To my dearest Friend, John Flaxman

字號(hào):


     I bless thee, O Father of Heaven and Earth! that ever I saw Flaxman's
     face:
     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.