William Blake 0838313442, 9780838313442

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"My aim has been solely to discover and, may be, expound the doctrine of

as far as

William Blake: 'the Everlasting Gospel,' as he finally called

narrow,

I

it.

If

this

aim be regarded as

can, and shall, plead that

it

is

as wide as Blake's own. Blake was not at

all

concerned to be an artist, in the accepted sense of the word; although, in his private meaning of the word, he was and desired to be, nothing but an Artist. 'Jesus

Apostles

&.

Disciples were

eal.

is

Thus, we can rescue Blake's own terms. True Reason the Contrary of true Energy, and not its Negation. For 63

WI LLI AM BLAKE there can be no' true Energy without true Reason as its 'outward bound and circumference', to be the Form in which true Energy deHghts. Thus, again, true Energy is indeed Eternal Dehght, for it is the deUght of the Identity in its own Form, and this self-deHght of the Identity, Hke the Identity itself, is eternal. It is a delight of Eternity.

Such

Blake's thought.

is

It

is,

in reality, perfectly

coherent; but only if we approach it with the clue of the Divine Vision in our hands. For Blake's economy of

language

is

'What the

But now we may go back. Good' is the passive that obeys

truly 'devilish'.

religious call

What the religious call Evil is the active springing from true Energy. No doubt it is less than the whole truth. But Blake was furious with the pretence of religion that destroys Religion. Reason.

false

Those who

restrain desire, do so because theirs is to be restrained; and the restrainer or governs the unwilling. reason usurps its place And being restrain'd, it by degrees becomes passive,

weak enough

&

till it is

The

only the shadow of desire. history of this is written in Paradise Lost,

the Governor or Reason

Desire is

far

is

a

new term

is

&

call'd Messiah.

in The Marriage,

more comprehensive than

It

is

plain that

sensual desire.

it

It refers

Natural Religion: The desire of Man being Infinite, the possession is Infinite