poem
begin page 39 |
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MR BLAKE’S SPECTACLES
MR BLAKE’S SPECTACLES
At the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Through Mr Blake’s spectacles
the ranked Swedenborgian angels
ruffle their wings, as if in an aviary.
Flamingoes shower over Lambeth,
and the horses that draw the constellations
may be seen sparking,
for the tiles of the roof are translucent.
Through Mr Blake’s spectacles
intersecting vortices
cannonade
over a strewn sea.
On the orlop deck
the suture moans for its lost friend.
Yet the bridges of London are held up by tawny
young giants the colour of Bath stone,
and the sky balloons like a tent over Primrose Hill.
The poet’s work is done; follow him home
into a room contoured like an engraving
where Mr Blake’s spectacles
are oriel windows looking over
the architectonics of Jerusalem.