Blake List — Volume 1998 : Issue 15

Today's Topics:
	 Re: Re: _MT_
	      Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply
	 Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply
	 Re: _MT_
	 Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply -Reply
	 Re: _MT_
	 Re:_MT_
	 A Vision of the Science of the Elohim
	 Henry Crabb Robinson
	 A Vision of the Science of the Elohim -Reply
	 Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply -Reply -Reply
	 Nature as Sleep/ Male vs female
	 Electronic Jerusalem & copyrights

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 16:24:20
From: Izak Bouwer 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re: Re: _MT_
Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19980306162420.2fb71d20@igs.net>
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This is the continuation of my previous posting to Andy.

At 02:36 AM 3/6/98 EST, Andrew Kaufman wrote:
>Izak, "The Mental Traveller" is essentially the Orc cycle. =20
>In this poem, as elswehere, the cycle is an endlessly=20
>recurring struggle. This is not a basic error but a basic=20
>truth.  What else could be the point of the poem's
>circular structure?

The cycle only appears to be repetitive.  It is simply a circle=20
representing all states as determined by two complementary=20
principles (like the dark and bright parts of the moon).  It is=20
circular since it is complete. In our reading, the states are the=20
Spiritual states in which Man may find himself, and the two=20
principles are those of Spirit and Nature (which is a central=20
motif of Blake=92s). Man finds himself in a traversal of these=20
states, from the Fall to the Apocalypse to Paradise.  Blake=20
chose to poetically render the changes of the states as an=20
interplay between the male and female.

>Redemption from error for Blake cannot occur simply by
>eliminating the more dire phases of the cycle, since all the=20
>phases are intrinsically tied to one another. =20

The half-cycle from the birth of the male to the birth of the=20
female corresponds to the Imagination increasing, while=20
the remaining half-cycle corresponds to the Imagination=20
diminishing.  Again, the circle is merely complete.

>If "The Mental Traveller" delineates a spiritual journey it=20
>is that of the lapsed soul.  Redemption is a matter of=20
>the imagination breaking and ending the cycle by throwing=20
>off error, but the point of this poem seems to be the=20
>depiction of the cycle that becomes inevitable when this=20
>does not occur.=20

Why view the cycle in such a restrictive fashion?  Frye tried it=20
with his =91Orc cycle=92 interpretation, and ran into difficulties=20
with it, especially as regards the significance of the Female=20
Babe.  This so-called =91Orc cycle=92is logically complete=20
halfway through the poem, and that is why the interpretation=20
of the Female Babe becomes problematic in this approach to=20
the poem.  Furthermore, the merry-making at the halfway point=20
of the poem does not convey an atmosphere of either error or=20
tyranny.=20

>    When the male figure "rends up his mannacles/ And binds=20
>her down for his delight," this is not the state of apocalypse,=20
>but a hellish parody of the union Albion and Jerusalem. =20

I would say that it is more like Orc=92s overpowering of the=20
=91Dark virgin=92 in _America_ 2, lines 3-4: =93Round the terrific=20
loins he siez=92d the panting struggling womb;/  It joyd: she=20
put aside her clouds & smiled her first-born smile;=94=20
In _MT_ she becomes his =93Garden fruitful.=94

>It is not necessary to draw upon contemporary
>feminist readings to say that in Blake the type of physical=20
>power that can subjugate another stands in direct=20
>opposition to the imaginative power that brings about the=20
>Apocalypse. =20

Basically, the sexual overpowering is a figure of speech, to
depict the overpowering of one principle by the other
(in the sense that it manifests to a larger extent), and
has nothing to do with the nature of the underlying states.
Since the principles are personified as male and female it is=20
logical to represent the overpowering of one principle by the=20
other (at each of two cardinal points of the cycle) as a sexual=20
encounter. At the one point, when the male becomes dominant,=20
the encounter has the appearance of a rape, since he takes the=20
initiative;  at the opposite point, where the female becomes=20
dominant, she draws the man into an embrace.  However,=20
basically, these are metaphors describing changes in=20
dominance, and cast no judgment on the meaning of the=20
principles or the states.  The use of male and female,
and their interaction, could just as easily have been used as=20
a metaphor to describe the changing bright and dark parts=20
of the moon=92s disk during its cycle of phases.

Izak

------------------------------

Date:         Fri, 06 Mar 98 14:26:52 CST
From: MTS231F@vma.smsu.edu
To: blake@albion.com
Subject:      Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply
Message-Id: <9803062044.AA13732@uu6.psi.com>

On Wed, 4 Mar 1998 23:08:11 -0800 (PST) Ralph Dumain said:
>There are many seeming paradoxes of this sort throughout the oeuvre.  At one
>point Blake says that mind and body are not distinct; elsewhere he refers to
>the "vile" body that serves as an obstruction to the spirit.  Is this just

Leo Damrosch, whose book SYMBOL AND TRUTH IN BLAKE'S MYTH is otherwise
one of the best, stumbles on this very point.  Stubbornly commensical,
Damrosch refuses to admit this paradox into his mind.  So do many other
readers.  Yes, the body is vile and regrettable; yes, the body is
beautiful and redemptive.  It is both at the same time; it is a
conjunction of opposites.

>disgruntlement that comes with age, a radical shift in perspective?  Just
>going on vague memories of the corpus without doing my homework, this is
>what I think: Blake is confrontational, not escapist, concerning this world.

Exactly so.  All is to be revealed, all articulated, as in plate 10
of Jerusalem.  The work of Los the blacksmith, like that of Blake the
artist, is to shape and re-shape, to create, as the Bible does, a
full picture of all that is possible to human existence.

>The world we live in is a topsy-turvy, perverse world that itself is a
>catastrophic reversal of human values.  The need to "Burn up" Creation is
>not the same as pie in 5the sky when you die.  It means the radical reversal
>of this world.  The element of this fallen world are not evil in themselves,

Well said, and Altizer's THE NEW APOCALPYSE remains the best extended
investigation of this relationship between the spiritual and the
physical.  His death-of-God philosophy explains much in Blake,
especially insofar as these hard paradoxes threaten to chip our teeth.

>it is their arrangement in a despotic and oppressive order.  Ultimately,
>there must be a harmony sought amongst them, otherwise we would be in

An epigrammatic summary of THE FOUR ZOAS, which explicitly states this
dissolution and restored harmony in the invocation to the muse at the
start and again at the end when Urthona, Tharmas, Luvah, and Urizen
re-assume their constructive, reciprocal working patterns.

>self-contradiction with our own nature, which includes sensuality as an
>unobstructed expression of our freedom and happiness.  But this physical
>expression has to be animated by a Mental vision from which physical joy can
>truly express itself; otherwise, every energy turns cruel.  Hence Blake's

To continue my discussion with Gloudina from the thread on the Mental
Traveller, that is exactly what that poem describes.

>contradictory remarks on sexuality, which can be an instrument of ecstasy or
>death.  Also, the body as an obstruction to the spirit does not mean a
>radical bifurcation, but the issue of limitation: that the body itself in
>this world is limited and cannot realize the infinite aspirations of the

Just so.  The body is real, is there, is true, but is only partial.  Many
think it is the whole of existence and miss what is most important.

>human spirit.  In that way it is an obstruction, but without the limitations
>created by the empirical world as we know it, body would not conflict with
>the execution of humanized will, but would be its necessary expression.

And even more than that optimistic possibility, the body--like the stars and
like religions--forms a divine safety net--the "Limits" described in
Jerusalem--that keeps us from falling even farther away from the Human
Divine unity.  Although Urizen is the most accomplished at creating
splits in human unity, all the Zoas are pretty good at it; their efforts
at separation, however, can only go so far before they reach the divine
limits of opacity and contraction.  Like the tight construction of the
Mental Traveller, the body holds us in, gives us a safe place to recoup
our forces and find our way back to unity.  The epic structure of Blake's
myth makes the body a kind of underworld to which we journey to learn
difficult lessons so that we can return home stronger and more
competent.

>I didn't get this from the critical literature, just from my stubbornly
>commonsense empiricist approach to literary texts.  I don't interpret
>empirical reality in terms of symbolism; I interpret symbolism in terms of
>empirical reality.  I know, I'm so unspiritual, God damn me.

Blake bless thee.  And damn braces instead.

   -- Mark Trevor Smith     Southwest Missouri State University

>At 08:46 PM 3/4/98 -0500, Jenny wrote:
>>I don't think Blake saw such a split between matter and the immaterial as
>>you seem to give him credit for.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 18:33:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Ralph Dumain 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply
Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980306212350.08ff7f64@pop.igc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Well, thank you, Mark.  

You added and clarified one important point which I neglected to make clear,
about the positive role of the body.

At 02:26 PM 3/6/98 CST, MTS231F@vma.smsu.edu wrote:
>And even more than that optimistic possibility, the body--like the stars and
>like religions--forms a divine safety net--the "Limits" described in
>Jerusalem--that keeps us from falling even farther away from the Human
>Divine unity.  Although Urizen is the most accomplished at creating
>splits in human unity, all the Zoas are pretty good at it; their efforts
>at separation, however, can only go so far before they reach the divine
>limits of opacity and contraction.  Like the tight construction of the
>Mental Traveller, the body holds us in, gives us a safe place to recoup
>our forces and find our way back to unity.  The epic structure of Blake's
>myth makes the body a kind of underworld to which we journey to learn
>difficult lessons so that we can return home stronger and more
>competent.
 

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 18:33:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Ralph Dumain 
To: blake@albion.com
Cc: tomdill@wc.stephens.edu (TOM DILLINGHAM)
Subject: Re: _MT_
Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980306212354.08ffbf08@pop.igc.org>
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At 05:00 PM 3/5/98, Izak Bouwer wrote:
>Redemption from Error is therefore clearly a process (of eliminating Error).
>In _VLJ_, Blake says: "All Life consists of these Two [:] Throwing off
>Error . . 
>continually & recieving Truth . . . Continually".  In this process the moment
>comes when  the Spirit becomes dominant, thereby restoring  Man's spiritual
>vision.
>In the poem this occurs when  "he rends up his Manacles/ And binds her down 
>for his delight". In my reading this describes the state of Apocalypse in 
>Man's spiritual journey (Man awakes spiritually). The male then grows into 
>maturity as the Father in Heaven (Blake mentions to Crabb Robinson that 
>errors of Jesus can be reconciled with his divine nature since 'He was not 
>then become the father'), which is the Divine Humanity.  

I see no redemption from error in any of this, only the vicious circle.  If
you can believe that "he rends up his Manacles/ And binds her down for his
delight" is a spiritual awakening, for Blake or for us, I've got a bridge in
Brooklyn to sell you.  Again, pardon my lack of spiritual graces, but this
is plainly the domination of nature by man as payback for the domination of
man by nature.  It may also be even more literally the domination of wife by
husband as payback for the domination of helpless child by mother.  

Given Blake's hostility to Enlightenment thought, I don't think one could
describe this as a spiritual awakening, surely not without recognizing that
it is a highly paradoxical one.  Blake's world view is neither
pro-Enlightenment nor pro-regression to the pre-modern.  Unlike the vile
nostalgia we find today for harmony with nature--the romantic idealism of
the goodness of nature before horrible man intervened--expressed in middle
class environmentalism and unbearable drivel about Native American
spirituality--Blake recognizes that the state of Nature itself is alienated
existence--unconscious, violent, and ruthless--even before man gets the
chance to muck around with it.  As a consequence, man must emancipate
himself from his unconscious immersion in its unconsciousness.  For a
pro-Enlightenment fanatic like myself  (who loves modernity, science,
technology, individualism, progress and secularism), the domination of
nature does represent progress: man becomes conscious of himself as a
distinct self-determining being, and thus the abstract concept of freedom
comes into its own, or as Hegel would say, the substance becomes subject.
However, many thinkers have recognized the limitations of the Enlightenment
as a manifestation of the bourgeois world order.  Blake was one of these and
the most perspicuous among the early ones.  The awakening does not awaken us
all the way; it may put part of us to sleep more soundly than ever, and the
logic of domination and all the old evils perpetuate themselves in
transmuted form.  This being so, man is still caught in the vicious circle,
and redemption never takes place.

>From what I recall of the poem, I see no redemption anywhere within the
narrative structure of the poem itself.  Instead, we need to focus on the
role of the narrator of the poem in contradistinction to what he narrates,
and also the relationship between the mental traveller journeying where
"cold earth wanderers never knew" and the physical journey that this
narrative imaginatively inverts.  The redemption must lie here and not in
the narrative of the cycle itself.  It is our _knowledge_ of the nets and
gins and traps that imprison the joys of eternity that will free us, and
that means a radical reversal of the processes of social conditioning that
the mental traveller undergoes.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 04:23:38 EST
From: Andrewkauf 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply -Reply
Message-Id: <2981220.3501121d@aol.com>
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Tom- You are right; it is "making the best use of his contracted senses" that
I was quibbling with.  Your comments further refine my quibble.

Andy

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 05:18:07 EST
From: Andrewkauf 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re: _MT_
Message-Id: <8ce6ea70.35011ee1@aol.com>
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Reply to Izak

    The idea of "redemption" as a component of an eternally recurring cycle is
both Nietchean and Yeatsean, but for Blake this is illusory, one of the
"delusions of Ulro."  Apocalypse, or the Last Judgment, by definition, does
not recur.  Ralph Dumain is correct,  that it is not plausible, in Blake at
least, to read "he rends up his Manacles/ And binds her down for his delight."
as symbolizing redemption. "The Little Babe" as she helps "drive out the aged
Host," is comparable to Enitharmon or one of the sadistic daughters of Albion
from Jerusalem, and she eventually becomes the "weeping Woman Old" who "nails
him down upon a rock/ Catches his Shrieks in Cups of gold."  "The Mental
Traveller" should not be taken to represent or synmbolize the sum and
substance of Blake's "four-fold" vision.  Instead, it reveals the
inevitabilite recurrence of the cycle from which "four-fold" vision or the
Last Judgment must redeem us. The cycle, with all its inherent pain, sadism,
and transient joy, is truth in Yeats, but for Blake it is only a truthful
embodiment of error.

Andy

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 16:34:41
From: Izak Bouwer 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re:_MT_
Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19980307163441.1aa75e86@igs.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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Hi Ralph:  At 06:33 PM 3/6/98 -0800, you wrote:
>At 05:00 PM 3/5/98, Izak Bouwer wrote:
>>Redemption from Error is therefore clearly a process (of=20
eliminating Error).>>In _VLJ_, Blake says: "All Life consists=20
of these Two [:] Throwing off>>Error . .=20
>>continually & recieving Truth . . . Continually". =20
In this process the moment>>comes when  the Spirit becomes=20
dominant, thereby restoring  Man's spiritual>>vision.
>>In the poem this occurs when  "he rends up his Manacles/=20
And binds her down >>for his delight". In my reading this=20
describes the state of Apocalypse in >>Man's spiritual journey=20
(Man awakes spiritually). The male then grows into=20
>>maturity as the Father in Heaven (Blake mentions to=20
Crabb Robinson that=20
>>errors of Jesus can be reconciled with his divine nature since=20
'He was not >>then become the father'), which is the Divine Humanity. =20
>
>I see no redemption from error in any of this, only the vicious=20
circle.  If>you can believe that "he rends up his Manacles/ And=20
binds her down for his>delight" is a spiritual awakening, for Blake=20
or for us, I've got a bridge in>Brooklyn to sell you. =20

How about trying to sell your bridge to Blake first?
In our interpretation of _MT_ we continue the observation by
John Sampson (in _The Poetical Works of William Blake_ 1905)
that =93. . . the poem must be understood as a picture of man=92s
spirit, passing through successive mental states, and at last
returning, =91in endless circle,=92 to the point from which he started.
In other words it is a restatement of Blake=92s favourite doctrine
of constant generation and regeneration.=94
  If any one is curious about what Blake chose to talk about
in social conversations (from about 1811 on), well, Henry
Crabb Robinson reports: =93Among the unintelligible sentiments
which he was continually expressing is his distinction between
the natural & the spiritual world.  The natural world must be
consumed.=94  . . .  =93And [he] warmly declared that all he knew
was in the Bible, but then he understands by the Bible the
spiritual sense.=94 . . .  =93=91What are called the vices in the natural
world are the highest sublimities in the spiritual world.=92=94
 I quote this last just to show that it is not inconsistent with his
stated views that events such as a =93rape=94 (quarterway through=20
the _MT_) could signify  the overcoming of the natural during=20
the Apocalypse -- or that the drunkenness at the feast in Eden
(occurring halfway through the _MT_) could denote divine intoxication . .=
 .=20
 =93Every man has a Devil in him And the conflict is eternal between=20
a Man=92s self & God=94
 This, apparently, was Blake=92s customary talk at the time that HCR
knew him, and it is of course only natural that he should express
this important theme, obviously dear to his heart,  in poetic form as=20
_MT_ and in pictorial and descriptive form as _VLJ_.
  He knew HCR from about 1811 on, and the  _MT_ and _VLJ_ =20
are from about the same time.  Blake=92s letter to Ozias Humphrey,=20
explaining his design for the Last Judgment, is dated 1808, and the=20
Notebook dexcriptions of _VLJ_ are  =93For the Year 1810=94.=20
 G.E. Bentley Jr. dates the entire Pickering manuscript, in which=20
_MT_ appears, as no earlier than 1805.     Cheers,  Izak
=20

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 17:22:16
From: Izak Bouwer 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: A Vision of the Science of the Elohim
Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19980307172216.358754b6@igs.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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  The word  =93Elohim=94 appears 16 times in the=20
work of Blake. For me the two most significant
instances are in J73:24 ( =93Accumulating without
end here Los who is of the Elohim=94) and in
Milton 29:65 (=93 Thus Nature is a Vision of the
Science of the Elohim.=94) Since in two major
threads there are now discussions on =93Nature,=94
it seems appropriate to discuss at greater length
what Blake meant  by =93Nature is a Vision of the
Science of the Elohim.=94
     Now, following mainly the guidance of Foster
Damon in the Blake Dictionary, the Elohim (judges)
created our present view of reality. Nature, following
the thought of Damon, =93is part of man - that part
which including the physical body, is perceived by the
senses .. But when Man fell, his senses turned outward...
and Nature appeared to be separate from Man. That is
a delusion: =91in your own Bosom you bear your Heaven
and Earth & all you behold; tho=92 it appears Without,
it is Within=92 (J 71:17).....  To accept this world of matter
as real is =93atheism=94 - wherefore Wordsworth was an
atheist; it is =91Single vision and Newton=92s sleep=92 (To Butts,
2nd letter, 22 Nov 1802.).... The laws of cause and effect
are false in themselves: =91every Natural Effect has a
Spiritual Cause, and Not a Natural; for a Natural Cause
only seems: it is a delusion of Ulro & a ratio of the=20
perishing Vegetable Memory=92 (M 26:44) ..... =91Every
thing that lives is Holy=92 (MHH 27 etc.) Nature, being
human, was created from the divine substance. If all things
are of and from God, it follows that all must eventually
return to him.... This doctrine of apocatastasis was first
promulgated by Origen; it was accepted by many, including
Erigena, until Rome pronounced against it... But the doctrine
was revived during the Reformation. Milton (Christian=20
Doctrine), Thomas Vaughan, Ruysbroeck, Tauler, and many
others accepted it, and so did Blake.=94
     Thus far Damon in the Blake Dictionary. It interested
me to see that Los was considered part of the Elohim. But
I guess it makes sense : in order to use the imagination to
create, choices have to be made.  My view of =93what Nature
is=94 was in the past heavily coloured by what I perceived as
the nature of Vala. It was for me significant that Vala,
our concept of Nature, was the emanation of Luvah, the
emotive energy. Thus what we perceive as reality was
really a creation of our desire. And for =93us=94 the Redeemer
comes in the robes of Luvah.
     When one starts talking about =93our=94 concept of
reality, one must of course reckon with the fact that an
Australian Blackfellow  or an Inuit may have a totally
different concept of =93reality,=94 a reality more radical=20
than mine, taking more elements into account, using
their intellect more. Is it possible that in their
consciousness Urizen is not fallen, Luvah is not trying
to take over the reins, the emanations are not fled,
and therefore they are closer to the Halls that ring with
joy that is described near the halfway point in _MT_,=20
where the Spirit is dominant and Nature is there
as its dwelling place?

Gloudina Bouwer

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 13:04:16
From: Izak Bouwer 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Henry Crabb Robinson
Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19980308130416.2f672150@igs.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Just a correction as to dates: 
In a  posting yesterday I said that B. "knew HCR from about 
1811 on". This is not correct. Although Henry Crabb Robinson
became interested in Blake in the spring of 1810
(according to  Bentley's _Blake Records__ p.223) , and
went to see Blake's exhibition on April 23rd of that year, 
he apparently did not meet Blake in person until 10dec1825 
at a dinner 'with Aders.' His conversations with Blake, 
which he recorded, took place in 1825 and 1826.

Izak

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 10:49:44 +0200
From: P Van Schaik 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: A Vision of the Science of the Elohim -Reply
Message-Id: 

Gloudina, thanks very much for the clarification from Damon which  is a
great help.in placing Blake among a distinguished line of thinkers. 
 I see Los as being of the Elohim as he helps to fulfil the divine will by
limting the Fall and by ceaselessly trying to reinvest the cold fallen world
of Urizen with warmth at his Furnaces of inspiration. His is the strong
force that labours to create physical forms so that the divine himanity is
not dissipated into eternal death in the abyss. The divine will permits the
descent into matter so that the dross of the human -divine spirit can be
eliminated and the fallen `state' separated from each individual. The husk
(of Nature)is stripped from the kernel (the eternal soul) as I suggested in
an earlier posting today.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 09:52:09 +0200
From: P Van Schaik 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Re:  Re: Blake and Kabbalah -Reply -Reply -Reply
Message-Id: 

Thanks Tom for both your answer and question.  I  think Blake saw our
mortal five senses as contracted though still capable of regaining their
ability to expand to where we become godlike, as Albion, Asia, and
Africa could when they were Immortal beings in Eternity.  Even all the
cities of Albion, and even the lowly individual Clod of Clay has a divine
human form. But all things also have a contracted soul and bodily senses
when in mortal clay, which corresponds to the kabbalistic view, and the
husk has to be stripped for the kernel to be sown again in eternal fields. 
Hence the apocalyptic harvest imagery at the end of the longer poems.
All of Blake's cosmogony can be simplified without oversimplification if
understood in terms of Contraries which become our of balance:  such
as Expansion/contraction; energy/repose, unity/disunity; etc and so I use
the shortcut stylistically of saying `contracted'.  When we open the
`doors of perception' we partially only, on this earth, regain what we
once had. Interestingly, books on NDEs and hypnotic regression into past
lives support Blake's views re the nature of the expansive soul.
Pam    

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 11:21:03 +0200
From: P Van Schaik 
To: blake@albion.com
Subject: Nature as Sleep/ Male vs female
Message-Id: 

>>> Paul Tarry  6/March/1998 06:42pm >>>
>Blakes personification of the Spirit as a male, and Nature (or sleep 
of Spirit) as female, 

I'm not sure that one can equate the Sleep as female.  Albio falls into a
dire Sleep of his soul in which  first his male Zoa of reason clouds and
falls into delusion and then  Ahania, reflecting this darkening, falls.  The
world of nature is spun from the entrails of the fallen man and woven
into hardened fibres in the womblike abyss of darkness.

l do agree, however, that there is
` a dynamic interplay of male and female activities, which is 
what transforms his philosophy into a work of poetry, ...'

I personally do not  find this personification `very troubling in many of
Blake's works' as his version of creation is not intended to raise gender
issues(though in this age it does and please forgive me if I fall into the
`intentional fallacy' category). In Blake's vision, to achieve unity, all
beings must reflect each other and die to self ... or flash continually
between the modes of having individuality and losing it.  There is
continual flux and no permanent forms into which the ego can settle in
Innocence. Thus, the imagery of male/female is part of being one with
God in continual comminglings.  The disruption of this is the cosmic
tragedy since it leads to separation from God.
Pam

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 14:00:45 -0800
From: Randall Hansen 
To: "'blake@albion.com'" 
Subject: Electronic Jerusalem & copyrights
Message-Id: <01BD4B63.C21E8EF0.rhansen@ffadesign.com>
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Blake list,

Do any of you know who holds the copyright for copy E of Jerusalem (the 
fully colored copy) and if I would need their permission to put up a web 
site devoted to said work?

I'm sure that none of you is a copyright lawyer; I'm not looking for a 
legal opinion, merely a point in the right direction. My inquiries so far 
have been fruitless. The edition I'm planning to scan is the Princeton, and 
there is no copyright information in that book.

Any and all help/comments appreciated!

Randall Hansen

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End of blake-d Digest V1998 Issue #15
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