DIARY ACCOUNT OF BLAKE
divine art. Art is inspiration, When Michael Angelo or Raphael or Mr. Flaxman does any of his fine things, he does them in the spirit. Bl. said 'I shd. be sorry if I had any earthly fame for whatever natural glory a man has is so much detracted from his spiritual glory. I wish to do nothing for profit. I wish to live for art. I want nothing whatever. I am quite happy.'
Among the unintelligible sentiments which he was continually expressing is his distinction between the natural & the spiritual world. The natural world must be consumed. Incidentally Swedenborg was spoken of. He was a divine teacher—he has done much & will do much good. He has corrected many errors of Popery & also of Luther & Calvin. Yet he also said that Swedenborg was wrong in endeavouring to explain to the rational faculty what the reason cannot comprehend. He should have left that. As B[lake] mentioned Swedenb[org] & Dante together, I wished to know whether he considered their visions of the same kind. As far as I cd. collect he does. Dante he said was the greater poet. He had political objects. Yet this, tho' wrong, does not appear in Blake's mind to affect the truth of the vision. Strangely inconsistent with this was the language of Bl[ake] about Wordsworth. W[ordsworth] he thinks is no Xn. but a Platonist—he askd me—Does he believe in the Scriptures. On my answering in the affirmative he said he had been much pained by readg. the introduction to the Excursion. It brought on a fit of illness. The passage was produced & read
Jehovah,—with his thunder & the choir
Of shouting angels, & the empyreal thrones—
I pass them unalarmed.
This pass them unalarmed greatly offendd Blake. Does 'Mr. Wordsw[orth] think his mind can surpass Jehovah? I tried to twist this passage into a sense correspondg with
