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Eibeibunka 47 1 『英米文化』47, 1–12 (2017) ISSN: 0917–3536 The Unity of Contraries in William Blake’s World of Vegetation NAKAYAMA Fumi Abstract William Blake, English-romantic poet and copperplate engraving artist, often compares human to vegetable organism in his late prophetic books. This paper is an attempt to ana- lyze the unity of ‘contraries’ through the association between Blake’s world of vegetation and the Bible, especially, The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. First, I trace the sources of inspi- ration for Blake in Celtic culture, Christianity and philosophy. And next, I discuss the unity of contraries into ‘the Poetic Genius’ as Blake’s dialectic in his world of vegetation. Around the time when Blake wrote “To the Muses” in his first work, Poetical Sketches, muses were the very existence of scholarship. But gradually his confidence in muses began to waver. Muses are the daughters of ‘Mnemosyne’ and so Blake regarded the works inspired by muses as not exactly a good art. For Blake, ‘the Poetic Genius’ is the most important existence. As for the common terms between Blake’s prophecy and The Book of Ezekiel, I deal with two specific examples, the analogy of human likened to vegetable and ‘four.’ Both also have the similar plot, the division and unity of the personified ‘Jerusalem,’ and the process in which Jerusalem went to ruin, and later it was rebuilt as a theocracy. 1. Introduction William Blake (1757–1827) is an English-romantic poet and copperplate engraving artist, and in his works, human is often compared to vegetable organism. This imagery is read par- ticularly in his late prophetic books, The Four Zoas (1795–1804), Milton (1804–08) and Jerusalem (1804–20). Before dealing with his world of vegetation, I trace the sources of inspiration for Blake in this chapter. In the opening of “Introduction” in Songs of Experience (1789–94), ‘the voice of the 2 『英米文化』47 (2017) Bard,’ which Blake inspires us to hear, gives inspiration to him, and by using his imagina- tion he begins to create works. Imagination is the power which enables Blake’s visionary sensitivity, and in his prophetic books, ‘Los’ which personifies imagination branches out in the sky and vegetates to be a gigantic tree. “Introduction” of Songs of Experience begins with its narrator, “Hear the voice of the Bard! / Who Present, Past, & Future, sees; / Whose ears have heard / The Holy Word / That walk’d among the ancient trees, / Calling the lapsed Soul, / And weeping in the evening dew;. .”1 Bards, which were sometimes confused with Druids, were Celtic poet-prophets, of great antiquity and authority.2 Bards have the same origin, ‘speculation,’ as Druids.3 As noted below, Evan Evans (1702–65), one of the most influential Welsh scholars of his day, provides a more interesting suggestion in De Bardis Dissertatio (1764). “The word Bâr means something like madness, that is to say the poetical frenzy by which the Bards felt that they were possessed. and which bears, without doubt, some analogy to that poetic fury or enthusiasm with which the poets fancied themselves, or might feign to be inspired.”4 And Evans follows, “Poetic inspiration was hardly a new idea.”5 Around the time when Blake wrote “To the Muses” in his first work, Poetical Sketches (1769–78), muses are the very existence of scholarship and all the more, he makes an appeal to them, “Fair Nine, forsaking Poetry! / How have you left the antient [ancient] love / That bards of old enjoy’d in you!”6 After he wrote “A work of Genius is a Work ‘Not to be obtain’d by the Invocation of Memory & her Syren Daughters, but by Devout prayer to the Eternal Spirit...’,”7 his confidence in muses began to waver. Muses are the daughters of ‘Mnemosyne (Memory)’ and so Blake regarded the works inspired by muses as not exactly a good art. In The Four Zoas, one of his late prophetic books, there is the following passage, “Daughter of Beulah, Sing / His fall into Division & his Resurrection to Unity:. .”8 ‘Beulah’ was the name given to Palestine when it was restored to God’s favor: “thy land [shall be called] Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married” (Isaiah, 62:4). In Blake’s prophecy, it is the realm of the subconscious and the source of poetic inspiration and dreams.9 But from the time Blake considered ‘the Poetic Genius’ more important than the others, his way of thinking gradually changed. As will in the conclusion of this paper hereinafter be described in detail, this Poetic Genius is taken as synonymous with imagination, which is active in his prophecy as ‘Los.’ The vegetative ‘Los’ is read as a sign that Blake places NAKAYAMA Fumi The Unity of Contraries in William Blake’s World of Vegetation 3 emphasis on imagination. As described in Book of Genesis, God created the universe, in the beginning the heavens and earth, the light and darkness on the first day, and the vault on the second day. On the third day, preceding the creation of human, that of the plants starts. Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce growing things; let there be on the earth plants that bear seed, and trees bearing fruit each with its own kind of seed.’ So it was; the earth produced growing things: plants bearing their own kind of seed and trees bearing fruit, each with its own kind of seed; and God saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning came, the third day.” (Genesis, 1:11–13)10 The Bible is in some way a poetry which was compiled with a poetic talent, creativity and imagination. It has a consistent style of writing with figurative and symbolic expressions. Blake writes in The Laocoön (c.1820), “The Old & New Testaments are the Great Code of Art. Art is the Tree of Life. God is Jesus. Science is the Tree of Death.”11 The energy, which creates a variety of arts, is a poetic talent and imagination. And for Blake, this energy stems from the imagery of the trees. In the next chapter, I attempt to discuss the Blake’s world of vegetation12 in the associa- tion with The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. 2. The world of ‘Vegetation’ There is the following passage in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (c.1790–93). The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert that God spake to them; and whether they did not think at the time that they would be misunderstood, & so be the cause of imposition. (Keynes 153) According to Thomas Wright’s Life of William Blake (1928), in his boyhood days, Blake is quoted as saying to his father that he saw Ezekiel sitting behind blue tree branch.13 That angel seemed the old, tortured man, and Blake was sincerely sympathetic to his grievous cry. Since the age of four, he has seen ‘a vision,’ which was severely criticized by father. Nevertheless, Ezekiel had a profound effect on him. In the Old Testament Blake’s favorite 4 『英米文化』47 (2017) books were The Book of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel and Job. Of all the major prophets, Ezekiel was the most imaginative. Blake quotes Ezekiel and The Book of Ezekiel in his several pro- phetic books, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Jerusalem and so on. Jerusalem, believed as ‘the very centre of the world,’14 was invaded by Babylonian forces, and Ezekiel was taken away with the king and other leaders. While he was carried into Bab- ylonian captivity B.C.597, the heavens were opened and he saw the visions from God on the bank of the river Kebar. The Lord said to him, “O man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me. You are to say to them, ‘There are the words of the Lord God,’. .”(Ezekiel, 2:3–5) The writing style of The Book of Ezekiel abounds with alle- gories, parables, and visions. The plot is the process in which Jerusalem went to ruin, and later it was rebuilt as a theocracy. Jerusalem by Blake also has the similar plot, the division and unity of the personified ‘Jerusalem.’ In understanding the influence from Ezekiel with specific examples, at first, I deal with the analogy of human likened to vegetable, and in the next chapter, the other common terms between The Book of Ezekiel and Blake’s works. Example 1 The Lord God says: As the wood of the vine among all kinds of wood from the for- est is useful only for burning, even so I treat the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (emphasis added) (Ezekiel, 15:6) Example 2 ‘Your mother was a vine planted by the waterside. It grew fruitful and luxuriant, for there was water in plenty. It had stout branches, scepters for those who bear rule. It grew tall, finding its way through the foliage; it was conspicuous for its height and many boughs. (emphasis added) (Ezekiel, 19:10–11) Example 3 This word of the Lord came to me: ‘O man, take one leaf of a wooden tablet and write on it, “Judah and the Israelites associated with him”. Then take another leaf and write on it, “Joseph, the leaf of Ephraim and all the Israelite tribes”. Now bring the two together to form one tablet; then they will be a folding tablet in your hand.15 (emphasis added) (Ezekiel, 37:15–19) As stated above, there are several examples in which human is compared to vegetable in NAKAYAMA Fumi The Unity of Contraries in William Blake’s World of Vegetation 5 The Book of Ezekiel.
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