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email protected]'4)6'$;:05$*5%C4&'1)%B*.@*'0< '4.5E''>05$'%)'$%@' #)$-*#=0+*#,-',6'*"$'*.+2(+%',6 '*"$'(#-)'#-'*"$'!.$%$-*&'+%'3$44'+%'"#%' :.0:$*C;'0< '4)'%&&13%)45*6'<151.*+'5$*':0*5'*)B%@%0)@'4':.0C*@@'0< '%)%5%45%0)' *"+*'3#44'4#;$.+*$'"2(+-#*<'6.,('*"$'0,-=-$%',6'!$.0$!*#,-&'+-)'2-#6<'*"$' C.*45%B*'3%)6'H%5$'*A:*.%*)C*'%5@*&

!! !"#$%&#'()*+,-./01#/( #,0#23&4.&0-#5&*6,0-" In his letter to the Reverend Dr. John Trusler, Blake explains his perception of his creative endeavor. When he comments on the Reverend’s inability to “[comprehend] All Species of this Art,” he describes his own work as “that Species which gives Existence to Every other, namely Visions !" #$%&'()%*+#,-./0〹##6/%&'7#8 ./):;7#<=#0(!>#%8/%#?8);#@!'.A#=;#/# World of Imagination and Vision. I see Every thing I paint In This World, BC%#$D&'*#B!A*#A!&;#(!%#;&&#/.)0&+#,12345##?8&#E!&%F;#;CGG&;%)!(#%8/%#%8&# world and the imagination are joined, and that the world is a possession of the imagination, deserves remark, both as a self-analysis on Blake’s part and as an opportunity to explain his relationship to his art. At one point, Blake expresses satisfaction with the accessibility of 8);#>!'0H#<=#/:#8/EE*#%!#I(A#/#J'&/%#K/L!')%*#!" #M&..!>#K!'%/.;#NOP#9/(# Elucidate My Visions & Particularly they have been Elucidated by Children NOP#?8&'&#);#/#D/;%#K/L!')%*#!(#%8&#;)A&#!" #=:/G)(/%)!(#!'#QE)')%C/.#Q&(;/- %)!(+#,12R45##-./0&#A!&;#(!%#B&.)&D&#%8/%#8&#/.!(&#);#E')D*#%!#/(*#E/'%)9C./'# )(;)G8%7#%8/%#8);#E!&%'*#);#;!:&8!>#:!'&#A)"I9C.%#%8/(#!%8&'#D&';&7#!'#!%8&'# art. Indeed, his letter expresses conviction that his message—rather, his project—will be clear as long as the reader interweaves analysis and empa- thy in the process of reading. # Q%)..7#-./0&F;#E!&%'*#'&:/)(;#A)"I9C.%5##=#B&.)&D&#%8b/..&(G&#.)&;#)(# %8&#"/9%#%8/%#-./0&#&E)%!:)S&A#%8&#E!;)%)!(#!" #%8&#/'%);%#/;#/#IGC'&#>)%8# complete imaginative freedom. As a poet, whose work describes the world purely in the abstract language and logic of poetry, Blake poses a challenge to all perspectives that disregard the possibilities inherent in a textual universe. His work is equally individualized and universalized. While his IGC'&;#/');#!>(7#%8&*#'&T&9%#/..#!"#8C:/()%*U#>8).);#E'!L&9%#B&.!(G;#%!# him as an artist and experimenter, its purpose extends to address every- thing.

12 ! "#$!%$&&$'!&(!&#$!)$*$'$+,!-.!.-/+-012+&!-+.(32'!2.!-&!1(+0'4.!&#$! integration of the world and the imagination in Blake’s verse. In Blake’s project, the struggle for the world is a struggle within the mind, and more .5$1-012%%67!&#$!1'$2&-*$!4-+,8!!92'%6!-+!&#$!%$&&$'7!&#$!5($&!230'4.7!:;!3$$%! &!2!<2+!426!=$!#2556!-+!"#-.!>('%,?!@ABCD8!!E$!%-+F.!&#$!+(&-(+!(3! happiness to his conception of the world as being “of Imagination & Vision,” insinuating that a correlation exists between happiness and an illuminated understanding of the world. Still, as the letter indicates, happi- ness is elusive, and humanity remains oblivious. The reason for these ,-301G%&-$.!=$1(4$.!2552'$+&!-+!2!12'$3G%!2+2%6.-.!(3!H%2F$I.!5($&'68!!!!

3. A Warning in a Book. The Book of Urizen begins with a fall, and then documents a series of consequent falls. The poem is a record of failure and its results. Uri- zen’s inability to make peace with his conditions, followed by his escape from the pattern of thought that creates the world, births horrors that transcend human understanding. The poem presents an active engagement between the events described in its text, the voice recording the events and its sources of inspiration, and the reader. Blake organizes this interaction directly in the J'$%G,-G47!K#$'$-+!2+!G+-,$+&-0$,!*(-1$L$-&#$'!H%2F$I.!('!&!(3!2+(&#$'7! detached agent—encourages the Eternals to “[d]ictate swift winged words, M!3$2'!+(&N"(!G+3(%,!6(G'!,2'F!*-.-(+.!(3 !&('4$+&?!@O'-P$+!QQR8STBD8!!"#$! Preludium prevents the poem from operating passively. If the chapters of Urizen are the transmissions of a higher power, rather than Blake or a disembodied representation of Blake, then they must be more than “art for art’s sake”—they originate in a location beyond immediate contact, if not understanding. The Eternals antedate form, and more importantly, recall Blake’s use of the word “Eternity” in his description of the imagination and its connection to the world in his letter to John Trusler. The Eternals

13 inspire art, yet they are intimately connected with the imagination. ! "#$!%&$'()*$!'%(+!,)-.)/%'.(01+!),!2$.('03!!4&)5$.!6&789%$,!:7&2,! out of nothingness, “divided, & measur’d/Space by space in his ninefold 8'&;.$,,+??@3ABC+!DE3!!F$:7&$!(#$! :'00$.!G($&.'0!6&789%$,!:7&2,+!#$!)2'-).$,!(#$23!!H7&$!,6$%)/%'001+!#$! distinguishes them as separate from him. The act of separation, of “re- volving in silent activity:/Unseen in tormenting passions,” is at once substantial and insubstantial, and in all cases, a transgression against eternity >??@3?AB?CE3!!4&)5$.I,!(7&(9&$!),!).(&7,6$%()7.+!1$(!#),!,$0:B%7.($260'()7.! produces bodies outside of his own. The causal relationship established here is as allegorical as the reader would like it to be. Clearly, by creating external forms, Urizen generates changes, no matter how real they may actually be—and his changes transform him. ! F0';$I,!/-9&$!).)()'($,!'!6$&*$&($8!-$.$,),!',!#$!=,(&7*$!).!J'((0$,! 8)&$KL.!9.,$$.!%7.M)%()7.,!N)(#!,#'6$,KF&$8!:&72!#),!:7&,';$.!N)08$&- .$,,+KO: !J$',(+!J)&8+!/,#+!,$&6$.(!P!$0$2$.(+KQ72J9,()7.+!J0',(+!*'679&! '.8!%0798??@3?RB?SE3!!"#'(!#),!,(&9--0$,!'&$!=9.,$$.??@3TE3!!U$!),!%'6'J0$!7:!%726&$#$.8).-!4&)5$.! '.8!(#$!8&'2'!7: !#),!:'00+!1$(!#),!:')09&$!(7!-&',6!(#$!/-9&$I,!$'&01!:7&2'()*$! struggles indicates that they occur in an insubstantial medium. The nature of the medium is unimportant. The medium’s status as the predecessor of form recalls Blake’s conception of the world in his letter. Likewise, the association of “[w]ords articulate” with “thunders” joins the basic method of communication—and the form of Blake’s art—with worldly events >??T3DB!!!@E3!!4&)5$.!:',#)7.,!'!N7&08!:&72!(#79-#(3 Urizen’s fall results, arguably, from a problem of logic. The Eternal spurns eternity and the freedom of formlessness out of a desire for solidity. He makes his anxieties plain in Chapter 2:

14 “[f]rom the depths of dark solitude, From The Eternal abode in my holiness, Hidden, set apart in my stern counsels Reserv’d for the days of futurity, I have sought for a joy without pain, ! "#$!%!&#'()!*(+,#-+!.-/+-%+(#01!2334546378

Urizen creates the world and instigates the suffering of all life within the /#090:&!#; !;#$!$%+,:$!+,%0!%//:?+(0@!/,%0@:!%&!%! constant, he seeks to control his surroundings in a way that will accommo- date his interests. He is at once a creator in a universal sense and a creator in an individual sense, “[symbolizing] reason,” and acting as the “limiter of Energy, the lawmaker, and the avenger of conscience” according to S. "#&+:$!A%<#0!2A(/+(#0%$B!C3D85!!E,(&!<-/,!(&!?'%(0!(0!F$(G:0H&!/$:%+(#0!#;! binding “Laws of peace, of love, of unity” alongside the creation of forms 233I57C85!!E,:!?#:Los’s effort to “watch for Eternals to /#090:KE,:!#=&/-$:!&:?%$%+(#0!%'#0:1!:0)&!*(+,!+,:!'%++:$!9@-$:!=:(0@! “rent from his [Urizen’s] side,” with “a fathomless void for his feet,” and L(0+:0&:!9$:&!;#$!,(&!)*:''(0@1!233D57D6CM85!!N,:0!O#&!%/P-($:&!%!?,B&(/%'! =#)B!(0!Q,%?+:$!RST!,(&!%@#0B!+:&+(9:&!+#!+,:!/#0):<0%+(#0!(0,:$:0+!(0! ?,B&(/%'!:<=#)(<:0+T!(0&#;%$!%&!+,:!9@-$:!(&!L(0/,%(0H)KU:%V(0@!)#'#$#-&W! %0@-(&,H)W!-0=:%$%=':T1!%0)!%!L$##; !XYZ!(0/'#&H)KR0!%0!#$=T!,(&!;#-0+%(0!#; ! +,#-@,+1!23M[57367C85!!\-=&:P-:0+!+#!:0+:$(0@!,(&!=#)BT!O#&!&-;;:$&!;$#!LX%Z''!+,:!

15 lapsed Eternal reveals the limitations imposed upon people by the senses. Eternity is outside of the reach of extant forms. The Eternals constrict the expansion of the mortal, bodily universe !"#$%&'()*+#,'%+&#-(%.$(.%&-#(/'(#0)11&%#1%23#4%)5&*6-#$%&'()2*-#$/)&7"#8)(/# respect to design. Where Urizen initiates a genesis out of self-doubt and &9)-(&*()',#/2%%2%:#(/&#;(&%*',-#$2,,&$()<&,"#.*0&%('=&#(/&#>)*?*)(&#,'!2.%@# 21 #>A$)&*$&@#'*0#!.),0#(/&#>B&(#21#C&,)+)2*@#DEFGHIJK:#EFKHFFLH##M/&-&# '$()2*-#'%&#!&*&<2,&*(N#(/2.+/#2* #(/&#>&*2%32.-#%'$&@#O%20.$&0#!"# P2-#'*0#;*)(/'%32*#3)+/(#$2*-(%.&#(/&3#'-#(/&#?*',#0'3*'()2*-#21#,)1&# by the Eternals, the welfare of eternity is at stake in their construction DEFIHGQLH##M/&#;(&%*',-#02#*2(#$2*0&3*#/.3'*)("N#)*-(&'0:#/.3'*)("#)-#(/&# 0223&0#%&7&$()2*#21#4%)5&*6-#)+*2%'*$&H##4*(),#/.3'*#!&)*+-#'!'*02*# Urizen, and turn away from the “tormented element stretch’d/From the sorrows of Urizen’s soul,” they will continue to suffer, to witness their “Senses inward [rush] shrinking,/Beneath the dark net of infection” DEFRHFRJSTLH# By the logic of the Book of Urizen, people will continue to perpetu- ate the crisis instigated by their progenitors as long as they adhere to the system of thought that facilitated their creation. Urizen does not offer any solutions to human suffering or the division between eternity and the physical world aside from the implication that the impulse which directs the action of the poem must be quelled for positive change to occur. The O2&3#)0&*()?&-#'#$&*(%',#$%)-)-#)*#(/&#)-2,'()2*#1%23#(/�)<)*&:#.,()3'(&,"# 7.)0#'*0#-.!U&$()<&#$2*0)()2*#)*/'!)(&0#!"#(/&#;(&%*',-#'*0#2!-$.%&0#!"# the senses. The solution to the crisis emerges only in a more comprehen- sive reading of Blake’s work, beginning with the critical assessment of its effect.

16 !"#$%&#'()*+)#,&&+#-*.+&/0"# In Ideas of Good and Evil, a collection of essays on poetry, faith, and esotericism, William Butler Yeats contemplates the purpose of Blake’s !"#$%&'#(#)*#$'+",((-.#(/"0%(0#)%#)!#(+1(2#$%030(!+44#)%$"5($"67#0(&)( defense of a connection between Blake’s notion of futurity and the concep- tion of the betterment of humanity in his poems. The poet regards Blake not as a visionary, but as a man engaged with the world of the future, to such an extent that his works were fated to appear inaccessible:

There have been men who loved the future like a mistress, and the ( 17%7"#(89:(.&*(%.#4(1"+4(%.#(7)*#"0%$)*&)6(+1(%.#&"(%&4#0,((((( William Blake was one of these men, and if he spoke confusedly and obscurely it was because he spoke things for whose speaking ( .#(!+7;*(/)*()+(4+*#;0(&)(%.#(<+";*($=+7%(.&4(>2#$%0(?@AB,((

2#$%0($1/"40(%.$%(C;$D#(E+0&%&+)#*(.&40#;1(&)(%.#(17%7"#(=5(#)'&0&+)&)6( “the religion of art,” that is, the conception of art as a method for the "#F#!%&'#(&)%#"E"#%$%&+)(+1 (0+7;(>?@AB,((G(0$5(H0+7;I(.#"#(&)0%#$*(+1(H%.#( 0+7;I(+"(H0+7;0I(=#!$70#(2#$%0($1/"40(C;$D#30(!+6)&J$)!#(+1(%.#(!+44+)( link, or rather, the absence of disparities, between souls, that is, the self- hood inherent in all things. ( 2#$%030(C;$D#(&0($(<+"0.&E17;(/67"#K($(4$)(&)($(0%$%#(+1 (E#"1#!%( transition. He is alive, partly in the present but in larger part in the future, where everything is possible. His poems are distillations of thought, which is the device that engages the divine, and thereby touches everything: “[Blake] had learned from Jacob Boehme and from old alchemist writers %.$%(&4$6&)$%&+)(<$0(%.#(/"0%(#4$)$%&+)(+1 (*&'&)&%5K(L%.#(=+*5(+1(M+*K3(L%.#( N&'&)#(4#4=#"03I(>?OPB,((C;$D#30(Q."&0%(&0(%.#(#4$)$%&+)(+1($(*&'&)#(1$!%K( the “sympathy with all living things, sinful and righteous alike, which the &4$6&)$%&'#($"%0($<$D#)I(>?OPB,((C;$D#30(0$;'$%&+)R1+"(.#(<$0K(&)(.&0(<$5K($(

17 Christian—occurs in forgiveness when the act of forgiving entails an abandonment of self. Yeats perceives the solution to the “lethargies, and cruelties, and timidities, and that denial of imagination which is the root they grew from in old times”—Urizen’s fundamental horrors—as an adoption of a new way of viewing, consistent with Blake, but more importantly, consistent with !"#$%&'()*#+%(,- (./%(-0.01%(234356((78(./)'(-0.01%9(:)*#+)8#.),8(;)<);%'(0'( from mortality by the immortality of beauty, and binds us to each other by ,=%8)8+(./%('%>1%.(;,,1'(,-(#""(/%#1.'?(234356((@%#.'&'(0'%(,-(./%(A,1;( “divides” in this sentence implies that something akin to, yet clearly differ- ent from, Urizen’s separations must occur for humanity to change. The poet’s implication here may be that humanity will need to revise its under- standing of the purpose of division, and accordingly, the foundations of its thought process, to shatter its boundaries and emerge in a state of oneness with the divine. Yeats continues to stress the mutual importance of the develop- ment of the imagination and the cultivation of positive relationships between people in his essay. He also notes the remarkable iconoclasm of Blake’s work. As Blake “was a man crying out for a mythology, and trying .,(*#$%(,8%(B%>#0'%(/%(>,0";(8,.(C8;(,8%(.,(/)'(/#8;9?(/)'(A,1$(1%*#)8'( /)+/"D()8;)<);0#")E%;9(#8;('#>1%;()8(#(=1,-,08;"D(=%1',8#"(A#D(234F56((!"#$%( )'(#'(;)-C>0".(#8;(08'%..")8+(-,1(1%#;%1'()8(./%(=1%'%8.(#'(/%(#==%#1'(.,(B%( -,1(@%#.'(B%>#0'%(/)'(A1).)8+()'(>,*="%.%"D()8.1,'=%>.)<%9(D%.(1%G%>.)<%(,- ( everything outside of him. His work stands out because its point is still beyond the ken of people other than the poet himself—because its truth transcends the illusion of selfhood.

!"#$%&'()(*%&+,'#-,.&/0)#,12#-,.&/&+,'#$%&'()(*%&0)"# If The Book of Urizen is a tutorial disguised as a historical lamenta- tion, then The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a puzzle. The process of

18 interpreting the puzzle, of attempting to discern its comedy from its argument—or integrating the two—relates to the title of the text to the extent that it encourages the reader to question the distinctions implied in its action and structure. Virtually all of the moral claims and theses in the Marriage have contradictory counterparts, and reify the support of “Con- !"#"$%&'($)(!*%(+,%-.&(/"01-%)!(23#""$#0%(4567((8*%(+,%-.&(#99,-+:$&*- ment, that is, the marriage of opposing polarities, encompasses the resolu- tion to the crisis of The Book of Urizen. ( /!(;"&!<(=:#>%(#++%#"&(!,(+",-,!%(!*%(!%)&$,)(?%!@%%)(9,)!"#"$%&( as a necessity for development. “Progress” occurs in the interaction of extremes: “Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, #"%()%9%&&#"A(!,(B1-#)(%C$&!%)9%'(24567((D!$::<(!*%(/"01-%)!(9,)!#$)&( descriptions that effectively contradict the notion of contradiction as a +",0"%&&$E%(%E%)!<(&19*(#&(!*%(+$E,!#:($F%)!$;9#!$,)(,G(!*%(-,-%)!(,G (!*%( !%C!(#&(H!*%("%!1")(,G (/F#-($)!,(I#"#F$&%'(24567((J#!*%"(!*#)(%-+*#&$K$)0( struggle, this statement indicates an impending liberation for humanity, potentially resulting from the abandonment of the principles that originally separated contraries from one another. Blake’s logic, in the Argument and “The voice of the Devil,” satirically echoes the convolutions of so-called rational thought while collapsing the principles that prevent the recognition of contrary forces and states as interdependent. By speaking through the Devil, Blake complicates the already vexing realization “[t]hat God will torment Man in Eternity for following his Energies” according to the fallacies of “Bibles or sacred 9,F%&'(2LM67((8*%(N%E$:.&(#G;"-#!$,)(!*#!(HO)%"0A($&(O!%")#:(N%:$0*!'( despite the condemnations of Heaven acts as a contrary by itself, and its E%"#9$!A($&(F,1?!G1:(0$E%)($!&(&,1"9%(2LM67( I believe that the identity of the speaker is integral here, given the claims of the original Argument. The Devil is not privy to a more well- rounded perspective than any of the occupants of Heaven. As persuasive

19 as his claims may seem, their location immediately subsequent to the !"#$%&'()*+&'(*,&-)(.&%)/-)-0%&(.*'#)01)/)("/23))40)(/5&)(.&)6&7*89-)-*+&:) even in the observation of liturgical contradictions, constitutes a denial of the necessity of the struggle between opposing forces. The “Energy” that the Devil describes is neither sacred nor sinful—instead, the determination of its value depends on the identity of the speaker. Here, perception achieves more than the association of a principle with good or evil—it directly creates the principle, ex nihilo. The Devil never fully describes “Energy” except in abstraction, &*(.&")/-)*()"&8/(&-)(0)&7*8)/'+)(.&);0+<)0")/-)=>(&"'/8)6&8*#.(?)@ABC3))D&) discourses as if his subject matter is universally understood, albeit contest- &+3))E;7*0$-8<:)(.*-)*-)/)1/88/F*0$-)20*'(G<&()H8/5&)+*-#$*-&-)(.&)I/J-) underpinning the foundations of the Devil’s statement by avoiding a polemical tone at this or any other stage in the text. The Devil’s principal error, of course, is internalization, or the refusal to recognize or defer to ways of viewing outside the perception of the individual. By concretely +&,'*'#)=>'&"#

20 !"#$%&'"()"#*$&+'&*,-./#%*0$#%*"1&*2'/&$,#$3/*/&.4-"&*"1&*5#'"&%4"* &64$&..&/*0#$*-"*78*/-9-'-"8*:;<=> * ?1&*$&"2$'*"#*@A$A/-.&*'&5&..-"A"&.*"1&*&%7$A5&*#0*+B2$&.*&6"&$'A3* to the self, whether contrary or otherwise, as integral, not because of the positive products of their struggle with the self, but because they are intimately connected with the self. Perception alone divides Heaven from Hell, and keeps man from Paradise. A change in perception, then, or more aptly, a more imaginative, abstract way of viewing the world, will facilitate the development of humanity and the movement to a transcendent state. In this light, the Proverbs of Hell acquire value as the principles of A*.4&5-+5*5#'/-"-#')C&33)"1A"*%A8*$&4$&.&'"*A*184#"1&"-5A3*02"2$&>**?1&8* could be a set of ethics or social policies, or they could be a list of sins. D&-"1&$*E3AF&*'#$*"1&*EA$/*7#"1&$*"#*A'A38G&*"1&%H*3-F&*"1&*@$#9&$7.*#0 *"1&* Bible, their interpretation is entirely in the hands of the reader. I will not 7#"1&$*"#*%&/-"A"&*#'*A'8*.4&5-+5*@$#9&$7I*#$*A..&..*"1&*!-%4#$"A'5&(*#0 * the Proverbs on the whole, for that reason. Blake wrote them, but he encourages their analysis by choosing to avoid commenting on them within the medium of the Marriage. Thus, when the Proverbs close with the line “Enough! or Too much,” they approximate their virtually universal applica- 7-3-"8*-'*4A$"*A'/*,1#3&*:;J=>**K.*A*,#$F*+$%38*&'"$&'51&/*-'*"1&*02"2$&I*"1&* Marriage*-.*.24$&%&38*L2-/> * ?1&*"&6"*&643A-'.*,18*-"*-.*L2-/I*"1A"*-.I*,18*-"*-.*A*,#$F*#0 *4#..-7-3- ity, rather than a form of philosophical constraint, in ensuing pages. Like the “ancient Poets” who “animated all sensible objects with Gods or M&'-2.&.I*5A33-'B*"1&%*78*'A%&.*A'/*A/#$'-'B*"1&%*,-"1*NOP*,1A"&9&$* their enlarged & numerous senses could perceive,” the Marriage creates a .8."&%*#0*-/&A.*7A.&/*#'*"1&*#7.&$9A"-#'.*#0 *-".*$&.4&5"-9&*.4&AF&$.*:;Q=>** The power of the work, and its difference from the visions of the ancient 4#&".I*-'1&$&.*-'*-".*A0+$%A"-#'*"1A"*!K33*/&-"-&.*$&.-/&*-'*"1&*12%A'*7$&A."(* :;Q=>**R#$&-B''&..I*"1&*1#38I*A'/*"1&*2'1#38*A$&*A33*'#"1-'B*%#$&*"1A'*

21 descriptors, generated within the mind and attributed based on sensation and personal judgment. The imagination is the mechanism with which the individual creates and implements these terms. As the second Memorable Fancy indicates, the imagination may also triumph over the limitations that it creates, through the creative effort. !"#$%&"#%'()*%(+,+%-+(.("/%01*2#+%(%3)4%5#)+6(+.2$%&"(&%(%&".$7%.+%+2/%4(,#% it so,’” the Prophet responds, “‘All poets believe that it does, & in ages of .4(7.$(&.2$%&".+%3)4%5#)+6(+.2$%)#428#*%429$&(.$+:%;9&%4($<%()#%$2&% =(5(;>#%2? %(%3)4%5#)+6(+.2$%2? %($<%&".$7@A%BCDEF%%-%4(.$&(.$%&"(&%(%03)4% perswasion”—a properly guided point of view—is the resolution to the dilemmas raised by Blake. Urizen represents the mind in a state fallen from the age of .4(7.$(&.2$/%#&#)$.&%G9H/%52++.;.>.&><%52#&)>% support the perfection of life, in which “the whole creation will be con- +94#*/%($*%(55#()%.$3$.&#/%($*%"2>#&#%9$.3=(&.2$%($*%&2&(>%52++.;.>.&

22 creative powers properly. Death may not fade, but the fear of death can be overcome, like all other fears, in the veneration of love, art, and thought— in the manifestation of the divine on Earth. The realization that the self and the world are one, the foment of universal love, and the creation of perfect art will occur together in a state of total synthesis in the eternity of Blake’s future. Following the resolution of Urizen’s dilemma, “Empire” will be “no more,” the “lion & wolf shall cease,” and “every thing that lives” will be “Holy”—the Marriage closes with !"#$%&&'(%)*#$!"%!$*"%)+#$,&$*-.,)+/$!"-'+"$!"#$&0#*,1*$*"%(%*!#($-2 $!"%!$ *"%)+#$,&$(-'+"34$5#1)#5$6789:$$;+%,)/$<3%=#>&$?-(=$,&$)#,!"#($0(-0"#!,*/$ nor visionary, but rather, engaged with the future at its most hypothetical. The Marriage succeeds at bringing Heaven and Hell together by the fact of its argument and by its ability to argue, to joke, and to bring polarities !-+#!"#($%)5$#@%.,)#$!"#,($A%?&$*-.0(#"#)&,B#34:$ It is in this state of suspension—in the purely conceptual, purely experimental realm of art—that Blake envisions the world as it can be if humanity learns to thrive in a more future-oriented state of thought. More plainly, humanity will return to Paradise if they learn to view the world as a work of art. No matter how violent the change in outlook may be, its end result will be simple. The world will become an expression of the self, and the individual will become the world. By default, the love of self will fuel the love of everything. Urizen will not be defeated, but set free. The Marriage is an excellent demonstration of the fundamental truths which ensure that humanity will be able to liberate itself when it is ready. However, as is the case with all of Blake’s poetry, the message of the text is indirect, and the effort to decode it and unearth its underlying principles—in other words, to read it well—demands a more expansive analysis of the implications of a revolution of thought. Blake does not appear eager to explain the practical usage of his conception of the future, because his work is art, and because it must be no less personal than it is

23 universal. To draft the theoretical underpinnings of the union of the individual mind and the world, he must speak in his own language. In order to elucidate the full gravity of the Marriage, Urizen, and the artistic project outlined in Blake’s work, I will address the effort of another artist to contact a hypothetical state of perfection in the present: Philip K. Dick’s Exegesis.

6. Escape from the Black Iron Prison. Dick wrote the Exegesis following a period of contact with what he !"#$"%"&'()'!"'*'&$%$+$(,-''.$/'01/('1"2)1&'$/'!1$"34'*+&'"56*##,'/"+/)1,'*+&' /7$1$(6*#8'9:$;('*77"*1"&<$+'%$%$&'01"4'=$(>'/>$+$+?'2)#)1/'*+&'!*#*+2"&' 7*(("1+/<*+&'1"#"*/"&'@"'31)@'"%"1,'(>1*##4'$++"1'*+&')6("1A'BCD"?"/$/'EF-'' Subsequent accounts become more complicated and involve a series of relations not unlike what the Bard describes in his contemplation of the poets and the creation of the gods. Dick “knew that the world around me was a cardboard, a fake” during the third appearance of this divine force, described as the “Restorer of What Was Lost” and the “Mender of What G*/'H1)I"+A'BEF-''J61$+?'(>$/'(>$1&'%$/$)+4'(>"'*6(>)1'9())I')+'$+'!*((#"4'*/' a champion of all human spirits in thrall, every evil, every Iron Imprisoning (>$+?A'BEF-''K>"'*+(*?)+$/(4'>"'1"%"*#/4'$/'(>"'921"*()1')3'(>$/'=)1#&4A'=>)' 2)+2"*#/'(>"'(16(>'=$(>'9*'&"#6/$%"'%"$#A'()'9>$&"'(>"'"%$#'$+'$(A'BELF-''J$2IM/' crisis, upon contacting the true God, involved the realization that he might be trapped, the consideration that he might be hallucinating, and the fear that he could not escape from the world as it was. Dick’s experience is an excellent case study in a reading of Blake. He felt fear—complete, mortal fear—that the “bleakness, the evil and pain in this world, the fact that it is a deterministic prison controlled by the demented creator” who “causes us willingly to split with the reality prin- 2$7#"4A'@$?>('+"%"1'!"')%"12)@"'BELF-''."'*#/)'"D71"//"&'$+31"56"+(' conviction that, whether what he was experiencing was real or not, he and

24 humanity could be saved. Salvation came in the form of Christ, not in the institutional Christian rationalization, but as the embodiment of humanity !"#$%"#&%'()*(+#",-%./+$"(0(12%3456%%7"+8%+,-#(9#:/;"<(&%=(&:&%/&%/%>?:)(%,*% the future, the vision of ultimate humanity, that which will naturally result from the illumination of the species. He also views the creator of the !,);1%/&%/%*,)+(%,* %)(?)(&&",-%/-1%"->-"#(%)(1:+#",-6%%@-1((1A%7"+8B&%+)(/#,)% 1"**()&%*),C%D)"<(-%,-;E%"-%-/C(A%*,&#()"-?%#$(%.";;:&",-%FGH%#$/#%!(%/)(% &,;(;E%'$E&"+/;A2%/-1%#$/#%$"&%!,);1%."&%C()(;E%/%'),I(+#",-2%3JK56%%7"+8B&% vision is consistent with the principles that he outlines. For this reason, his 1"&+,:)&(%!"#$%L,1%,-%"->-"#E%'),0(&%"-#(?)/;%#,%/%+;,&(%)(/1"-?%,* %M;/8(6 At one point in the Exegesis, Dick talks to God in a state of confu- sion. He is not sure of whether the God he is speaking to is necessarily a divinity at all, and fruitlessly interrogates the “Restorer.” For every hypoth- esis that he develops to attempt to explain his contact with the divine, God )(';"(&%!"#$%./-%"->-"#(%)(?)(&&A2%/-1%&#)(&&(&%#$/#%#$(%'),+(&&%,*%N:(&#",-- "-?%/-1%/-&!()"-?%"&%/%?/C(%#,%$"C%3O56%%.@->-"#EA2%"-%#$"&%+/&(A2%"&%"->-"#(% abstraction. Dick cannot make sense of the sacred. This, in my reading, is the solution to the critical conundrum surrounding Blake, and an explanation of the import of his work. The Exegesis is a collection of notes discussing an engagement with a force outside of nature, and possibly even outside time, which will be imminent and understandable, but is not within the human purview at present. Blake’s poetry, in its turn, could be nothing more than a collection of passionate reveries devoted to attempting to distill the experience of the divine into a readable product. However, I believe that there is more to Blake, as an artist, experimenter, and guide, than simple introspection. M;/8(B&%/)#%"&%-(+(&&/)";E%1"*>+:;#%P(+/:&(%"#%&#)"'&%/!/E%#$(%/)#">+(%"-%/)#A%&,% that all that remains is an expression, from the text to the reader. The expression is divine, because all art is divine, even if the artist is unaware of that fact. The reader is not likely to understand the divinity in expression in

25 the way that Blake does, because, as the Marriage indicates, holiness is personal. What is sacred in Blake’s poetry is intrinsically the possession of the poet. Still, Blake’s expressions have a purpose. They are a perpetual !"#$%&'()"#*"+ *(,-*)&&)#-#!-*"+*-(-%#)(./*

7. Theory and Practice. Urizen’s crisis, humanity’s imprisonment, and the restoration of eternity in love and art: these are the stakes of Blake’s poetry. The scale of ,)0*'%()0()!*1%"2-!(*)0*%)3'4-5*"#4.*6.*(,-*5)+$!74(.*"+*,)0*8"%9/**:()44;*(,-* applicability of the project deserves notice. Blake’s poetry is not only 5)+$!74(*6-!'70-*)(*)0*17<<4)#=*'#5*)#(-#0-4.*1-%0"#'4/**>#*?@A"7<)#=*(,-* Faculties to Act’: William Blake, Merkabah Mysticism, the Theology of Liberation and the Exegetical Importance of Experience,” the critic Christopher Rowland compares Blake’s poetry to the Bible, Blake’s “‘Great Code of Art,’” on the grounds that both works act “as a catalyst for )#(-%1%-('()3-*(,"7=,(B*CA"84'#5*DED;*DEFG/**H"%*A"84'#5;*I4'9-J0*8"%9* inspires revelatory insight, by encouraging readers to meditate within the medium of the text and by themselves. Rowland maintains that in Blake’s poetry, “[e]xperience can offer a motor for exegesis and so be a necessary complement to the insights of ,)0("%)!'4*)#(-%1%-('()"#B*CDEFG/**A'(,-%*(,'#*(-#5)#=*("8'%5*?1%-!)0)"#;* "%5-%;*'#5*0.0(-&;B*,)0*3)0)"#0*!"#0()(7(-*'#*?@-++-!()3-J*,)0("%.*KLM*8,)!,* have prompted various insights as consequences of their impact on the +'!74()-0B*CDEDG/**N#='=-&-#(*8)(,*I4'9-J0*8"%9*'&"7#(0*("*'*0'!%-5* interaction with the poet-as-text, and the subsequent production of positive associations between the individual and the world, despite the foreignness and complexity of the latter. Histories such as The Book of Urizen are abstract because they document mental and conceptual occurrences, and because they are polemical, even if the argument of the polemic is essen- tially variable.

26 Further, Urizen and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell are only con- nected to time with respect to linearity. As Rowland observes, Blake “shaped a new way of communicating, therefore, to challenge convention !"#$%&'(%))$!$#*++%(%",$-."-%',*."$.+ $/01!"$2*+%3$456578$$9/%$2*:%(!,*."$.+ $ the species will occur exclusively in the imagination, in conditions external to the present understanding of time. These conditions manifest in written expression, and bring about the emergence of God, “the result of an *1!;*"!,*<%$!"#$%&'%(*%",*!2$(%!#*";3$456=78$$>.($?.@2!"#A$B2!C%D)$@(*,*";)$ “require a different kind of exegetical method, which is open to difference and facilitates the full use of the space offered by the text”—functionally, ,/%E$#*(%-,$,/%$1*"#$,.@!(#$!$),!,%$.+ $-!,/!()*)$455F78$$9/%$(%!#%($/!)$!$ hand in the development of each poem. As soon as doubt enters the interpretation of a given Blake text, the interpreter has an opportunity to raise questions about the substance of the work, and moreover, about the thoughts and conditions that formulate his or her questions. Despite my disagreement with the critic’s conclusion, which argues that “Blake reckoned that all might participate in the interpretative venture and have their say about his words and pictures,” and therefore suggests a democratic impulse in Blake’s work, I believe that Rowland’s treatment of /*)$)0:G%-,D)$'.%,(E$*)$'(.+.0"#$455678$$B2!C%D)$'.%,(E$*)$!,$."-%$%&%;%,*-!2$ and provocative of deep spiritual analysis in the reader. Its introspection is a call for readers to turn inward, and abandon the deceptions of selfhood in an act of marriage with the universe. Rather than reaching outward to attempt to encompass the universe within the self, the individual must look *"@!(#A$,.$H"#$!"#$,(!")-%"#$,/%$!"&*%,*%)$,/!,$/!<%$'(%<%",%#$,/%$!#

27 !"#$%&%$#'#!(")*'"+*!"*,'%-$%*&'%#)*'*.&$/!0/*&$%.&$/#!1$2**34$*%$#5%"*#(* Paradise is a moment of initiation, of transition from innocence to experi- ence. Eternity produces a perfect harmony between the self and everything outside the self.

8. Results. At once utopian, a challenge, a work of art that is also a moment (6 */("#'/#*7!#4*#4$*4(,8)*'"+*'*/("#$9&,'#!("*(6*#4$*0-5%$*(6*:4%!.#*!"*'* Blakean context, “The Lamb” resolves all concerns, from Urizen’s folly to the discordant and harrowing solutions of the Marriage. The precise point of the resolution emerges in a series of connections developed in the second stanza of the poem, which comprise a vast movement from the small scale of the individual to the large scale of existence itself:

He is called by thy name. For he calls himself a Lamb He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, * ;$*'%$*/',,$+*<8*4!.*"'9$*=>("-.*?@2?AB?CD2

The subject of address is a lamb, one of the traditional representations of Christ. The speaker considers the values implicit in the Messiah’s embodi- ment in the lamb. Then, he forms an entire system of correspondences, linking the speaker, Christ, the lamb, and humanity. The use of the title to 6(%9*#4$*/(%%$.&("+$"/$*!.*.!-"!0/'"#*!"*#4'#*#4$*.&$'E$%*%$,!$.*("*,'"-5'-$* and symbol—the tools of poetry—to complete the synthesis of the respective subjects. The product of the synthesis is a moment of under- standing.

28 ! "#$%&&%&$!'%()!()#!*+,-.*(%/&0!12)3#!4#5*.#!*!6%((6#!5)%6708!()#! 9:#*;#-!-#<#*69!=)-%9(>9!:/'#-!*9!*!,$?-#!%&!*!9(*(#!/+!:#-:#(?*6!5/&5/?-9#! '%()!()#!'/-67!@ABCADEC!!F)#!+/66/'%&$!6%�!1G!*!5)%67!*&7!()/?!*!6*.408!H/%&! ()#!9:#*;#-0!()#!6*.40!*&7!()#!I#99%*)!%&!*!9(*(#!/+!(/(*6!-#J#5(%/&!@ABCAKEC!! F)#!-#*7#-!*&7!*66!/+ !#L%9(#&5#!*-#!()#!4/7%#9!()*(!()#!,$?-#9!-#J#5(C!!G!'%66! return to the Marriage to contextualize the importance of this event. Following the completion of the Proverbs of Hell, the Bard states that “[t] he ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods and Geniuses”— %&56?7%&$!()#!M/7!/+ !()#!=)-%9(%*&9!@I*--%*$#!KNEC!!M%<#&!=)-%9(>9!%7#&(%(O! as an emanation of God, a reading of “The Lamb” in keeping with the Marriage would involve a recognition of the Messiah not as the bodily proof of the possibility of the link between lamb, artist, reader, universe, and divinity, but as the symbolic demonstration of a prophetic fact. The reader and the representation are indistinguishable from one another. Impossibil- ity and the divisions of time are mortal inventions. Everything is possible, and the imagination is everything.

9. Conclusion. Lucidity is Blake’s utopia, his ultimate marriage, Eden, possibility, and future. The apocalypse belongs to the living, to those who think in terms of beginnings and endings. Accordingly, eternity is insight. The conclusion of Blake’s project is the abandonment of fear, and the accep- tance of all changes, no matter what they incur, as necessary—as parts of life. When I say that Blake’s future is a work of art, I mean that it awaits creation, not at the hands of a distant, alien divinity, but the inhabitants of the world today. Instead of demanding that the world become one thing or *&/()#-0!()*(!%(!#.4/7O!*!:*-*7%$.!9:#5%,5!(/!()#!:/#(>9!/-!*&O/&#!#69#>9! idea of the world, Blake’s work is a tool, designed to encourage readers to create new paradigms, to think, and join idealism and pragmatism in the act of thinking.

29 The future, like any Blakean property, belongs to the individuals who design it, and can and should take any form, so long as its authors permit it to mingle among other possibilities. To accept pain as well as joy, !"#$%&%'#()#*+,!+-!(")#-."&%#-''#!/()012#!"#3")4%$#-!#3/-!#!/%#3"$'4#,"+'4# be, instead of lamenting what it is not: these are the keys that will free 5$(6%)7##8/%9#.%0()#!/%#:+$(;,-!(")#"<#!/%#1%)1%12#-)4#!/%#1-'&-!(")#"< #!/%# world.

Works Cited

Blake, William. The Book of Urizen. Blake’s Poetry and Designs. Ed. Mary Lynn Johnson, et al. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.

——. “The Lamb,” in Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Blake’s Poetry and Designs. Ed. Mary Lynn Johnson, et al. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.

——. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake’s Poetry and Designs. Ed. Mary Lynn Johnson, et al. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.

——. “To the Reverend Dr. John Trusler, August 23, 1799.” Blake’s Poetry and Designs. Ed. Mary Lynn Johnson, et al. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.

Damon, S. Foster. A Blake Dictionary: The Ideas and Symbols of William Blake. London: UP of New England, 1988.

Dick, Philip K. Exegesis Excerpts. Grey Lodge Occult Review. 2003. Alte- rati. 13 May 2009 .

30 Damon, S. Foster. A Blake Dictionary: The Ideas and Symbols of William Blake. London: UP of New England, 1988.

Hine, Phil. “Are You Illuminated?” The Disinformation Book of Lies. Ed. Richard Metzger. New York: The Disinformation Company Ltd., 2003.

Rowland, Christopher. “‘Rouzing the Faculties to Act’: William Blake, Merkabah Mysticism, the Theology of Liberation and the Exegetical Im- portance of Experience.” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contempo- !"!#$%&&!'"()*+$,,-$.'/$012$$3455067$820182/

Yeats, William Butler. Ideas of Good and Evil. London: A. H. Bullen, 1907.

31