ALBION & LOS

FOLLOWUP TO 'LAMB OF GOD'
Since it is hard to correlate the text of Plate 62 of Jerusalem with the picture, we can look elsewhere for text that matches the image. We find it on Plates 33 and 34.

IMAGE: Jerusalem, Plate 62, Albion and Los




TEXT: Jerusalem, PLATE 33 [37] (E 179):



"And One stood forth from the Divine Family &, said

I feel my Spectre rising upon me! Albion! arouze thyself!
Why dost thou thunder with frozen Spectrous wrath against us?
The Spectre is, in Giant Man; insane, and most deform'd.
Thou wilt certainly provoke my Spectre against thine in fury!
He has a Sepulcher hewn out of a Rock ready for thee:
And a Death of Eight thousand years forg'd by thyself, upon
The point of his Spear! if thou persistest to forbid with Laws
Our Emanations, and to attack our secret supreme delights

So Los spoke: But when he saw blue death in Albions feet,
Again he join'd the Divine Body, following merciful;
While Albion fled more indignant! revengeful covering

PLATE 34 [38]
"His face and bosom with petrific hardness, and his hands
And feet, lest any should enter his bosom & embrace
His hidden heart; his Emanation wept & trembled within him:
Uttering not his jealousy, but hiding it as with
Iron and steel, dark and opake, with clouds & tempests brooding:
His strong limbs shudderd upon his mountains high and dark.

Turning from Universal Love petrific as he went,
His cold against the warmth of Eden rag'd with loud
Thunders of deadly war (the fever of the human soul)
Fires and clouds of rolling smoke! but mild the Saviour follow'd
him,
Displaying the Eternal Vision! the Divine Similitude!
In loves and tears of brothers, sisters, sons, fathers, and
friends
Which if Man ceases to behold, he ceases to exist:"

So we see Albion hard and cold and crazed, (with his blue feet), but under the protection of the seven eyes of God which surround his head in the picture. Los, as a tiny figure between the gigantic feet, is the One who stood forth to warn Albion of his fate.

Albion has mounted his defenses, but he is not abandoned by the Savior who follows him. This is the link forward to Plate 62 with the promise of the Lamb of God to be with us always.

I believe that Blake would be pleased that his readers are persistent enough to ferret out the more obscure references and hidden connections. Those who like to work puzzles or solve mysteries should find Blake fascinating.