REMINISCENCES OF BLAKE
I lent him the 8vo. ed. of 2 vols, of W.'s poems wh. he had in his possession at the time of his death. They were sent me then. I did not recognise the pencil notes he made in them to be his for some time, & was on the point of rubbing them out, under that impression when I made the discovery. The following are found in the 5th Vol.:— In the fly-leaf under the words Poems referring to the Period of Childhood.29.2.52.
"I see in Wordsw. the natural man rising up agst the spiritual man continually & then he is no poet, but a heathen philosopher at Enmity agst. all true poetry or inspiration." Under the first poem
| 3 | "And I cd. wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety" |
he had written "There is no such thing as natural piety because the natural man is at enmity with God." p. 43 under the verses to H. C. six years old. "This is all in the highest degree imaginative & equal to any poet, but not superior. I cannot think that real poets have any competition. None are greatest in the Kingdom of God. It is so in Poetry." page 44 "On the influence of natural objects." at the bottom of the page: "Natural objects always did & now do weaken, deaden & obliterate Imagination in me. W. must know that what he writes valuable is not to be found in Nature. Read Michael Angelo's Sonnet, Vol. 2, p. 1 79."—that is the one beginning
"No mortal object did these eyes behold
When first they met the placid light of thine."
It is remarkable that Blake whose judgements were in most points so very singular, on one subject closely connected with W.'s poetical reputation should have taken a very commonplace view. Over the heading of the "Essay supplementary to the Preface" at the end of the vol. he
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