Thursday, April 05, 2012

Plate 57

And the voices of Bath & Canterbury & York & Edinburgh. Cry
Over the Plow of Nations in the strong hand of Albion thundering
    along
Among the Fires of the Druid & the deep black rethundering Waters
Of the Atlantic which poured in impetuous loud loud. louder &
    louder.
And the Great Voice of the Atlantic howled over the Druid Altars:
Weeping over his Children in Stone-henge in Maiden & Colchester.
Round the Rocky Peak of Derbyshire London Stone & Rosamonds
    Bower

What is a Wife & what is a Harlot? What is a Church? & What
Is a Theatre? are they Two & not One? can they Exist Separate?
Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing? Brotherhood is
    Religion
O Demonstrations of Reason Dividing Families in Cruelty & Pride!

But Albion fled from the Divine Vision, with the Plow of Nations
    enflaming
The Living Creatures maddend and Albion fell into the Furrow, and
The Plow went over him & the Living was Plowed in among the Dead
But his Spectre rose over the starry Plow. Albion fled beneath
    the Plow
Till he came to the Rock of Ages. & he took his Seat upon the Rock.

Wonder siezd all in Eternity! to behold the Divine Vision. open
The Center into an Expanse, & the Center rolled out into an
    Expanse.

Notes:
Plate 29[33]
Bath, Canterbury, York, and Edinburgh is Blake’s representation of the centers of Religion and Power. 
The picture above bears no resemblance to the plow mentioned so prominently here; for that look at  Plate 29 [33]:
Two lions seem to be pulling a plow, directed by whom? The Spectre!
Erdman sees the Spectre trying to push, rather than guide the plow, and he adds that the Spectre should be pulling it 'with Los in control'.
(The Illuminated Blake page 308)

The plow maddened living creatures and plowed over Albion, who fled to the Rock of Ages. (What does it mean? think about it.)
Going back  to the original plate do the two beautiful women above relate to the wife and a harlot?  In the middle of the bottom of the upper picture stands St. Paul representing State Religion; in the middle of the beginning of the lower picture is a Gothic Cathedral representing Spiritual Christianity. (This from page 322 of Paley's Jerusalem.) 
Recall that in Plate 56 Los said 'Look back to the Church Paul'. Does the total picture of Plate 57 refer to the three women around the Cross that Los spoke of in 56?

  

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