Poem Review: The Angel by William Blake

The Angel by William Blake

Blake, W. (1957). Selected poems. (pp.31).  London: William Heinemann Ltd.

I dreamt a dream! what can it mean?

And that I was a maiden Queen,

Guarded by an Angel mild:

Witless woe was ne’er beguiled!

And I wept both day and night,

And he wiped my tears away,

And I wept both day and night,

And hid from him my heart’s delight.

So, he took his wings and fled;

Then the morn blushed rosy red;

I dried my tears, and armed my fears

With ten thousand shields and spears.

Soon my Angel came again:

I was armed, he came in vain;

For the time of youth was fled,

And grey hairs were on my head.

This poem is quite complex, so to me this is a poem about a younger man (Blake referring to himself perhaps), who dreamt of life, but when an angel called upon him, he was consumed by his fears – of not having lived his life yet, and so he mourned because he wasn’t ready for death, he had so much living to do – that the angel takes pity on him and leaves. Then his life attempts to bloom, but the fear never leaves him, and instead of living, he is consumed with protecting himself from something he has no control over – death. When the angel does return, he has spent so much time arming himself against death, that he has let the years of living slip past, and now it is too late for his life is at its end.