You are on page 1of 18

Sunday

16th August 2015

BUNHILL FIELDS CEMETRY

Memorial: William Blake


On the anniversary of his interment
(Noon,12 August 1827)
Hosted by the Blake Society

PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
The simple offering was a sweet story of
how an angel comes to Earth to find Mr
Blake and asks those gathered if they
have seen him.
Mr Blake had told her Come to the place
where angels gather as he wanted to
come and speak to them.
The angel, (Alice Ancient, actor Alice Old),
looks around at those gathered and finds
no other angels present, only human
beings. She is perturbed to find Mr Blake
is not here either. She is alone and lost.
She plays her melancholy flute and sings the
poem London a dark foreboding work
from Songs of Experience that
highlights the suffering of fallen man.

Seeing that the woes of London still persist in these times, the angel laments,
More than ever, we need Mr Blake to come and speak to us today!

At this moment a Mother and daughter arrive on the scene (Real life mother and
daughter Carol and Shivani Robertson).

They wander around the gathering and ask people one by one if they have seen Mr
Blake. They tell how they had a dream and in the dream Mr Blake said, Come
to the place where angels gather as he will come and speak to them.
They are disappointed to see only one sad and lonely angel. Together they sit by
the tree to wait, in hope.
The angel invites them to sing the song they wanted to perform for Mr Blake.
They sweetly sing The Nurses Song...

When the voices of children are heard on


the green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.
Then come home, my children, the sun is
gone down,
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come leave off play, and let us
away
Till the morning appears in the skies.
No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all cover'd with sheep.
Well, well, go and play till the light fades
away,
And then go home to bed.
The little ones leapd, and shoutd, and
laugh'd
And all the hills echod.

At this moment a man arrives on the scene (Derek Ferguson). He wanders around and asks
people one by one if they have seen Mr Blake.
He also had a dream and in the dream Mr Blake said, Come to the place where angels
gather, as he is to come and speak to them.
He only sees the mother and daughter and the angel. So he goes to sit by the tree to wait,
in hope.
The angel sees his disappointment and invites him to recite the poem he wanted to
perform for Mr Blake.
He recites The Little Black Boy in Jamaican accent....

My mother bore me in the southern wild,


And I am black, but O my soul is white!
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black, as if bereaved of light.
My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And, sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And, pointing to the East, began to say:
Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
And flowers and trees and beasts and men
receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.
And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love;
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

For, when our souls have learned the heat to bear,


The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,
Saying, Come out from the grove, my love and
care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.
Thus did my mother say, and kissed me,
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black, and he from white cloud
free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,
Ill shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our Fathers knee;
And then Ill stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me

Having heard the sweet voices of each one who come to meet Mr Blake, all they really
want it to hear the voice of Mr Blake himself.
And they are not disappointed. ...!
Suddenly, Mr Blake appears from out of the crowd
(in the form of professional actor Kim Lethbridge);

Now, Hear the voice of the bard


who present, past and future sees
whos ears have heard the holy
word
that walked amongst the ancient
trees

As the performer delivered the original words of Blake he had drawn from
key passages of Blakes letters and prophetic works, the effect was
mesmerising!
Those gathered around listened in stunned silence!

Blake concluded with.....


Man walked forth from the midst of the fires
saying,
Arise Arise Jerusalem, oh lovely emanation
of Albion,
And Overspread all nations as in ancient
times, for lo the night of death has passed
and the eternal day appears upon our
hills, Light beamed round her like the
glory of the morning,
The children clung around her knees, she
embraced them with tears of joy, till the
sun, descended the ancient hills with the
song of the aged Mother
I will give you the end of a Golden string only
wind it into a ball it will lead you to
heavens gate built in Jerusalems Wall.!
From the centre eternity expands!
In your bosom you bear your Heaven and
Earth and this whole world of mortality is
just a faint shadow!

When he finished....silence fell among


the gatherers and Carol and Shivani
sang;
To Morning in such a sweet and soulful
way it filled the air and filled our
hearts.

O holy virgin! clad in purest white,


Unlock heav'n's golden gates, and
issue forth;
Awake the dawn that sleeps in
heaven; let light
Rise from the chambers of the
east, and bring
The honied dew that cometh on
waking day.
O radiant morning, salute the sun,
Rouz'd like a huntsman to the
chace; and, with
Thy buskin'd feet, appear upon our
hills.

The angel then handed round 21 white


roses to those gathered and invited
each to lay on the resting place.
The white roses were laid to a rousing
rendition of;
And Did Those Feet...

As the sounds rose upwards to the


heavens, Mr Blake seemed suitably
pleased with our understanding of the
important message that we have the
power within to transform humanity - he walked quietly off into the distance...

When the song ended, the angel looked around with awe and seeing the shining light
of the Spirit in the eyes of each of the gatherers, exclaimed;
Ah the ANGELS HAVE gathered here!!
She skipped off, joyfully, after Mr Blake.

One by one the angels who had come from all over London shared their favourite
poem or song by Mr Blake much to the delight of all others gathered.

It was an amazing afternoon and I've loved all the play and songs. Great and talented
people indeed! As you. I was seriously touched. Thanks to all of you. If you get a video
clip, please send to me a link or a copy of it. I would like to see it again and again.
Piero Lattrola, South London
A refreshing feel about this year's gathering at William Blake's resting place with a
number of pieces of Blake's poetry was then beautifully set to music. William Blake
(actor Kim Lethbridge) burst onto the scene creating quite a forceful presence. He
recited a mix of Blake's writings, strong and insightful, as ever.
Paul Francis, North London.

You might also like