The poem
The Caverns of the Grave I've seen, And these I show'd to England's Queen. But now the Caves of Hell I view, Who shall I dare to show them to? What mighty soul i 362 n Beauty's form Shall dauntless view the infernal storm? Egremont's Countess can control The flames of Hell that round me roll; If she refuse, I still go on Till the Heavens and Earth are gone, Still admir'd by noble minds, Follow'd by Envy on the winds, Re-engrav'd time after time, Ever in their youthful prime, My designs unchang'd remain. Time may rage, but rage in vain. For above Time's troubled fountains, On the great Atlantic Mountains, In my Golden House on high, There they shine eternally.
This poem was somehow linked with Blake's illustrations for Robert Blair's poem, "The Grave". The illustrations were recently discovered, and it was hoped that the Tate Museum would have been able to purchase to collection, but, alas, greed set in, the collection was put up for auction...sad. Back to the poem.Yeats loved this poem, and used it often. Blake seems to indicate that his work "designs unchanged remain"…
Read the whole commentThis poem was somehow linked with Blake's illustrations for Robert Blair's poem, "The Grave". The illustrations were recently discovered, and it was hoped that the Tate Museum would have been able to purchase to collection, but, alas, greed set in, the collection was put up for auction...sad.
Back to the poem.Yeats loved this poem, and used it often. Blake seems to indicate that his work "designs unchanged remain" and that Time will never be able to corrupt them. He also indicates that he will have a "golden house on high", a nice take of a mansion in the sky (bibical reference).
Blake mentions that depicting the grave was one matter, but--hell? The Queen could not view his visions, let alone anyone else. These visions must have been horrific! He states, "who shall I dare to shew them to what mighty soul in beautys form shall dauntless view the infernal storm Egremonts Countess can control." I would love to find out what Egremonts Countess refers to--anyone know?
Blake has done his duty in showing the "caverns of the Grave" to England's Queen (perhaps through his illuminations/art work), but he draws a line with revealing hell. He feels equipt to continue on with the visions because he knows that he has been called since he was a youth to be a type of mystic. "The flames of Hell that round me roll If she refuse I still go on". In some ways, there is a little humor in this poem--"followed by envy on the winds" and yet "admird by Noble minds". Hyperbole?
I wonder if Blake ever received a note of thanks from the Royals.