BLAKE AND HAYLEY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20038, 20 September 1930, Page 13

BLAKE AND HAYLEY.

A NEW LETTER. (By Geoffrey Keynes in "The Times" Literary Supplement.) The friendship between William Blake and William Hayley has long been regarded as one of the most curious and psychologically significant episodes in Blake's life. In less than three years it had passed through its successive phases, through light *to darkness and towards light again. Blake had been introduced to Hayley's notice by Flaxman, and the first result was a commission to execute certain unimportant engravings for one of Hayley's books. This necessitated a visit to Hayley at his home in Sussex in the summer of 1800, and further led to an invitation to Blake to live at Felpham in order that he might engrave plates for the "Life of Cowper" under its author's eye. Blake transferred his establishment to the cottage, which still stands at Felpham, on September 18th, 1800; and his new life began in a blaze of enthusiasm. The story of the wilting of Blake's spirit under, the blight of Hayley's patronage is well known and is told nowhere better than in Miss Mona Wilson's "Life of Blake." His increasing irritation, culminated in his quarrel with a drunken soldier in August, 1803, and in his arrest for sedition; then, recognising that his temperament and Hayley's were incompatible, he returned to London the following month, just three years after he had left it. Once out of the sphere of Hayley's influence Blake became again aware of his genuine, if ill-directed, kindliness, and he endeavoured in his letters to atone for any ingratitude he might have -shown. The letters of this period i have, therefore, a special value in revealing Blake'B mind and personality. His correspondents were few, but when roally moved he expressed himself openly, and described with feeling his hopes and fears and his varying moods. The bulk of Hayley's paperß were dispersed at Sotheby's in 1878, and among them many letters from Blake were sold for small sums. The letters were scattered through various autograph collections in England and America, and even now some seven of them remain to be discovered. One of the most important, however, has recently come to light in the collection of Mr R. B. Adam, of Buffalo, New York, who has courteously authorised me to make it public. The text is here transcribed from a facsimile of the original letter which Mr Adam distributed to his friends at Christmas, 1929, and so it can be warranted accurate. Blake, as was his custom, omitted most of the punctuation, and this has here been added for the sake of easier reading.

To William Hayley, Esqre., Felpham, near Chichester, Sussex. London, October 7th, 1803. Dear Sir, —Your generous & tender solicitude about your devoted rebel makes.it absolutely necessary that he should trouble you with an account of his safe arrival, which will excuse his begging the favour of a few lines to inform him how you escaped the contagion of the Court of Justice— I fear that you havo & must suffer more on my account than I shall ever be worth —Arrived safe in London, my wife in very poor health, still' I resolve hot to lose hope of seeing better days. Art in London flourishes. Engravers in particular are wanted. Every Engraver turns away work that he can 'lot execute from his superabundant employment. Yfet no one brings work to mo. I am content that it shall be so as long as God pleases. I know that many works of a lucrative nature are in want of hands; other Engravers are courted. I suppose that I must go a Courting, which I shall do awkwardly; in the meantime I lose no moment to complete I Romney to satisfaction. How is it possible that a Man al- : most 50 years of Age, who has not lost any of his life since he was five years old without incessant labour & study, how is it possible that such a one with ordinary common sense can be inferior to a boy of twenty, who scarcely has taken or v deigns to take a pencil in hand, but who rides about the Parks or saunters about the Playhouses, who Eats & drinks for business not for need, how is it possible that such a fop. can be superior | to the studious lover of Art can , • scarcely be imagined. Yet such is ] somewhat like my fate & and such it is likely to remain. Yet I laugh & sing, for if on Earth neglected I am in heaven a Prince among Princes, & even on Earth beloved by the Good as a Good Man; this I should be perfectly contented with, but at certain periods a blaze of reputation arises round me in which I am consider'd as one distinguished by some mental perfection, but the flame soon dies again &i am left stupified and astonished. 0 tha,t I,could live as others do in a regular succession of Employment, this wish I fear is not tp be accomplished to mer—Forgive this Dirgelike lamentation over A dead horse, & now I have lamented over the dead horse let me laugh & be merry with my friends till Christmas, for as Man liveth not by bread alone; I shall live altho I should want bread—-nothing is necessary to me but to do my Duty & to rejoice in the exceeding joy that is always poured out on my Spirit, to pray that my friends & you above the rest may be made partakers of the

joy that the world cannot contrive, that you may still be replenished with the same and be as you always have been, a glorious & triumphant Dweller in immortality. Please to pay for me best thanks to Miss Poole: tell her that I wish her & continued Excess of Happiness— : some say that Happiness is pot Good for Mortals, & they ought to be answer'd that Sorrow is not fit' for Immortals & is utterly useless to any one; a blight never does good to a tree, & if a blight kill not a tree] but it still bear fruit, let none say that the fruit was in consequence of the blight. When this Soldier-like danger is over I will do double ths* work I do now, for. it will hang heavy on my Devil who terribly resents it; but I soothe him to pface, & Indeed he is a good naturd Devff after all and certainly does not lead me into scrapes—rhe is not in the least to be blamed for the present scrfipe, as he was out of the way all the time on other employment seeking amusement in making Verses, to which he constantly leads me very much to my hurt & sometimes to the annoyance of my friends; as I percieve he is now doing the same work by my letter, I will finish it, wishing you health & joy in God our Saviour. To Eternity yours, WILLM; BLAKE.

The circumstances in which the letter was written have been briefly described above, and little further comment is necessary. The mention of Eomney probably refers to an engraving of a head of Romney, which was never fublished and has since disappeared, t may be doubted whether Hay ley. eijen after three years' experience of Blake's vagaries, fully understood the true nature of his Devil, or whether he would have agreed with the assurance that it was Good. '