Poor Hayley

I feel a little sorry for William Hayley.

He wanted to remembered as a patron of the arts and he's chiefly remembered as a person with whom William Blake had one of his fallings out.

He wrote a biography of his friend the poet William Cowper- a sure way to gain everlasting fame, he thought- and "friend of William Cowper" is what it says on his memorial tablet in the church- but who reads Cowper these days for other than academic reasons?

When Cowper died Hayley offered Blake a cottage in Felpham rent free,

(Ailz and I dropped by Felpham on our way home from Chichester. When I was a kid we spent at least one summer holiday there- sandcastles and shrimping nets- happy memories.)

Blake loved Felpham

But Hayley got on his nerves. He wanted to be left alone to write his epics and talk with angels, but Hayley, who thought he had purchased a claim on Blake's time, wanted him to talk to his guests and decorate his library.

Blake rebelled.

On the north wall of the chancel is Hayley's "friend of Cowper" tablet. It is an ugly rectangular thing, carrying a great wodge of text- that I'm afraid I didn't bother to read- telling us what a wonderful person Hayley was. And he was, he was! Next to it- literally outshining it- is the Blake window- stained glass, recently installed- with two angels and four immortal lines...

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heav'n in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in a hour.

"You Will Hold Your Communion"

We arrived at the Meeting House- and the Meeting House was cold. Was the heating system playing up again? But then a man in a dressing gown who rents one of the flats upstairs came barrelling in to ask if we knew what was going on. Ailz made the calls and it turned out there'd been a fire at an electricity sub station which had taken out the better part of two postal districts.

We had our Meeting, sticking it out- eight of us- in our overcoats- because you don't advertise a service and then cancel it without notice. In the words of Bishop Bergman, Ingmar's father, "Irrespective of everything, you will hold your communion."- a philosophy that is at the heart of the movie that in certain moods I think of as the greatest ever made- Winter Light- or more accurately, The Communicants- though this is a rare example of a translated title being more telling than the original.

Ingmar Bergman comments, "(Holding your communion) is important to the churchgoer, but even more important to you. We shall have to see if it is important to God. If there is no other god but your hope as such, it is important to that god too."