Poor Hayley
Jan. 22nd, 2023 08:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI 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.
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.
