush to the halls
And the crystal-roof'd caves
Of the deep, deep ocean,
To hold consultation
About the next storm.
"The moon sits on the sky
Like a swan sleeping
On the stilly lake:
No wild breath to break
Her smooth massy light
And ruffle it into beams:
"The downy clouds droop
Like moss upon a tree;
And in the earth's bosom grope
Dim vapours and streams.
The darkness is weeping,
Oh, most silently!
Without audible sigh,
All is noiseless and bright.
"Still 'tis living silence here,
Such as fills not with fear.
Ah, do you not hear
A humming and purring
All about and about?
'Tis from souls let out,
From their day-prisons freed,
And joying in release,
For no slumber they need.
"Shining through this veil of peace,
Love now pours her omnipresence,
And various nature
Feels through every feature
The joy intense,
Yet so passionless,
Passionless and pure;
The human mind restless
Long could not endure.
"But hush while I tell,
As the shrill whispers flutter
Through the pores of the sea,—
Whatever they utter
I'll interpret to thee.
King Neptune now craves
Of his turbulent vassals
Their workings to quell;
And the billows are quiet,
Though thinking on riot.
On the left and the right
In ranks they are coil'd up,
Like snakes on the plain;
And each one has roll'd up
A bright flashing streak
Of the white moonlight
On his glassy green neck:
On every one's forehead
There glitters a star,
With a hairy train
Of light floating from afar,
And pale or fiery red.
Now old Eolus goes
To each muttering blast,
Scattering blows;
And some he binds fast
In hollow rocks vast,
And others he gags
With thick heavy foam.
'Twing them round
The sharp rugged crags
That are sticking out near,'
Growls he, 'for fear
They all should rebel,
And so play hell.'
Those that he bound,
Their prison-walls grasp,
And through the dark gloom
Scream fierce and yell:
While all the rest gasp,
In rage fruitless and vain.
Their shepherd now leaves them
To howl and to roar—
Of his presence bereaves them,
To feed some young breeze
On the violet odour,
And to teach it on shore