Der Geist eines Flohs

By 1819 Blake was in his sixties, out of fashion, and spending late evenings at the house of John Varley, a watercolourist who cast horoscopes and believed in summoning spirits. The two played a game: Varley would call up a historical or mythological figure, and Blake would draw whatever he said he saw. One night the visitor was the ghost of a flea. Blake reported that it spoke to him, explaining that fleas are inhabited by the souls of bloodthirsty men, kept small so they cannot drain the world dry. He painted the result on a little mahogany panel barely eight inches tall, in tempera mixed with gold, so flecks of it still catch the light. The creature stands upright, muscular as a Michelangelo nude, its tongue reaching toward a cup of blood.