Page:Biographical and critical studies by James Thomson ("B.V.").djvu/271

 THE POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKE 255 (it must be borne in mind that his second maturity unfolded itself in pictures rather than songs); "Broken Love," " Auguries of Innocence," and the Letter in verse, dated from Felpham, to his friend, Mr. Butts. These are mature as to their conception, as to the amount and quality of experience and thought in- volved in them, but occasionally very immature in execution. There is, indeed, one piece of twenty lines mature in every respect, although written so late as 1807 : I mean the verses to Queen Charlotte with his illustrations of Blair's " Grave " : — "The door of death is made of gold, That mortal eyes cannot behold ; But when the mortal eyes are closed, And cold and pale the limbs reposed, The soul awakes and wondering sees In her mild hand the golden keys. The grave is Heaven's golden gate. And rich and poor around it wait : O Shepherdess of England's Fold, Behold this gate of pearl and gold ! To dedicate to England's Queen The visions that my soul hath seen, And by her kind permission bring What I have borne on solemn wing From the vast regions of the grave, Before her throne my wings I wave, Bowing before my sovereign's feet : The Grave produced these blossoms sweet In mild repose from earthly strife, The blossoms of eternal life ! " And here are a few more lines almost as majestically mature as one of his inventions for the "Books of Job":-