The Complete Poems

by William Blake

  B. assumes that the poet’s task is no less than the salvation of Mankind. He acts through divine inspiration and conveys – as best he can, within his historic and personal limitations – divine truth. As history proceeds, poets embody more and more of truth, and expose more and more of error. The final result of this process will be the Coming of Jesus. Now, as B. sees it, Milton was a true poet, but did not escape error. His self-righteous religion interfered with his vision. To correct this, Milton must return to earth, annihilate his moralistic selfhood, and reunite with his rejected inspiration, which takes the form of a female ‘emanation’ Ololon. He is aided in this quest by all the powers of divine imagination, and assailed by all the powers of mundane error. His ultimate success brings the entire universe a step nearer to its final fulfilment in Jesus.

  It seems clear that B. experienced a moment of revelation in which he ‘saw’ all this happening, one day in his Felpham garden, and fainted. His recording of this central event is placed in a mythological and doctrinal context, so that the narrative is interrupted by sub-narratives and digressions, which ‘explain’ the story. Thus, as in The Four Zoas, all earthly action occurs within the form of Albion, the sleeping giant who has fallen away from union with the divine family of Eternals who are one with Jesus. Again, as in FZ, there is descent from higher to lower realms of potential human consciousness and imagination: Eden to Beulah to Generation to Ulro. Third, a geographical symbolism is developed in which British and biblical places and historical events are equivalents of each other. This rests on Blake’s assumption that all nations were originally one within Albion, and allows him to place Milton’s journey simultaneously in England and in Palestine. Finally, there is the highly developed figure of Los, the ‘Eternal Prophet’ or spirit of poetry, father of all individual poets and intellectuals throughout history, whose task is the creation of a City of Art in the midst of the fallen world. Los plays various roles in this poem. Sometimes he is in the background behind the action, sometimes he is interceding in it. A Bard’s Song concerning troubles in the family of Los inspires Milton’s descent to earth. Los himself watches over this descent; and he as well as Milton enters into William Blake. In other words, throughout this poem, wherever an act of the human imagination is occurring, there one finds Los.

  In epic literature, the closest parallels to Milton are John Milton’s Paradise Regained, Dante’s Purgatorio and Homer’s Odyssey.

  Title To Justify the Ways of God to Men From Milton’s prayer in the Invocation to Paradise Lost (1.26):

  What in me is dark

  Illumine, what is low raise and support;

  That to the highth of this great argument

  I may assert eternal Providence,

  And justify the ways of God to Men.

  PREFACE

  Pl. 1.6 consciously & professedly Inspired Men The authors of the Bible.

  7–8 Daughters of Memory… Daughters of Inspiration The classical Muses are daughters of Mnemosyne (Memory). B.’s own Muses resemble Milton’s ‘Heav’nly Muse’ (Paradise Lost 1.6).

  9–10 malady and infection… Sword Malady and infection derived from classical writers who celebrated War.

  BOOK THE FIRST

  Invocation. Milton, unhappy though in heaven, hears a Bard’s Song (Pls. 2–13) concerning LOS, the Eternal Prophet, and his family. In this song, which allegorizes Blake’s difficulties with his patron Hayley, SATAN (Hayley) precipitates a quarrel with PALAMABRON (Blake) which results in Satan’s exclusion from Los’s family and his identification with URIZEN (the god of Reason and Moral Law).

  Hearing the song, Milton (Pl. iv) realizes that he himself is a Satanic selfhood, and he resolves to go down to Eternal Death. In the following action, he enters something like a dream state. His ‘real self’ remains asleep in EDEN, guarded by the seven angels of the Presence. But subjectively he enters his shadow and begins a descent from BEULAH (the dreamland of poetic inspiration) to ULRO (our earth, B.’s equivalent of hell). Approaching earth (Pl. 15), he sees ALBION asleep on the rock of ages, then drops like a shooting star into B.’s foot. He passes his six females, who tempt him with all his former errors as a poet. He journeys about the MUNDANE SHELL. The FOUR ZOAS see him, and Los – misunderstanding his purpose – tries to stop him. The SHADOWY FEMALE (Nature) responds to his advent with a promise of cruelty (Pl. 18) which Orc begs her to change. Urizen and Milton meet and struggle on the shores of Arnon (Pl. 19). Albion stirs in sleep as Milton descends through his heart. Meanwhile ‘the real Milton’ and his guardians are driven out of heaven by a group of wrathful Eternals.

  Then Los realizes Milton’s true mission is the liberation of Orc (Revolutionary Energy). The Eternals in OLOLON, who drove Milton out, realize this also (Pl. 21), and repentantly resolve to follow him to Ulro. The Divine Family, united in Jesus, is with them in this quest.

  Los descends and becomes one with Blake (Pl. 22). His sons Rintrah and Palamabron express fear of Milton and his religion. Los tries to reassure them and urges patience, but they are unconvinced. Here the narrative of Book I ends. The conclusion of the Book (Pls. 24–9) describes the works of Los, which include all creative effort both within the human organism and within society.

  P1. 2.1–15 The Invocation, highly condensed like that of Milton’s Paradise Lost.

  1 Daughters of Beulah B.’s Muses dwell in the dreamland of Beulah which is a realm of reposeful sexuality and artistic inspiration. These things are ‘delusions’ compared with man’s ‘real’ life in Eternity, but they are nevertheless far superior to our ordinary experience. Asking their help B. implies an anatomy of poetic creation, traced back to its divine source. This final source is ‘The Eternal Great Humanity Divine’ (1. 8), Jesus, of whom all men are members.

  9 the Spectres of the Dead Fallen human beings, who in the poet’s imagination become true images of God.

  10 the False Tongue The voice of Satan, and of all religious doctrine which accuses men of sin and demands atonement. ‘What shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper’ (Psalm 120).

  17 One hundred years An approximate figure. Milton died in 1674. intricate mazes ‘mazes intricate’ (Paradise Lost v.622).

  19 Sixfold Emanation Milton’s three wives and three daughters; but also the ‘female’ qualities which he condemned and rejected within himself and his art.

  25 Mark well my words! Here begins the Bard’s Song. This line is repeated as a periodic refrain in it.

  26 Three Classes are Created Three classes of Mankind exist in this world. The Reprobates are rebels, the Elect are orthodox and selfrighteous (like the ‘devils’ and ‘angels’ of MHH). The Redeemed are mid-way, uncertain of what is right. The definitions are given in 7.1–3 (which originally followed Pl. 2 directly) and 25.31–7.

  the Hammer of Los LOS, the Eternal Prophet, labours as a blacksmith, creating permanent and definite forms for indefinite ideas. He and his sons create the intellectual history of Mankind, which for B. is its real history.

  P1. 3 This plate is a late addition. It gives background on the Fall of Man, the creation of the material body and the development of the family of Los.

  1 Enitharmon’s looms ENITHARMON is the EMANATION of Los. She and her daughters, throughout the poem, ‘weave’ the generated bodies of men. The looms symbolize motherhood.

  Albion was slain ALBION (mankind) lies in a death-like sleep throughout the course of this poem. The full story of his fall is in FZ, passim.

  6 Urizen lay in darkness The following passage retells BU 10.31–13.20. The creation of a limited physical body, beginning with an enclosed skull and heart, is an essential part of the Fall of Man.

  33 separated into a Female The creation of Enitharmon. See BU 13.50–19.1.

  36 separated into a Male The creation of the Spectre of Los.

  39 They Builded Great Golgonooza Los and his Spectre built the City of Art.

  41–3 Satan… Miller of Eternity… Prince of the Starry
Wheels SATAN, Los and Enitharmon’s youngest son, is a miller; the Starry Wheels turn like mill wheels and are associated with Urizenic Reason. Satan is, in fact, a form of URIZEN.

  P1. 4] This plate is a late addition.

  1–2 Beneath… Rintrah &… Palamabron Satan should be subservient to his brothers RINTRAH and PALAMABRON; their plough and harrow are more important than his mill.

  3 the Mundane Shell The sky. For its creation by Urizen, see FZ 11.23.8–31.15.

  6–14 Los’s speech to Satan, who wants to tend the harrow instead of his own mills.

  11 Newtons Pantocrator A bitter pun. Panto crator means: (1) ‘Omnipotent Lord’ (a traditional epithet for Christ); (2) ‘A copying machine’ (a coinage of Newton’s).

  12 Shaddai Heb. ‘Almighty’.

  21 South Molton Street where B. lived at No. 17 after leaving Felpham in 1803, and Stratford Place are at the foot of Tyburn Hill. B. identifies Tyburn gallows with Calvary.

  22 the Victims… their Cherubim Cherubim usually signify prohibition in B., but the victims here are turning the tables on their guardians. Probably this is autobiographical. B. is taking the courage to write.

  Pl. 5 This plate is a late addition, found only in one copy of the poem. It contains the lament of the Daughters of Albion over Man’s limited perceptions. The Daughters create the three classes of men, and offer consoling delight to two (the Reprobate and Redeemed, who are ‘contraries’), but not to the Elect, who are the ‘reasoning negative’.

  1–3 The fiery harrow, artillery and Sin are equated; Palamabron and Christ could bear the heat; Satan could not.

  19–26 Repeated with alterations in f 40.39–42.

  27 Limited perceptions produce restrictive moral codes; these reinforce worship of Babylon.

  39–40 Charles… Cromwell… James Historical examples of the three classes of men.

  James calls for fires because the Catholics were popularly blamed for starting the great fire of London (1666); James II was Catholic.

  P1. 6] This plate is an interpolation, but is contained in all copies of the poem.

  1 Golgonooza… London The City of Art is a spiritual and fully realized version of the city of this world.

  6 Enitharmons Loom The weaving of Enitharmon parallels the hammering of Los as creative labour.

  12 Rintrah, Palamabron, Theotormon, Bromion Four sons of Los.

  14 Lambeths Vale The area of London where B. lived 1791–1800. B. insists that Jerusalem was ‘builded here’ before the fall of Albion.

  16 Oak Groves rooted Druidism substituted for the ruined original City of God, Jerusalem.

  23–4 Babel… glory & war England has grown to be an empire instead of a sacred land.

  P1. 7 Here begins the main line of the Bard’s story, the conflict between Satan and Palamabron. This in part allegorizes the quarrel between Blake (Palamabron) and his patron Hayley (Satan). Hayley considered himself an important poet and Blake an eccentric dependant. Blake disagreed.

  4–6 Satan… soft intreated Los Hayley wished to be considered a major poet.

  10 blamable May refer to Los, who should not have succumbed to Satan-Hayley’s nagging; or to Palamabron-Blake, who should not have suppressed his anger.

  P1. 8.4–5 Satan… found all confusion For Blake, trying to do the trivial work Hayley recommends, has ‘marred’ it with his own ideas.

  26 the cliffs of the Dead The brows of mortal men.

  27–8 Jehovahs rain, & Molechs/Thick fires Epic epithets; a storm of rain and lightning. (Molech was a Canaanite god of fire and childsacrifice.)

  30 Theotormon & Bromion Sons of Los, they also appear in VDA as a pair with limited vision. Here, they possibly represent artist-friends of Hayley’s.

  31 trembling at eternal death See 4.17. Satan’s ‘work is Eternal Death’.

  32–4 Michael, Thulloh, Rintrah Sons of Los opposed to Satan. Possibly they all represent artist-acquaintances of Blake and Hayley, sympathetic to Blake.

  43 She form’d a Space The formation of spaces around offending figures is in B. always an act of female mercy, which protects and encloses the offender, and at the same time prevents the infection from spreading to others.

  46 Palamabron called down Palamabron at last takes action; Blake quarrels publicly with Hayley.

  P1. 9.8 the Two Witnesses A theological pun. One may ‘witness’ in a law court or ‘witness’ for Christ. The prophecy of two martyred witnesses of God is in Revelation 11:3–10.

  10 it fell on Rintrah This judgement is explained below, 11.15–26

  10–11 his rage… against Palamabron Satan-Hayley at last loses his temper; an Elect behaving like a Reprobate.

  19–29 Satan insisting on principles of sin and punishment reveals himself as ‘the Accuser who is the God of this world’. Hayley is a representative of these principles, though until now disguised in mild politeness.

  32–3 the stones becoming opake/Hid him Satan has ‘hardened his heart’.

  46 Satan not having… Wrath Satan not knowing how to express the emotion of anger simply and directly. Cf. ‘A Poison Tree’, SE, p. 129 above: ‘I told my wrath, my wrath did end.’

  50 the seven mountains of Rome The seven Churches.

  51 The COVERING CHERUB guards Paradise and prevents Man’s re-entry. B. identifies this figure with the false religions of Rome, Babylon and Tyre. The symbolism suggested here is further developed in J.

  P1. 10] This plate is a late addition.

  8–10 Satan… Became Canaan Satan is becoming a god of this world, and Canaan is becoming his exclusive holy land. A false and divisive holiness will necessarily precipitate War (1. 11). The geographical symbolism here is further developed j.

  12–13 their God… nor King Neither Church nor State can be worshipped by Poetry.

  14–19 Elynittria… And Ocalythron Here begins a new theme, that of sexual jealousy and possessiveness as the source of human conflict. ELYNITTRIA is Palamabron’s emanation (Catherine Blake). OCALYTHRON is mentioned in Europe, but not developed.

  P1. 11.1 Eon Another word for ‘emanation’. JERUSALEM is Albion’s emanation.

  13 the Spectres of the Dead Misguided mortal men.

  14 the Unutterable Name The Tetragrammaton, the name of God which it was forbidden to pronounce aloud; another sign of falsely ‘holy’ divinity, since God and Man should be one.

  17–18 If the Guilty… Eternity To punish the guilty prevents them from reforming themselves, and perpetuates a cycle of punishment.

  28 Leutha In Europe, a temptress-figure. Here she is Satan’s emanation (i.e., Inspiration). Her plea is that Satan-Hayley must not be blamed for a false Inspiration.

  P1. 12.10–41 Leutha’s version of Satan-Hayley’s attempts to be a great poet. He cannot handle the fires of creativity (11. 10–23), his doctrines are anti-libertarian (to devour Albion and Jerusalem, 1. 27), he adds insult to injury (the Serpent is the subtle liar and reasoner of Pl. ix) in criticizing Blake (11. 29–34). When contradicted, he retracts (1. 36). When he cannot succeed in writing, he continues to lecture (11. 37–8). When Blake returns to the scene, full of his own inspiration (11. 40–42), Hayley at first keeps his ideas to himself, then disclaims them.

  10 I sprang out of the breast of Satan As Sin sprang from Satan’s brow in Paradise Lost 11.752–60.

  39 And call’d me… held me Quotes Paradise Lost 11.760–61.

  P1. 13.2 Hayley’s egotism is still agitated.

  8 All is my Fault… Spectre of Luvah In an excess of contrition, Leutha incorrectly identifies herself and Satan with Luvah (who in FZ has his own part to bear in the ruin of Albion).

  17 Six Thousand years From 4004 BC, the supposed date of creation, to an anticipated apocalypse.

  17–23 Lucifer… Jehovah The SEVEN EYES OF GOD, a succession of deities presiding over periods of fallen history, each inadequate until the coming of the Lamb. See Dictionary of Proper Names.

  35 the fatal Brook Tyburn (identified with Calvary).

  43–4 Leut
ha lived/In Palamabrons Tent Blake studied and came to understand what Hayley represented in Art and Doctrine.

  P1. 14.9 Milton understood and believed the Bard, and was instantly inspired to act upon what he had heard.

  18 O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come? The final promise and prayer of the New Testament was Revelation 22:20: ‘He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’

  30–32 The key moral statement of the poem. All selfhood is Satanic. Milton had created a hell in Paradise Lost for his ‘Satan’. Now he must recognize that Satan is a part of himself. He must also recognize that fire is not ‘Hell’, but the proper element of the poet labouring at his ‘furnaces’ of creation. ‘Eternal Death’ is the ‘life’ of this world.

  36 he beheld his own Shadow (1) His lower self; (2) the influence of his writing in the world.

  37 hermaphroditic The hermaphroditic form in B. is a sterile parody of humanity in Eden, which transcends divided sexuality and is androgynous.

  39 twenty-seven-fold For the ‘twenty-seven heavens and their churches’, see 37.35ff. and Dictionary of Proper Names.

  40 direst Hell Ulro, the world of complete dead mechanism.

  42Seven Angels of the Presence The term is from Isaiah 63:7–9, speaking of God’s love for his children: ‘In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.’ Thus these are figures of compassion, one for each of the Eyes of God named on Pl. 13. The Seven, joined by Milton (15.5), make Eight, and at the close of the poem (42.10–11) ‘the Starry Eight became/One Man, Jesus the Saviour’.

  Pl. 15.8 Polypus Octopus or jellyfish; a symbol of poisonous vagueness, later developed by B. as a major image for the material body. Milton now exists in three forms: walking about as a divine image in Eden, sleeping in Beulah, and descending lonely to the world of Generation.