Eternity's Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake

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Eternity's Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake Page 31

by Damrosch, Leo


  keen observation of, 124

  lettering and, 25, 27, 105

  marginalization during Blake’s lifetime of, 93

  Michelangelo as hero of, 115

  nudity portrayals and (see nakedness)

  obscurity of, 37, 93

  oil print process and, 126–27

  outline emphasis of, 34

  personification and, 40–45, 42

  posthumous destruction of, 209, 269

  “reading” of, 3

  reproductions of, 5, 6

  as scandalous, 18

  small scale of, 50–51, 51

  techniques of, 25, 176, 238–39

  unique style of, 32–33

  verbal sources of, 41

  watercolor use and, 34, 105, 132, 195, 249

  works: Albion Rose, 98–+99, 100, 101, 108, 125, 256 (color plate 11)

  The Ancient of Days, 237, 238–39, 247, 267 (color plate 36)

  Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car, 225–228 (color plate 34)

  “Deaths Door,” 266–67, 268

  Democritus engraving after Rubens, 14, 15, 16

  Elohim Creating Adam 246–47 (color plate 38)

  Ezekiel’s Vision, 158, 159, 227

  Father Thames, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46

  The Grave illustration, 19, 93, 266–67, 268

  Hyperion, 132 (color plate 19)

  Job’s Nightmare, 249, 250, 251, 252, 270

  Last Judgment, 146, 261

  Newton print, 125, 126–27 (color plate 18)

  Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, 16, 17, 18, 25, 93, 253

  Pity, 44, 45, 46

  Satan Watching Adam and Eve, 204–6 (color plate 31)

  self-portrait, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 (color plate 24)

  Sense Runs Wild, 16, 17, 18

  sketch of wife, Catherine, 19, 20

  A Sunshine Holiday, 46–49, 57, 131, 141, 213 (color plate 2)

  The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan, 37

  The Spiritual Form of Pitt Guiding Behemoth, 37

  “Traveller hasteth in the Evening, The,” 266, 267. See also emblem book; illuminated books

  Bloom, Harold, 5, 74, 78, 92

  “anxiety of influence” concept, 165

  Blossom, The (Blake), 57–60, 94 (color plate 5)

  Blunt, Anthony, 257

  Boehme, Jacob, 8, 124

  Book of Los (Blake):170, 173–76 (color plates 21, 22). See also Los

  Book of Urizen (Blake), 118, 170, 173–76, 206–7, 237–40, 244

  copies of, 242 (color plates 21, 22, 32)

  title page, 239, 241, 242. See also Urizen

  borderline personality, 187–88

  Boreas (Basire), 247, 248

  botany, 56–57. See also flowers

  Botticelli, Sandro, Birth of Venus, 229

  Bowlahoola (stomach), 189

  Britain. See England

  British Library, 127

  British Museum, 98

  Britton, Ronald, 187–88

  Broad Street (London), 7, 89, 258

  Bromion (Oothon’s rapist) 199–200, 202, 203 (color plate 30)

  Bronowski, Jacob, 118

  Brooks, Cleanth, 44

  brothels, 92

  brotherhood, 97, 217

  Brothers, Richard, 97

  Bruder, Helen, 201, 217

  Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, 270

  Bunyan, John, Pilgrim’s Progress, 132, 264

  Burke, Edmund, 89, 99, 102

  Burney, Charles, 94

  butterfly symbol, 47, 99, 213, 229

  Butterworth, Jez, Jerusalem (play), 148

  Butts, Thomas, 195–96, 249, 260

  Blake correspondence with, 134, 136, 141, 177, 179, 255, 256

  Blake verse to, 130–31

  Byron, Lord, 94, 197

  Caesar, Julius, 190

  Cain (biblical), 105

  Calvinism, 165, 225

  Cambridge University, 9

  Cameron, David, 148

  Canaanites, 236

  Candide (Voltaire), 238

  Canterbury, archbishop of, 104

  capitalism, 89, 118

  Carlyle, Thomas, 269

  Cary, Joyce, 270

  Castaway, The (Cowper), 135

  Catholic Church, 37, 99, 121, 224–26, 246, 269

  veneration of Mary, 225

  chapel door symbol, 209

  Chariots of Fire (film), 148

  chariot symbol, 148, 226, 227

  Charity, representation of, 226

  charity schools, 62, 87, 151, 153

  Charles I, king of England, 83, 96

  Charles II, king of England, 97

  chastity, 91

  Chatham naval arsenal, 13–14

  cherubs, 44–45, 58, 70

  childbirth, 70–71, 217

  allegory of, 58

  mortality and, 212, 213

  Virgin Mary and, 225, 236

  children: Blake’s sympathy for, 51, 53, 153, 245

  book of emblems for, 213, 214, 215

  didactic books for, 52–53

  early deaths of, 59

  harsh treatment of, 51–52, 62–66, 71, 85, 87, 88, 151, 153, 245

  serpent symbol and, 115, 116

  Songs of Innocence for, 50–66

  speech rhythms of, 56

  traditional symbol of, 51

  Chimney Sweeper, The (Songs of Experience) (Blake), 67, 85, 86, 87, 94

  Chimney Sweeper, The (Songs of Innocence) (Blake), 63–66, 67, 85, 253, 264

  review of, 93–94 (color plate 6)

  Chimney Sweeper’s Friend and Climbing Boy’s Album, The (reformist treatise), 93

  Christ. See Jesus

  Christian belief, 83, 141, 146, 153, 192

  Blake’s personal mythology and, 1

  Blake’s view of, 56, 225, 226, 236

  Calvinism and, 165, 225

  Church Triumphant and, 226 (see also Catholic Church)

  classical model for, 156

  Dissenters and, 9, 270

  forgiveness of sins and, 225

  four Evangelists and, 158

  harsh treatment of children and, 51–52

  Satan and, 249

  virgin birth and, 225, 236. See also New Testament

  Church of England, 9, 91, 93, 153, 194, 236

  cinema, 143

  Clarissa (Richardson), 75, 76

  Clark, Kenneth, 117

  classical mythology, 56, 105, 153, 156, 169, 229

  climbing vine symbol, 51

  Clod and the Pebble, The (Blake), 77–78, 79, 110, 201

  Coal Hole Tavern (London), 258

  Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 9, 197, 269

  Blake and, 56, 94, 142–43, 231, 232, 264

  Frost at Midnight, 231–32

  Kubla Khan, 231

  Lyrical Ballads, 94

  coloring, 137–38

  color plates, 310–13

  Connolly, Tristanne, 5, 218, 229

  consciousness, 203, 235

  Constable, John, 124

  constants, universal, 270

  copper-plate etching, 4, 13, 13, 50, 128, 136, 172

  Blake process of, 10–12, 24–27, 32

  Blake skill at, 12

  direct application of paint and, 176

  expense of copper and, 50

  inhalation of dust from, 266

  reproductions from, 31

  surviving Blake fragment of, 26–27, 28, 29. See also engraving

  Corinthians, Epistle to, 77

  Correggio, Antonio da, 33

  counterculture (1960s), 1, 26, 115, 136

  Cowper, William, 135, 136, 184

  The Castaway, 135

  Light Shining Out of Darkness (hymn), 135

  Lines Written during a Period of Insanity, 135

  The Poplar Field, 55

  creation, 81, 83–85, 123, 169, 243, 246

  blacksmith and, 169, 172–75, 183, 184–85, 194 (color plate 25)

  Blake concept of, 169, 175, 176, 218, 237–38

>   Genesis portrayal of, 81, 176, 218, 237–38, 242, 246–47 (color plate 38)

  motherhood and, 212–13, 216

  Neoplatonism and, 175

  creativity. See artistic creativity

  crescent moon, 190, 191, 192

  criminal justice system, 92

  Cromek, Robert, 267

  Cromwell, Oliver, 146–47

  Crucifixion, 62, 105, 188, 255, 256 (color plate 39)

  Cruel Og, 150

  Cumberland, George, 12, 25, 128–29, 133, 261, 266

  Thoughts on Outline, 33

  Cunningham, Alan, 50, 251

  cycle of life, 47, 48, 99, 141, 192, 206, 213, 214, 214, 215, 217, 221, 228–29, 247, 252. See also mortality

  damnation, 83, 135, 136, 225

  dance of death, 99, 101, 256

  Daniel, Book of, 237

  Dante Alighieri: Divine Comedy, 224–29

  Inferno, 47

  Purgatorio, 225–26

  “dark Satanic mills,” meaning of, 147

  Darwin, Erasmus, 199, 202–3

  Loves of the Plants, 56–57

  Daughters of Albion, 198–204. See also Visions of the Daughters of Albion

  death, 59, 67, 192, 216, 253

  dance of, 99, 101, 156

  meaning for Blake of, 98, 266, 269. See also cycle of life; mortality

  “Death’s Door” (Blake), 266–67, 268

  Dedalus, Stephen (fictional), 172, 177

  deism, 120–21

  deities, 49, 156, 169, 190

  Blake’s view of, 235

  Jerusalem and, 183

  monotheism and, 48, 49 (see also God)

  of nature, 153, 183, 189, 209, 221, 225

  river gods, 43

  demiurge, 175, 246, 247, 251

  Democritus, 121, 122

  Blake engraving after

  Rubens painting of, 14, 15, 16

  depression, 19, 133, 134, 184, 251

  Descriptive Catalogue (Blake), 37

  Devil. See Satan

  Deville, James, 262

  diaphanous garments, 39, 48, 53, 168, 227

  Dictionary ( Johnson), 44

  Dissenters, 9, 270

  divine: avatars of, 246

  everyday incarnation of, 234

  humanity of, 234, 235

  intuition of, 227

  symbolism of, 245–47

  unifying principle of, 243

  Divine Comedy (Dante): Blake illustrations, 224–29

  Divine Image, The (Blake), 87

  divorce, 91

  Donne, John, “Get with child a mandrake root,” 214

  “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, 114

  Doors (rock group), 26

  Doors of Perception, The (Huxley), 26

  double (doppelgänger), 183–84

  dragon, 222, 223, 224

  dreams, 162, 185

  Druids, 114, 189–90, 192, 193, 256

  Dürer, Albrecht, 158, 249

  Dutch paintings, 35, 137, 138

  Eartham (England), 130

  earthworm symbol, 76, 99, 105, 214, 215, 216, 222, 223, 224, 246, 251 (color plate 37)

  Eaves, Morris, 32–33, 242

  Echoing Green, The (Blake), 55–56

  Eden, 48, 70, 83, 204–6, 246

  Blake myth and, 141–42, 217

  Eternity and, 237

  expulsion from, 73, 105, 217

  forbidden fruit and, 70, 112, 208–11, 238. See also Adam and Eve

  Egypt, 47, 102–3, 123, 192

  eidetic vision, 39

  Einstein, Albert, 122

  Elijah (prophet), 146, 162

  Eliot, T. S., 91, 270

  Elisha (prophet), 146

  Elohim (name for God), 246–47, 251

  Elohim Creating Adam (Blake color print), 246–47 (color plate 38)

  emanations:160–62, 172, 183, 184, 190, 191, 192, 195, 218–9 (color plate 100)

  critical interpretations of, 218

  as female element of psyche, 160

  female will and, 218–24

  Milton’s sixfold; names of, 160

  strife and ruptures between Zoas and, 183, 219–21

  two distinct camps of, 221–22. See also Enion; Enitharmon; Jerusalem; Vala

  emblem book (Blake), 213–16, 214, 215, 251, 252

  reissue under new title, 252, 266. See also For Children; For the Sexes

  emotions, 155, 156

  empiricism, 35, 36, 122, 124, 141

  Encyclopaedia Britannica, 81

  Endgame (Beckett), 270

  energy, 101, 181

  England: Albion as poetic name for, 98, 111, 141, 192

  art collections and, 14

  Blake critique of, 93, 192

  children’s plight and, 62–66

  established church of (see Church of England); Jerusalem lyric and, 145–48, 167

  political protest and, 89, 92, 96, 97, 99

  political repression and, 117, 192

  poverty and, 245

  Puritan power and, 97

  revolution and, 13, 96, 97, 106, 107, 108, 118, 146–47

  triumphalism and, 148

  wars of, 13–14, 37, 117, 118, 134, 147–48. See also Felpham; London

  engraving, 10–18

  Blake apprenticeship in, 10, 16, 64, 89, 99, 258

  Blake Book of Job illustrations and, 249

  Blake’s career disappointments and, 1, 267

  Blake’s commercial style of, 16

  Blake’s lettering process, 25, 27

  Blake variances and, 31–33

  cross-hatching technique of, 12, 14, 112

  process of, 10–12, 11, 172

  three-dimensional depth effect, 14. See also copper-plate etching; printing

  Enion (Tharmas’s emanation), 160–62, 221

  Enitharmon (Urthona’s emanation), 160–61, 179, 184, 190, 191, 192, 195, 221 (color plates, 32, 100)

  jealousy and, 204, 206–7

  women blamed for war and, 222

  Enlightenment, 48, 120–23

  Ephesians, Epistle to the, 243, 251–52

  epic, 143

  Epiphanius, Saint, 209

  Erdman, David, 5, 6, 57–59, 228, 229

  Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus), 245

  Essick, Robert, 11, 19, 176, 187, 228, 239

  etching process. See copper-plate etching

  Eternal Now, 124, 174, 242

  Eternals, 142, 173, 174, 188–89, 211, 213

  Eternity, 5, 140, 147, 172–74, 176, 185–89, 190, 198, 206, 227, 228, 231, 232, 237

  apocalypse and, 185–86, 187

  Blake’s younger brother as alter ego in, 168

  Blake’s belief in living spirit and, 3, 266

  Blake’s identification with, 161, 162, 165, 168, 233, 255, 270

  cycle of life and, 252

  difference from traditional heaven of, 141

  Eden and, 48, 141, 237

  Eternal Now and, 242

  Generation and, 213

  interior apocalypse and, 213

  living in moment and, 270

  Milton and, 162, 165, 168, 177, 180

  prophecy and, 163, 181

  renunciation of sexuality and, 220, 255

  time and, 124–25, 174, 194, 219, 270

  Zoas’ interaction in, 155, 157, 160, 161, 162, 172, 242

  Eternity (Blake unpublished poem), 3, 198

  Eton College, 41

  Euclid, 125

  Europe: A Prophecy, 67, 114, 115, 117, 118, 140, 192

  copies (color plates 15, 17, 36)

  frontispiece: Ancient of Days, 237 (color plate 36)

  on stolen joys, 208

  title page (color plate 15)

  Evangelists, symbols of, 158. See also specific gospels

  Eve. See Adam and Eve

  Everlasting Gospel, The (Blake), 97, 235, 236

  evil, 183–84

  Examiner (publication), 37, 260

  Excursion (Wordsworth), 231, 264

  existence, 60, 98, 101, 119
, 164, 173, 185, 206, 212, 217

  emanation’s separate, 218

  escape from mortal, 146

  Hell and, 201

  perception of, 198

  ultimate questions about, 2, 236

  Exodus, Book of, 123

  Experience, 66, 67–95, 118–19

  Blake myth and, 141

  Blake’s poetry representing, 188, 221

  innocence as irreconcilable with, 77

  memories of gardens and, 73. See also Songs of Experience

  Ezekiel (prophet), 88, 110, 163

  chariot of, 158

  vision of, 157–60, 159, 226, 246

  “Ezekiel saw the wheel” (spiritual), 158

  Ezekiel’s vision (Blake), 158, 159, 227

  Ezra (prophet), 8

  Fables in Monosyllables, by Mrs. Teachwell, to Which Are Added Morals, in Dialogues, between Mothers and Children, 53

  Fall, 203, 204

  Blake myth and, 142, 237–38

  Milton’s account of, 162

  shame and, 70, 217, 220

  fallen angels, 83, 252

  “fatal tree,” 151

  fathers, 40, 63, 64, 70, 71, 73, 137

  Blake’s problem with, 212, 256–57

  God as, 112, 217, 243, 247

  jealousy and, 206, 207

  Prodigal Son parable and, 209, 257. See also patriarchy

  Father Thames, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47

  feet, 167

  Felpham (Sussex, England), 128–36, 155, 162–64, 177, 179, 195, 219

  Blake cottage at, 129

  Blake’s conception of Milton at, 162, 164, 167, 229–30

  Blakes’ move to, 128–36

  Blakes’ return to London (1803) from, 136, 258

  Blake’s sedition charges/acquittal at, 133–34, 135, 258, 260

  Catherine Blake’s illnesses at, 179–80

  female archetypes, 217–18

  female genitalia, 17, 18, 199, 209, 210, 219, 224

  female ideal, 203

  female jealousy, 220

  female liberation, 198, 201

  female rehabilitation, 228

  female sexuality, 209, 210, 211–12

  Blake’s view of, 212, 217–18

  free love and, 198–208, 212

  harlot image and, 91, 92, 221, 253

  maternal role vs., 228

  mutual satisfaction and, 196–97

  rape and, 106, 198, 199–200, 203, 253

  restrictions on, 91, 92

  seduction and, 218

  virginity and, 75, 199, 203, 225, 236

  female subordination, 165, 208, 212, 218–19

  female symbolism, 183, 214, 215, 217

  Divine Comedy illustrations, 224–29. See also emanations

  Female Will, 218–24

  feminism, 57, 198

  Ferber, Michael, 89

  fire, 110

  chariot of, 146

  First Book of Urizen, The (Blake), 242

  Flaxman, John, 12, 33, 266

  Flemish paintings, 34, 137, 138

  flowers, 205

  sex of, 56, 57

  symbolism of, 75, 199

  folk tradition, 54, 66

  forbidden fruit, 70, 112, 208–11, 238

 

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