To the Queen. Addendum to the Later Poems in the Rossetti MS. William Blake. 1908. The Poetical Works

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William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908.

Addendum to the Later Poems in the Rossetti MS.

To the Queen


THE DOOR 1 of Death is made of gold,
That mortal eyes cannot behold;
But when the mortal eyes are clos’d,
And cold and pale the limbs repos’d,
The soul awakes; and, wond’ring, sees	5
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!	10

To dedicate to England’s Queen
The visions that my soul has seen,
And, by her kind permission, bring
What I have borne on solemn wing,
From the vast regions of the Grave,	15
Before her throne my wings I wave;
Bowing before my Sov’reign’s feet,
‘The Grave produc’d these blossoms sweet
In mild repose from earthly strife;
The blossoms of Eternal Life!’	20

Note 1. To the Queen] This poem, Blake’s Dedication to his Illustrations of Blair’s Grave (published 1808), where it is printed in ordinary typography, may not unfitly be placed here in view of its close connection with the preceding lines, although it does not form part of the Rossetti MS. [back]

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