CONFRONTATION WITH SATAN

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Jerusalem
Plate 51

As the inner struggle cited in the post BINDING SATAN became fuel for the composition of Milton, Blake's confrontation with Satan in the form of Schofield became embodied in the confrontations with error which he depicted in Jerusalem. 
 
Northrop Frye in his introduction to Selected Poetry and Prose of William Blake writes on Page xvi:  
"Blake's second experience was his trial for treason as a result of a quarrel with the soldier Schofield. Blake found Schofield trespassing in his garden and threw him out, whereupon Schofield went to the magistrate and swore that Blake had damned the king and hoped and expected to see Napoleon win the war. Schofield had, fortunately for Blake, overestimated judicial hysteria in wartime. But Blake had glimpsed for a moment the lethal malignity in human nature which made the Crucifixion the central event of history. This experience forms the autobiographical core of Jerusalem, which like Milton expands from an event in Blake's life to the apocalyptic form of the same event, the salvation of the world by God contrasted with that which Blake calls 'Druidism,' or the attempt by man by searching to find out God with the object of torturing and killing him."
 
William R Hughes in Jerusalem: William Blake characterizes this incident thus:
"But he had been in real danger, and he experienced the whole episode as something having a deep allegorical meaning. Satan had struck him outwardly as well as inwardly, and had been defeated." (Page 16)
 
Alexander Gilchrist found this newspaper account of Blake's trial and included it in his biography, The Life of William Blake. (Page 198)
 
"Reference obligingly made for me by the present editor,
to the file of the Sussex Advertiser, at that date the only
Sussex newspaper, discovers a report (l6th January, 1804)
of this singular trial, one its editor little thought would
ever become curious and interesting. The report is after
the curt fashion of local journals in those backward days.
 
  'William Blake, an engraver at Felpham, was tried on
a charge exhibited against him by two soldiers, for having
uttered seditious and treasonable expressions, such as
' D — n the King, d — -n all his subjects, d — n his soldiers,
they are all slaves ; when Bonaparte comes, it will be cut-
throat for cut-throat, and the weakest must go the wall ; I
will help him,' &c. &c.'
...
In his cross-examination
of the accuser, he 'most happily exposed,' says Hayley,
'the falsehood and malignity of the charge,' and also
spoke very eloquently for his client although, in the midst
of his speech, seized with illness, and concluding it with
difficulty. Blake's neighbours joined Hayley in giving
him the same character of habitual gentleness and peace-
ableness ; which must have a little astonished the soldier,
after his peculiar experiences of those qualities. A good
deal of the two soldiers' evidence being plainly false, the
whole was received with suspicion. It became clear that
whatever the words uttered, they were extorted in the
irritation of the moment by the soldier's offensive conduct
 
' After a very long and patient hearing,' the Sussex
Advertiser continues, 'he was by the jury acquitted ; which;
so gratified the auditory that the court was, in defiance
all decency, thrown into an uproar by their noisy exul
tions. The business of the aforegoing Sessions,' it !s
added, 'owing to the great length of time taken up by
the above trials' (Blake's and others), 'was extended to a
late hour on the second day, a circumstance that but rarely
happens in the western division' of the county, 'The
Duke of Richmond sat the first day from ten in the morn-
ing till eight at night, without quitting the court, or taking
any refreshnient.'
 
Great was Hayley's satisfaction. 'It was late in the
evening,' writes he to Johnson, and 'I was eager to pre-
sent the delivered artist to our very kind and anxious
friend, the lady of Lavant, Mrs. Poole,' The friendly
welcome and social evening meal which followed all this
frivolous vexation and even peril, the pleasant meeting in
the cheerful hospitable house of the venerable lady, we can
picture.'"
 
Blake identified Schofield in the image he created for the introduction to chapter 3 of Jerusalem, To the Deists. In the copy of Plate 51 in the Fitzwilliam Museum are the labels Vala, Hyle, and Skofeld. The fallen Vala is the earth mother who operates on the principle of self-interest and survival of the fittest. Hyle is the principle of materialism which denies the existence of the Eternal. Schofield is the principle of vengeance which projects outwardly any destructive forces which arise within.   
 
Jerusalem, Plate 52, (E 201)
"Man must & will have Some Religion; if he has not the Religion
of Jesus, he will have the Religion of Satan, & will erect the
Synagogue of Satan. calling the Prince of this World, God; and
destroying all who do not worship Satan under the Name of God.
Will any one say: Where are those who worship Satan under the
Name of God! Where are they? Listen! Every Religion that Preaches
Vengeance for Sins the Religion of the Enemy & Avenger; and not
the Forgiver of Sin, and their God is Satan, Named by the Divine
Name   Your Religion O Deists: Deism, is the Worship of the God
of this World by the means of what you call Natural Religion and
Natural Philosophy, and of Natural Morality or
Self-Righteousness, the Selfish Virtues of the Natural Heart.
This was the Religion of the Pharisees who murderd Jesus.  Deism
is the same & ends in the same."

pilgrim 13

Illustrations to Pilgrim's Progress
Plate 11
The Gate is Opened by Good-wil

 Two of Blake's illustrations for Pilgrim's Progress, Plates 10 and 11, are devoted to the scene at the wicket-gate. Blake saw passing though gates as symbolic of undergoing transition to altered states of consciousness. Blake's Gates of Paradise depicts man passing through 18 gates as he traverses life from birth to death. Bunyan's Pilgrim was directed to pass through the wicket-gate in order to proceed in his quest to escape the 'wrath to come.'

In his illustrations Blake desires to change the emphasis on wrath to an emphasis on forgiveness. In the prologue to Gates of Paradise Blake states: "Mutual Forgiveness of each Vice Such are the Gates of Paradise." Jesus called himself "the door" and ''the way" indicating that his function is not to limit or restrict but to advance man as he progresses toward completion. Through Jesus man is able to forgive God, himself and his brothers, thereby receiving forgiveness in return.

The gate which Pilgrim passes through in Blake's images is the process of embracing the essence of forgiveness and being embraced by it. The potential energy of forgiveness has been changed to kinetic action.  

Matthew 7
[13] Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
[14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Matthew 7
[7] Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
[8] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matthew 9
[2] And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
[3] And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
[4] And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
[5] For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
[6] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
[7] And he arose, and departed to his house.

John 10
[7] Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
[8] All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
[9] I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 

This from Opening the Gate.

BINDING SATAN

Northrop Frye in his introduction to Selected Poetry

Harvard Art Museums
Angel Michael Binding Satan

 and Prose of William Blake clarifies the dilemma which Blake explored in his poem Milton:
"At Felpham he went through two crucial experiences one intellectual and artistic, the other physical and social, in the course of which his vision of life took final shape, and by doing so consolidated everything opposed to his vision.
 
The first experience was the temptation presented by Hayley and the kind of Augustan culture he stood for. This culture had its own standards of beauty and good taste, which was backed by the whole classical tradition and had been dominant in France and England for over a century. In addition, it had the moral virtues which belonged to it, including tact and generosity. Blake had nothing to meet this with but the ungracious defiance of his own tradition, the line of prophets crying in the wilderness. This experience forms the basis for the poem Milton, in which Blake presents himself as a battlefield over which the prophetic vision headed by Milton, defeats the powers of Satan, the spirit of compromise, prudence and hypocrisy. Satan is formidable only when he is disguised - transformed into an angel of light, as the Bible says - as a reasonable and cultivated man who is a sincere personal friend. Blake is not interested in the moral problem of what he did or should have done: he is interested in tracing out the ramifications of the prophetic and worldly attitudes until they reach the apocalypic limits. These limits are represented by the story of Michael and Satan fighting over the body of Moses - i.e., man in this  world."

The struggle of Blake was to withstand the pressures from his friends and supporters to adopt conventional standards of applying his efforts to pleasing the public and gaining economically. He learned that he could not be true to his art and to the prophetic vision given to him while also fulfilling the expectations of Hayley, Johnson and Fuselli.

Letters, To Thomas Butts, (E 724)
"As my dependence is on Engraving at present &
particularly on the Engravings I have in hand for Mr H. & I find
on all hands great objections to my doing any thing but the meer
drudgery of business & intimations that if I do not confine
myself to this I shall not live. this has always pursud me.  You
will understand by this the source of all my uneasiness This from
Johnson & Fuseli brought me down here & this from Mr H will
bring me back again for that I cannot live without doing my duty
to lay up treasures in heaven is Certain & Determined & to this I
have long made up my mind & why this should be made an objection
to Me while Drunkenness Lewdness Gluttony & even Idleness itself
does not hurt other men let Satan himself Explain--The Thing I
have most at Heart! more than life or all that seems to make life
comfortable without.  Is the Interest of True Religion & Science
& whenever any thing appears to affect that Interest.
...
But if we fear to do the dictates of our
Angels & tremble at the Tasks set before us. if we refuse to do
Spiritual Acts. because of Natural Fears or Natural Desires!  Who
can describe the dismal torments of such a state!"
.

pigrim 12

CHR. But how camest thou in this condition?

MAN. I left off to watch and be sober.  I laid the reins, upon the
neck of my lusts; I sinned against the light of the Word and the
goodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; I tempted
the devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God to anger, and
he has left me:  I have so hardened my heart, that I cannot repent.

{86} Then said Christian to the Interpreter, But is there no hope
for such a man as this?  Ask him, said the Interpreter.  Nay, said
Christian, pray, Sir, do you.

INTER. Then said the Interpreter, Is there no hope, but you must
be kept in the iron cage of despair?

MAN. No, none at all.

INTER. Why, the Son of the Blessed is very pitiful.
Heb. 6:6
MAN. I have crucified him to myself afresh [; I have
despised his person [Luke 19:14]; I have despised his righteousness;
I have "counted his blood an unholy thing"; I have "done despite
to the Spirit of grace".  [Heb. 10:28-29] Therefore I have shut
myself out of all the promises, and there now remains to me nothing
but threatenings, dreadful threatenings, fearful threatenings, of
certain judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour me as
an adversary.

{87} INTER. For what did you bring yourself into this condition?

MAN. For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in the
enjoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight; but now
every one of those things also bite me, and gnaw me like a burning
worm.

INTER. But canst thou not now repent and turn?

{88} MAN. God hath denied me repentance.  His Word gives me no
encouragement to believe; yea, himself hath shut me up in this iron
cage; nor can all the men in the world let me out.  O eternity,
eternity!  how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet
with in eternity!

INTER. Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Let this man's misery
be remembered by thee, and be an everlasting caution to thee.

CHR. Well, said Christian, this is fearful!  God help me to watch
and be sober, and to pray that I may shun the cause of this man's
misery!  Sir, is it not time for me to go on my way now?

INTER. Tarry till I shall show thee one thing more, and then thou
shalt go on thy way.

{89} So he took Christian by the hand again, and led him into
a chamber, where there was one rising out of bed; and as he put
on his raiment, he shook and trembled.  Then said Christian, Why
doth this man thus tremble?  The Interpreter then bid him tell to
Christian the reason of his so doing.  So he began and said, This
night, as I was in my sleep, I dreamed, and behold the heavens grew
exceeding black; also it thundered and lightened in most fearful
wise, that it put me into an agony; so I looked up in my dream, and
saw the clouds rack at an unusual rate, upon which I heard a great
sound of a trumpet, and saw also a man sit upon a cloud, attended
with the thousands of heaven; they were all in flaming fire:  also
the heavens were in a burning flame.  I heard then a voice saying,
"Arise, ye dead, and come to judgement"; and with that the rocks
rent, the graves opened, and the dead that were therein came forth.
Some of them were exceeding glad, and looked upward; and some
sought to hide themselves under the mountains.  [1 Cor. 15:52; 1
Thes. 4:16; Jude 14; John 5:28,29; 2 Thes. 1:7,8; Rev. 20:11-14;
Isa. 26:21; Micah 7:16,17; Ps. 95:1-3; Dan. 7:10] Then I saw the
man that sat upon the cloud open the book, and bid the world draw
near.  Yet there was, by reason of a fierce flame which issued out
and came from before him, a convenient distance betwixt him and
them, as betwixt the judge and the prisoners at the bar.  [Mal.
3:2,3; Dan. 7:9,10] I heard it also proclaimed to them that attended
on the man that sat on the cloud, Gather together the tares, the
chaff, and stubble, and cast them into the burning lake.  [Matt.
3:12; 13:30; Mal.  4:1] And with that, the bottomless pit opened,
just whereabout I stood; out of the mouth of which there came, in
an abundant manner, smoke and coals of fire, with hideous noises.
It was also said to the same persons, "Gather my wheat into
the garner."  [Luke 3:17] And with that I saw many catched up and
carried away into the clouds, but I was left behind.  [1 Thes.
4:16,17] I also sought to hide myself, but I could not, for the man
that sat upon the cloud still kept his eye upon me; my sins also
came into my mind; and my conscience did accuse me on every side.
[Rom. 3:14,15] Upon this I awaked from my sleep.

{90} CHR. But what is it that made you so afraid of this sight?

MAN. Why, I thought that the day of judgement was come, and that I
was not ready for it:  but this frighted me most, that the angels
gathered up several, and left me behind; also the pit of hell opened
her mouth just where I stood.  My conscience, too, afflicted me;
and, as I thought, the Judge had always his eye upon me, shewing
indignation in his countenance.

{91} Then said the Interpreter to Christian, Hast thou considered
all these things?

CHR. Yes, and they put me in hope and fear.

INTER. Well, keep all things so in thy mind that they may be as a
goad in thy sides, to prick thee forward in the way thou must go.
Then Christian began to gird up his loins, and to address himself
to his journey.  Then said the Interpreter, The Comforter be always
with thee, good Christian, to guide thee in the way that leads to
the City.  So Christian went on his way, saying--

"Here I have seen things rare and profitable; Things pleasant,
dreadful, things to make me stable In what I have begun to take
in hand; Then let me think on them, and understand Wherefore they
showed me were, and let me be Thankful, O good Interpreter, to
thee."

William Blake - John Bunyan Plate 13
The Man Who Dreamed of the Day of Judgement

BLAKE'S LIBERTY

Library of Congress
Jerusalem
Plate 26, Copy I

Jerusalem, Plate 26, (E 171)  
   SUCH VISIONS HAVE APPEARD TO ME
     AS I MY ORDERD RACE HAVE RUN
      JERUSALEM IS NAMED LIBERTY
       AMONG THE SONS OF ALBION

Blake tells us that Jerusalem, like all beings, functions differently in Eternity and in the natural world. She serves as the light that surrounds and provides a garment for the Human Form in Eternity. She is inclusive of all Emanations, the manifestations which connect inner and outer life, which provides mutual exchange.
 
Jerusalem, PLATE 54, (E 203)
"In Great Eternity, every particular Form gives forth or Emanates
Its own peculiar Light, & the Form is the Divine Vision
And the Light is his Garment This is Jerusalem in every Man
A Tent & Tabernacle of Mutual Forgiveness Male & Female Clothings.
And Jerusalem is called Liberty among the Children of Albion

But Albion fell down a Rocky fragment from Eternity hurld
By his own Spectre, who is the Reasoning Power in every Man
Into his own Chaos which is the Memory between Man & Man
The silent broodings of deadly revenge springing from the
All powerful parental affection, fills Albion from head to foot 
Seeing his Sons assimilate with Luvah, bound in the bonds
Of spiritual Hate, from which springs Sexual Love as iron chains:
He tosses like a Cloud outstretchd among Jerusalems Ruins
Which overspread all the Earth, he groans among his ruind porches"
 
Albion's fall drags Jerusalem down as well. Consequently, in Albion's world she functions as Liberty, man's hunger to be free to express the Identity which is God's image in Man. Without the liberty to seek for oneself ways to express the truth one is capable of discerning, one would remain in the dull round of retracing "probabilities and possibilities" and ignoring "improbabilities and impossibilities" which are within our range of perception and action.
 
Jerusalem, Plate 77, (E 231)
"I know of no other
Christianity and of no other Gospel than the liberty both of body
& mind to exercise the Divine Arts of Imagination."
 
Letters, [To Thomas Butts], (E 731)
"if I could have returnd to London a Month after
my arrival here I should have done so, but I was commanded by my
Spiritual friends to bear all to be silent & to go thro all
without murmuring & in firm hope till my three years should be
almost accomplishd at which time I was set at liberty to
remonstrate against former conduct & to demand Justice & Truth
which I have done in so effectual a manner that my antagonist is
silencd completely. & I have compelld. what should have been of
freedom   My Just Right as an Artist & as a Man. & if any attempt
should be made to refuse me this I am inflexible & will
relinquish Any engagement of Designing at all unless altogether
left to my own Judgment.  As you My dear Friend have always left
me for which I shall never cease to honour & respect you"
 
Jerusalem, Plate 37 [41], (E 184)
Why should we enter into our Spectres, to behold our own corruptions
O God of Albion descend! deliver Jerusalem from the Oaken Groves!
Then Los grew furious raging: Why stand we here trembling around
Calling on God for help; and not ourselves in whom God dwells
Stretching a hand to save the falling Man: are we not Four
Beholding Albion upon the Precipice ready to fall into Non-Entity:
Seeing these Heavens & Hells conglobing in the Void. Heavens over Hells
Brooding in holy hypocritic lust, drinking the cries of pain
...
And the two Sources of Life in Eternity[,] Hunting and War,
Are become the Sources of dark & bitter Death & of corroding Hell:
The open heart is shut up in integuments of frozen silence
That the spear that lights it forth may shatter the ribs & bosom A pretence of Art, to destroy Art: a pretence of Liberty 
To destroy Liberty. a pretence of Religion to destroy Religion
...
I see America closd apart, & Jerusalem driven in terror
Away from Albions mountains, far away from Londons spires!  I will not endure this thing! I alone withstand to death,
This outrage! Ah me! how sick & pale you all stand round me!
Ah me! pitiable ones! do you also go to deaths vale?
All you my Friends & Brothers! all you my beloved Companions!
Have you also caught the infection of Sin & stern Repentance?
I see Disease arise upon you! yet speak to me and give
Me some comfort: why do you all stand silent? I alone
Remain in permanent strength. Or is all this goodness & pity, only
That you may take the greater vengeance in your Sepulcher.

So Los spoke. Pale they stood around the House of Death: 
In the midst of temptations & despair: among the rooted Oaks:
Among reared Rocks of Albions Sons, at length they rose
PLATE 39 [44]
With one accord in love sublime, & as on Cherubs wings
They Albion surround with kindest violence to bear him back
Against his will thro Los's Gate to Eden:"

---

Isaiah 61
[1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good tidings to the afflicted;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,

Luke 4
[16]And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read;
[17] and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
[18] "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

Leviticus 10
[10] And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family.

Romans 8
[19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;
[20] for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;
[21] because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.
[22] We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now;
[23] and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

pilgrim 11

Plate 16
Christian Passes the Lions
William Blake

John Bunyan

Thus he went on his way. But while he was bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he lift up his eyes, and behold there was a very stately palace before him, the name of which was Beautiful, and it stood by the highway-side.   So I saw in my dream that he made haste, and went forward, that if possible he might get lodging there. Now before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off the Porter's lodge, and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back by. (The lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them; for he thought nothing but death was before him. But the Porter at the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt, as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, Is thy strength so small? Mark 4:40. Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.   Then I saw that he went on, trembling for fear of the lions, but taking good heed to the directions of the Porter; he heard them roar, but they did him no harm. Then he clapped his hands, and went on till he came and stood before the gate where the Porter was. Then said Christian to the Porter, Sir, what house is this? and may I lodge here to-night? The Porter answered, This house was built by the Lord of the hill, and he built it for the relief and security of pilgrims. The Porter also asked whence he was, and whither he was going.   CHR. I am come from the city of Destruction, and am going to Mount Zion: but because the sun is now set, I desire, if I may, to lodge here to-night.   PORT. What is your name?   CHR. My name is now Christian, but my name at the first was Graceless: I came of the race of Japheth, whom God will persuade to dwell in the tents of Shem. Gen. 9:27.   PORT. But how does it happen that you come so late? The sun is set.   CHR. I had been here sooner, but that, wretched man that I am, I slept in the arbor that stands on the hill-side! Nay, I had, notwithstanding that, been here much sooner, but that in my sleep I lost my evidence, and came without it to the brow of the hill; and then feeling for it, and not finding it, I was forced with sorrow of heart to go back to the place where I slept my sleep, where I found it; and now I am come.   PORT. Well, I will call out one of the virgins of this place, who will, if she likes your talk, bring you in to the rest of the family, according to the rules of the house. So Watchful the Porter rang a bell, at the sound of which came out of the door of the house a grave and beautiful damsel, named Discretion, and asked why she was called.   The Porter answered, This man is on a journey from the city of Destruction to Mount Zion; but being weary and benighted, he asked me if he might lodge here to-night: so I told him I would call for thee, who, after discourse had with him, mayest do as seemeth thee good, even according to the law of the house.   Then she asked him whence he was, and whither he was going; and he told her. She asked him also how he got into the way; and he told her. Then she asked him what he had seen and met with in the way, and he told her. And at last she asked his name. So he said, It is Christian; and I have so much the more a desire to lodge here to-night, because, by what I perceive, this place was built by the Lord of the hill for the relief and security of pilgrims. So she smiled, but the water stood in her eyes; and after a little pause she said, I will call forth two or three more of the family. So she ran to the door, and called out Prudence, Piety, and Charity, who, after a little more discourse with him, had him into the family; and many of them meeting him at the threshold of the house, said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; this house was built by the Lord of the hill on purpose to entertain such pilgrims in. Then he bowed his head, and followed them into the house. So when he was come in and sat down, they gave him something to drink, and consented together that, until supper was ready, some of them should have some particular discourse with Christian, for the best improvement of time; and they appointed Piety, Prudence, and Charity to discourse with him: and thus they began.   PIETY. Come, good Christian, since we have been so loving to you as to receive you into our house this night, let us, if perhaps we may better ourselves thereby, talk with you of all things that have happened to you in your pilgrimage.   CHR. With a very good will; and I am glad that you are so well disposed.   PIETY. What moved you at first to betake yourself to a pilgrim's life?   CHR. I was driven out of my native country by a dreadful sound that was in mine ears; to wit, that unavoidable destruction did attend me, if I abode in that place where I was.   PIETY. But how did it happen that you came out of your country this way?   CHR. It was as God would have it; for when I was under the fears of destruction, I did not know whither to go; but by chance there came a man, even to me, as I was trembling and weeping, whose name is Evangelist, and he directed me to the Wicket-gate, which else I should never have found, and so set me into the way that hath led me directly to this house.   PIETY. But did you not come by the house of the Interpreter?   CHR. Yes, and did see such things there, the remembrance of which will stick by me as long as I live, especially three things: to wit, how Christ, in despite of Satan, maintains his work of grace in the heart; how the man had sinned himself quite out of hopes of God's mercy; and also the dream of him that thought in his sleep the day of judgment was come.   PIETY. Why, did you hear him tell his dream?   CHR. Yes, and a dreadful one it was, I thought; it made my heart ache as he was telling of it, but yet I am glad I heard it.   PIETY. Was this all you saw at the house of the Interpreter?   CHR. No; he took me, and had me where he showed me a stately palace, and how the people were clad in gold that were in it; and how there came a venturous man, and cut his way through the armed men that stood in the door to keep him out; and how he was bid to come in, and win eternal glory. Methought those things did ravish my heart. I would have stayed at that good man's house a twelvemonth, but that I knew I had farther to go.   PIETY. And what saw you else in the way?   CHR. Saw? Why, I went but a little farther, and I saw One, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon a tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back; for I groaned under a very heavy burden, but then it fell down from off me. It was a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before: yea, and while I stood looking up, (for then I could not forbear looking,) three Shining Ones came to me. One of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stripped me of my rags, and gave me this broidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark which you see in my forehead, and gave me this sealed roll, (and with that he plucked it out of his bosom.)

COMPREHENDING BLAKE

Found on Page 47 of Critical Essays on William Blake, edited by Hazard Adams, is this statement by Northrop Frye in his essay Blake's Treatment of the Archetype:
 

"Narrative is normally the first thing we look for in a long poem, but Blake's poems are presented as a series of engraved plates, and the mental process of following a narrative sequence is, especially in the later poems, subordinated to a process of comprehending an inter-related pattern of images and ideas. The plate in Blake's epics...brings the narrative to a full stop and forces the reader to try to build up from the narrative his own reconstruction of the author's meaning. Blake thinks almost entirely in terms of two narrative structures. One is the narrative of history, the cycle of war and law, the conflict of Orc and Urizen, which in itself has no end no point and may be called the tragic or historical view of life. The other is the comic vision of the apocalypse or work of Los, the clarification of the mind which enable man to grasp the human form of the world. But the latter is not concerned with temporal sequence and is consequently not so much a real narrative as a dialectic." 

Wikicommons
Illustrations to Virgil's Eclogue

 Milton, Plate 34 [38], (E 134)
"And Ololon looked down into the Heavens of Ulro in fear
They said. How are the Wars of Man which in Great Eternity
Appear around, in the External Spheres of Visionary Life
Here renderd Deadly within the Life & Interior Vision
How are the Beasts & Birds & Fishes, & Plants & Minerals
Here fixd into a frozen bulk subject to decay & death[?]
Those Visions of Human Life & Shadows of Wisdom & Knowledge     
Plate 35 [39]
Are here frozen to unexpansive deadly destroying terrors[.]
And War & Hunting: the Two Fountains of the River of Life
Are become Fountains of bitter Death & of corroding Hell
Till Brotherhood is changd into a Curse & a Flattery
By Differences between Ideas, that Ideas themselves, (which are 
The Divine Members) may be slain in offerings for sin
O dreadful Loom of Death!"

JERUSALEM THE EMANATION

British Museum
Jerusalem
Plate 2

Blake did not name his culminating epic after Albion, he named it after Jerusalem, Albion's Emanation, the active, spiritual aspect of the sleeping Albion in the poem Jerusalem. Albion cast Jerusalem from his bosom when he invited Vala in. To Albion Vala represented the exterior world (or the body) produced by time and space. He "fell in love with the productions of time." Jerusalem's fate was to leave the Eternal World and wander until body and soul, Vala and Jerusalem were reunited.
 
In this passage on Plate 85 Jerusalem is threefold, Head and Heart and Reins, "not yet embodied in Time and Space."
 
In the image on the title plate, the butterfly Jerusalem is caught in her cocoon waiting for release. Like Albion's, her Eternal form includes the stars, the moon in two phases, the sun, and the earth. Surrounding the sleeping Jerusalem are emanations which appear to be Vala (Heart) to the left, Ahania (Head) above, and Enion (Reins) to the right.
 
Jerusalem, Plate 85, (E 165)
"O lovely mild Jerusalem! O Shiloh of Mount Ephraim!
I see thy Gates of precious stones: thy Walls of gold & silver
Thou art the soft reflected Image of the Sleeping Man
Who stretchd on Albions rocks reposes amidst his Twenty-eight
Cities: where Beulah lovely terminates, in the hills & valleys of Albion
Cities not yet embodied in Time and Space: plant ye
The Seeds O Sisters in the bosom of Time & Spaces womb
To spring up for Jerusalem: lovely Shadow of Sleeping Albion  
Why wilt thou rend thyself apart & build an Earthly Kingdom   
To reign in pride & to opress & to mix the Cup of Delusion
O thou that dwellest with Babylon! Come forth O lovely-one
Plate 86
I see thy Form O lovely mild Jerusalem, Wingd with Six Wings
In the opacous Bosom of the Sleeper, lovely Three-fold  
In Head & Heart & Reins, three Universes of love & beauty
Thy forehead bright: Holiness to the Lord, with Gates of pearl
Reflects Eternity beneath thy azure wings of feathery down    
Ribbd delicate & clothd with featherd gold & azure & purple
From thy white shoulders shadowing, purity in holiness!
Thence featherd with soft crimson of the ruby bright as fire
Spreading into the azure Wings which like a canopy
Bends over thy immortal Head in which Eternity dwells       
Albion beloved Land; I see thy mountains & thy hills
And valleys & thy pleasant Cities Holiness to the Lord
I see the Spectres of thy Dead O Emanation of Albion.
Thy Bosom white, translucent coverd with immortal gems
A sublime ornament not obscuring the outlines of beauty      
Terrible to behold for thy extreme beauty & perfection
Twelve-fold here all the Tribes of Israel I behold
Upon the Holy Land: I see the River of Life & Tree of Life
I see the New Jerusalem descending out of Heaven
Between thy Wings of gold & silver featherd immortal        
Clear as the rainbow, as the cloud of the Suns tabernacle
Thy Reins coverd with Wings translucent sometimes covering
And sometimes spread abroad reveal the flames of holiness
Which like a robe covers: & like a Veil of Seraphim
In flaming fire unceasing burns from Eternity to Eternity    
Twelvefold I there behold Israel in her Tents
A Pillar of a Cloud by day: a Pillar of fire by night
Guides them: there I behold Moab & Ammon & Amalek
There Bells of silver round thy knees living articulate
Comforting sounds of love & harmony & on thy feet          
Sandals of gold & pearl, & Egypt & Assyria before me
The Isles of Javan, Philistea, Tyre and Lebanon
Thus Los sings upon his Watch walking from Furnace to Furnace.
Plate 20
But when they saw Albion fall'n upon mild Lambeths vale:
Astonish'd! Terrified! they hover'd over his Giant limbs.
Then thus Jerusalem spoke, while Vala wove the veil of tears:
Weeping in pleadings of Love, in the web of despair.
Wherefore hast thou shut me into the winter of human life  
And clos'd up the sweet regions of youth and virgin innocence:
Where we live, forgetting error, not pondering on evil:
Among my lambs & brooks of water, among my warbling birds:
Where we delight in innocence before the face of the Lamb:
Going in and out before him in his love and sweet affection.
Vala replied weeping & trembling, hiding in her veil.
When winter rends the hungry family and the snow falls:
Upon the ways of men hiding the paths of man and beast,
Then mourns the wanderer: then he repents his wanderings & eyes
The distant forest; then the slave groans in the dungeon of stone.   
The captive in the mill of the stranger, sold for scanty hire.
They view their former life: they number moments over and over;
Stringing them on their remembrance as on a thread of sorrow.
Thou art my sister and my daughter! thy shame is mine also!
Ask me not of my griefs! thou knowest all my griefs.            
Jerusalem answer'd with soft tears over the valleys.
O Vala what is Sin? that thou shudderest and weepest
At sight of thy once lov'd Jerusalem! What is Sin but a little
Error & fault that is soon forgiven; but mercy is not a Sin
Nor pity nor love nor kind forgiveness! O! if I have Sinned     
Forgive & pity me! O! unfold thy Veil in mercy & love!
Slay not my little ones, beloved Virgin daughter of Babylon
Slay not my infant loves & graces, beautiful daughter of Moab  
I cannot put off the human form I strive but strive in vain
When Albion rent thy beautiful net of gold and silver twine;
Thou hadst woven it with art, thou hadst caught me in the bands
Of love; thou refusedst to let me go: Albion beheld thy beauty
Beautiful thro' our Love's comeliness, beautiful thro' pity.
The Veil shone with thy brightness in the eyes of Albion,
Because it inclosd pity & love; because we lov'd one-another!
Albion lov'd thee! he rent thy Veil! he embrac'd thee! he lov'd thee!
Astonish'd at his beauty & perfection, thou forgavest his furious love:
I redounded from Albions bosom in my virgin loveliness.
The Lamb of God reciev'd me in his arms he smil'd upon us:
He made me his Bride & Wife: he gave thee to Albion.            
Then was a time of love: O why is it passed away!"

pilgrim 10

Plate 10 of Blake Illustrations

{105} I looked, then, after Christian, to see him go up the hill, where I perceived he fell from running to going, and from going to clambering upon his hands and his knees, because of the steepness of the place. Now, about the midway to the top of the hill was a pleasant arbour, made by the Lord of the hill for the refreshing of weary travellers; thither, therefore, Christian got, where also he sat down to rest him. Then he pulled his roll out of his bosom, and read therein to his comfort; he also now began afresh to take a review of the coat or garment that was given him as he stood by the cross. Thus pleasing himself awhile, he at last fell into a slumber, and thence into a fast sleep, which detained him in that place until it was almost night; and in his sleep, his roll fell out of his hand. Now, as he was sleeping, there came one to him, and awaked him, saying, Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. wAnd with that Christian started up, and sped him on his way, and went apace, till he came to the top of the hill.

{106} Now, when he was got up to the top of the hill, there came two men running to meet him amain; the name of the one was Timorous, and of the other, Mistrust; to whom Christian said, Sirs, what's the matter? You run the wrong way. Timorous answered, that they were going to the City of Zion, and had got up that difficult place; but, said he, the further we go, the more danger we meet with; wherefore we turned, and are going back again.

Yes, said Mistrust, for just before us lie a couple of lions in the way, whether sleeping or waking we know not, and we could not think, if we came within reach, but they would presently pull us in pieces.

{107} CHR. Then said Christian, You make me afraid, but whither shall I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own country, that is prepared for fire and brimstone, and I shall certainly perish there. If I can get to the Celestial City, I am sure to be in safety there. I must venture. To go back is nothing but death; to go forward is fear of death, and life-everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward. So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill, and Christian went on his way. But, thinking again of what he had heard from the men, he felt in his bosom for his roll, that he might read therein, and be comforted; but he felt, and found it not. Then was Christian in great distress, and knew not what to do; for he wanted that which used to relieve him, and that which should have been his pass into the Celestial City. Here, therefore, he begun to be much perplexed, and knew not what to do. At last he bethought himself that he had slept in the arbour that is on the side of the hill; and, falling down upon his knees, he asked God's forgiveness for that his foolish act, and then went back to look for his roll. But all the way he went back, who can sufficiently set forth the sorrow of Christian's heart? Sometimes he sighed, sometimes he wept, and oftentimes he chid himself for being so foolish to fall asleep in that place, which was erected only for a little refreshment for his weariness. Thus, therefore, he went back, carefully looking on this side and on that, all the way as he went, if happily he might find his roll, that had been his comfort so many times in his journey. He went thus, till he came again within sight of the arbour where he sat and slept; but that sight renewed his sorrow the more, by bringing again, even afresh, his evil of sleeping into his mind. [Rev. 2:5; 1 Thes. 5:7,8] Thus, therefore, he now went on bewailing his sinful sleep, saying, O wretched man that I am that I should sleep in the day-time! that I should sleep in the midst of difficulty! that I should so indulge the flesh, as to use that rest for ease to my flesh, which the Lord of the hill hath erected only for the relief of the spirits of pilgrims!

{108} How many steps have I took in vain! Thus it happened to Israel, for their sin; they were sent back again by the way of the Red Sea; and I am made to tread those steps with sorrow, which I might have trod with delight, had it not been for this sinful sleep. How far might I have been on my way by this time! I am made to tread those steps thrice over, which I needed not to have trod but once; yea, now also I am like to be benighted, for the day is almost spent. O, that I had not slept!

{109} Now, by this time he was come to the arbour again, where for a while he sat down and wept; but at last, as Christian would have it, looking sorrowfully down under the settle, there he espied his roll; the which he, with trembling and haste, catched up, and put it into his bosom. But who can tell how joyful this man was when he had gotten his roll again! for this roll was the assurance of his life and acceptance at the desired haven. Therefore he laid it up in his bosom, gave thanks to God for directing his eye to the place where it lay, and with joy and tears betook himself again to his journey. But oh, how nimbly now did he go up the rest of the hill! Yet, before he got up, the sun went down upon Christian; and this made him again recall the vanity of his sleeping to his remembrance; and thus he again began to condole with himself: O thou sinful sleep; how, for thy sake, am I like to be benighted in my journey! I must walk without the sun; darkness must cover the path of my feet; and I must hear the noise of the doleful creatures, because of my sinful sleep. [1 Thes. 5:6,7] Now also he remembered the story that Mistrust and Timorous told him of; how they were frighted with the sight of the lions. Then said Christian to himself again, These beasts range in the night for their prey; and if they should meet with me in the dark, how should I shift them? How should I escape being by them torn in pieces? Thus he went on his way. But while he was thus bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he lift up his eyes, and behold there was a very stately palace before him, the name of which was Beautiful; and it stood just by the highway side.

{110} So I saw in my dream that he made haste and went forward, that if possible he might get lodging there. Now, before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off the porter's lodge; and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back by. (The lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them, for he thought nothing but death was before him. But the porter at the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, Is thy strength so small? [Mark 8:34-37] Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that had none. Keep in the midst of the path, no hurt shall come unto thee.

"Difficulty is behind, Fear is before,
Though he's got on the hill, the lions roar;
A Christian man is never long at ease,
When one fright's gone, another doth him seize."

{111} Then I saw that he went on, trembling for fear of the lions, but taking good heed to the directions of the porter; he heard them roar, but they did him no harm. Then he clapped his hands, and went on till he came and stood before the gate where the porter was. Then said Christian to the porter, Sir, what house is this? And may I lodge here to-night? The porter answered, This house was built by the Lord of the hill, and he built it for the relief and security of pilgrims. The porter also asked whence he was, and whither he was going.

{112} CHR. I am come from the City of Destruction, and am going to Mount Zion; but because the sun is now set, I desire, if I may, to lodge here to-night.

POR. What is your name?

CHR. My name is now Christian, but my name at the first was Graceless; I came of the race of Japheth, whom God will persuade to dwell in the tents of Shem. [Gen. 9:27]

POR. But how doth it happen that you come so late? The sun is set.

{113} CHR. I had been here sooner, but that, "wretched man that I am!" I slept in the arbour that stands on the hillside; nay, I had, notwithstanding that, been here much sooner, but that, in my sleep, I lost my evidence, and came without it to the brow of the hill and then feeling for it, and finding it not, I was forced with sorrow of heart, to go back to the place where I slept my sleep, where I found it, and now I am come.

POR. Well, I will call out one of the virgins of this place, who will, if she likes your talk, bring you into the rest of the family, according to the rules of the house. So Watchful, the porter, rang a bell, at the sound of which came out at the door of the house, a grave and beautiful damsel, named Discretion, and asked why she was called.

{114} The porter answered, This man is in a journey from the City of Destruction to Mount Zion, but being weary and benighted, he asked me if he might lodge here to-night; so I told him I would call for thee, who, after discourse had with him, mayest do as seemeth thee good, even according to the law of the house.

{115} Then she asked him whence he was, and whither he was going, and he told her. She asked him also how he got into the way; and he told her. Then she asked him what he had seen and met with in the way; and he told, her. And last she asked his name; so he said, It is Christian, and I have so much the more a desire to lodge here to-night, because, by what I perceive, this place was built by the Lord of the hill for the relief and security of pilgrims. So she smiled, but the water stood in her eyes; and after a little pause, she said, I will call forth two or three more of the family. So she ran to the door, and called out Prudence, Piety, and Charity, who, after a little more discourse with him, had him into the family; and many of them, meeting him at the threshold of the house, said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; this house was built by the Lord of the hill, on purpose to entertain such pilgrims in. Then he bowed his head, and followed them into the house. So when he was come in and sat down, they gave him something to drink, and consented together, that until supper was ready, some of them should have some particular discourse with Christian, for the best improvement of time; and they appointed Piety, and Prudence, and Charity to discourse with him; and thus they began:

{116} PIETY. Come, good Christian, since we have been so loving to you, to receive you in our house this night, let us, if perhaps we may better ourselves thereby, talk with you of all things that have happened to you in your pilgrimage.

CHR. With a very good will, and I am glad that you are so well disposed.

{117} PIETY. What moved you at first to betake yourself to a pilgrim's life?

CHR. I was driven out of my native country by a dreadful sound that was in mine ears: to wit, that unavoidable destruction did attend me, if I abode in that place where I was.

PIETY. But how did it happen that you came out of your country this way?

CHR. It was as God would have it; for when I was under the fears of destruction, I did not know whither to go; but by chance there came a man, even to me, as I was trembling and weeping, whose name is Evangelist, and he directed me to the wicket-gate, which else I should never have found, and so set me into the way that hath led me directly to this house.

{118} PIETY. But did you not come by the house of the Interpreter?

CHR. Yes, and did see such things there, the remembrance of which will stick by me as long as I live; especially three things: to wit, how Christ, in despite of Satan, maintains his work of grace in the heart; how the man had sinned himself quite out of hopes of God's mercy; and also the dream of him that thought in his sleep the day of judgement was come.

PIETY. Why, did you hear him tell his dream?

CHR. Yes, and a dreadful one it was. I thought it made my heart ache as he was telling of it; but yet I am glad I heard it.

{119} PIETY. Was that all that you saw at the house of the Interpreter?

CHR. No; he took me and had me where he shewed me a stately palace, and how the people were clad in gold that were in it; and how there came a venturous man and cut his way through the armed men that stood in the door to keep him out, and how he was bid to come in, and win eternal glory. Methought those things did ravish my heart! I would have stayed at that good man's house a twelvemonth, but that I knew I had further to go.

{120} PIETY. And what saw you else in the way?

CHR. Saw! why, I went but a little further, and I saw one, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the tree; and the very sight of him made my burden fall off my back, (for I groaned under a very heavy burden,) but then it fell down from off me. It was a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before; yea, and while I stood looking up, for then I could not forbear looking, three Shining Ones came to me. One of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stripped me of my rags, and gave me this broidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark which you see in my forehead, and gave me this sealed roll. (And with that he plucked it out of his bosom.)

{121} PIETY. But you saw more than this, did you not?

CHR. The things that I have told you were the best; yet some other matters I saw, as, namely--I saw three men, Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, lie asleep a little out of the way, as I came, with irons upon their heels; but do you think I could awake them? I also saw Formality and Hypocrisy come tumbling over the wall, to go, as they pretended, to Zion, but they were quickly lost, even as I myself did tell them; but they would not believe. But above all, I found it hard work to get up this hill, and as hard to come by the lions' mouths, and truly if it had not been for the good man, the porter that stands at the gate, I do not know but that after all I might have gone back again; but now I thank God I am here, and I thank you for receiving of me.

{122} Then Prudence thought good to ask him a few questions, and desired his answer to them.

PRUD. Do you not think sometimes of the country from whence you came?

Christian's thoughts of his native country

CHR. Yes, but with much shame and detestation: "Truly, if I had been mindful of that country from whence I came out, I might have had opportunity to have returned; but now I desire a better country, that is, an heavenly." [Heb. 11:15,16]

PRUD. Do you not yet bear away with you some of the things that then you were conversant withal?

CHR. Yes, but greatly against my will; especially my inward and carnal cogitations, with which all my countrymen, as well as myself, were delighted; but now all those things are my grief; and might I but choose mine own things,

Christian's choice

I would choose never to think of those things more; but when I would be doing of that which is best, that which is worst is with me. [Rom 7:16-19]

{123} PRUD. Do you not find sometimes, as if those things were vanquished, which at other times are your perplexity?

Christian's golden hours

CHR. Yes, but that is seldom; but they are to me golden

RENEWED ALBION

The reunification of Albion is not a return to the original status which existed before his fall, it is a transformation to a state that harvests all that has occurred during his sleep. Albion has not undergone a cyclical process which would return his to his perfection that was his before the fall. The perfection reached through enduring the process of being generated, incarnated, analyzed and consumed creates a new being and a new milieu in which he exists.
 
Blake brings his myth, told in The Four Zoas, Milton and Jerusalem, to a conclusion which points beyond anything that can be experienced in the world of time and space. He uses multiple images to portray a vision of apocalypse. We see the Zoas returned to their rightful order. We taste the harvest and vintage of all that has been produced over the course of human existence. We touch Jerusalem being rejoined to Albion and overspreading all nations. We sense the Breath Divine breathing forth the new day.

British Museum
Large Book of Designs, 1796
Albion Rose

 
Ever present with Blake was the image of the youthful, exuberant Albion which he conceived in his own youth. Not an Ancient Man but a New Man is the product of the labours of Eternal Death.


Inscriptions, (E 671)
[engraving (revised and inscribed ca 1803-10)]
     "WB inv 1780
     Albion rose from where he labourd at the Mill with Slaves
     Giving himself for the Nations he danc'd the dance of Eternal Death"

   
Jerusalem, Plate 93, (E 253)
"Then Los again took up his speech as Enitharmon ceast
Fear not my Sons this Waking Death. he is become One with me
Behold him here! We shall not Die! we shall be united in Jesus.
Will you suffer this Satan this Body of Doubt that Seems but Is Not
To occupy the very threshold of Eternal Life. if Bacon, Newton, Locke,
Deny a Conscience in Man & the Communion of Saints & Angels
Contemning the Divine Vision & Fruition, Worshiping the Deus
Of the Heathen, The God of This World, & the Goddess Nature
Mystery Babylon the Great, The Druid Dragon & hidden Harlot
Is it not that Signal of the Morning which was told us in the Beginning
Thus they converse upon Mam-Tor. the Graves thunder under their feet
Plate 94
Albion cold lays on his Rock"

Jerusalem, Plate 94, (E 254)
"Time was Finished! The Breath Divine Breathed over Albion
Beneath the Furnaces & starry Wheels and in the Immortal Tomb
And England who is Brittannia awoke from Death on Albions bosom
She awoke pale & cold she fainted seven times on the Body of Albion
O pitious Sleep O pitious Dream! O God O God awake I have slain
In Dreams of Chastity & Moral Law I have Murdered Albion! Ah!
In Stone-henge & on London Stone & in the Oak Groves of Malden
I have Slain him in my Sleep with the Knife of the Druid O England    
O all ye Nations of the Earth behold ye the Jealous Wife
The Eagle & the Wolf & Monkey & Owl & the King & Priest were there
Plate 95
Her voice pierc'd Albions clay cold ear. he moved upon the Rock
The Breath Divine went forth upon the morning hills, Albion mov'd
Upon the Rock, he opend his eyelids in pain; in pain he mov'd
His stony members, he saw England. Ah! shall the Dead live again
The Breath Divine went forth over the morning hills Albion rose"

Four Zoas, Night IX, Page 138, (E 406)
"Such are the works of Dark Urthona Tharmas sifted the corn
Urthona made the Bread of Ages & he placed it
In golden & in silver baskets in heavens of precious stone
And then took his repose in Winter in the night of Time
The Sun has left his blackness & has found a fresher morning    
And the mild moon rejoices in the clear & cloudless night 
And Man walks forth from midst of the fires the evil is all consumd
His eyes behold the Angelic spheres arising night & day
The stars consumd like a lamp blown out & in their stead behold
The Expanding Eyes of Man behold the depths of wondrous worlds
One Earth one sea beneath nor Erring Globes wander but Stars
Of fire rise up nightly from the Ocean & one Sun
Each morning like a New born Man issues with songs & Joy
Calling the Plowman to his Labour & the Shepherd to his rest
He walks upon the Eternal Mountains raising his heavenly voice  
Conversing with the Animal forms of wisdom night & day
That risen from the Sea of fire renewd walk oer the Earth
For Tharmas brought his flocks upon the hills & in the Vales
Around the Eternal Mans bright tent the little Children play
Among the wooly flocks The hammer of Urthona sounds             
In the deep caves beneath his limbs renewd his Lions roar
Around the Furnaces & in Evening sport upon the plains
They raise their faces from the Earth conversing with the Man
How is it we have walkd thro fires & yet are not consumd
How is it that all things are changd even as in ancient times
Page 139
The Sun arises from his dewy bed & the fresh airs
Play in his smiling beams giving the seeds of life to grow
And the fresh Earth beams forth ten thousand thousand springs of life
Urthona is arisen in his strength no longer now
Divided from Enitharmon no longer the Spectre Los               
Where is the Spectre of Prophecy where the delusive Phantom
Departed & Urthona rises from the ruinous walls
In all his ancient strength to form the golden armour of science
For intellectual War The war of swords departed now
The dark Religions are departed & sweet Science reigns          
                  End of The Dream"    

      

Pilgrim 9

See also Giant Despair

Giant Despair in Pilgrim's Progress

As he leaves this valley the sun rises on a new day.

Just outside the Valley of the Shadow of Death he meets Faithful, also a former resident of the City of Destruction, who accompanies him to Vanity Fair, a place built by Beelzebub where every thing to a human's tastes, delights, and lusts are sold daily, where both are arrested and detained because of their disdain for the wares and business of the Fair. Faithful is put on trial, and executed by burning at the stake as a martyr. A celestial chariot then takes Faithful to the Celestial City, martyrdom being a shortcut there. Hopeful, a resident of Vanity Fair, takes Faithful's place to be Christian's companion for the rest of the way.

Christian and Hopeful then come to a mining hill called Lucre its owner named Demas offers them all the silver of the mine but Christian sees through Demas's trickery and they avoid the mine. Afterwards, a false pilgrim named By-Ends and his friends, who followed Christian and Hopeful only to take advantage of them, perish at the Hill Lucre, never to be seen or heard again. Along a rough, stony stretch of road, Christian and Hopeful leave the highway to travel on the easier By-Path Meadow, where a rainstorm forces them to spend the night. In the morning they are captured by Giant Despair, who is known for his savage cruelty and his wife Diffidence and takes them to his Doubting Castle, where they are imprisoned, beaten and starved. The Giant and the Giantess want them to commit suicide, but they endure the ordeal until Christian realizes that a key he has, called Promise, will open all the doors and gates of Doubting Castle. Using the key and the Giant's weakness to sunlight, they escape.

From wiki .