Plate 98

Platte 98

PLATE 98

Then each an Arrow flaming from his Quiver fitted carefully
They drew fourfold the unreprovable String, bending thro the wide
    Heavens
The horned Bow Fourfold, loud sounding flew the flaming Arrow
    fourfold

Murmuring the Bow-string breathes with ardor. Clouds roll round
    the horns
Of the wide Bow, loud sounding Winds sport on the Mountains
    brows:
The Druid Spectre was Annihilate loud thundring rejoicing
    terrific vanishing

Fourfold Annihilation & at the clangor of the Arrows of Intellect
The innumerable Chariots of the Almighty appeard in Heaven
And Bacon & Newton & Locke, & Milton & Shakspear & Chaucer
A Sun of blood red wrath surrounding heaven on all sides around
Glorious incompreh[en]sible by Mortal Man & each Chariot was
    Sexual Threefold                                           t

And every Man stood Fourfold, each Four Faces had. One to the
    West
One toward the East One to the South One to the North. the Horses
    Fourfold
And the dim Chaos brightend beneath, above, around! Eyed as the
    Peacock
According to the Human Nerves of Sensation, the Four Rivers of
    the Water of Life

South stood the Nerves of the Eye. East in Rivers of bliss the
    Nerves of the
Expansive Nostrils West, flowd the Parent Sense the Tongue. North
    stood
The labyrinthine Ear. Circumscribing & Circumcising the
    excrementitious
Husk & Covering into Vacuum evaporating revealing the lineaments
    of Man
Driving outward the Body of Death in an Eternal Death &
    Resurrection
Awaking it to Life among the Flowers of Beulah rejoicing in Unity
In the Four Senses in the Outline the Circumference & Form, for
    ever
In Forgiveness of Sins which is Self Annihilation. it is the
    Covenant of Jehovah

The Four Living Creatures Chariots of Humanity Divine
    Incomprehensible
In beautiful Paradises expand These are the Four Rivers of
    Paradise
And the Four Faces of Humanity fronting the Four Cardinal Points
Of Heaven going forward forward irresistible from Eternity to
    Eternity

And they conversed together in Visionary forms dramatic which
    bright
Redounded from their Tongues in thunderous majesty, in Visions

In new Expanses, creating exemplars of Memory and of Intellect
Creating Space, Creating Time according to the wonders Divine
Of Human Imagination, throughout all the Three Regions immense
Of Childhood, Manhood & Old Age[;] & the all tremendous
    unfathomable Non Ens
Of Death was seen in regenerations terrific or complacent     
    varying                                                    t
According to the subject of discourse & every Word & Every
    Character
Was Human according to the Expansion or Contraction, the
    Translucence or
Opakeness of Nervous fibres such was the variation of Time &
    Space
Which vary according as the Organs of Perception vary & they
    walked
To & fro  reflecting each in each & clearly  seen
And seeing: according to fitness & order. And I heard Jehovah
    speak
Terrific from his Holy Place & saw the Words of the Mutual
    Covenant Divine
On Chariots of gold & jewels with Living Creatures starry &
    flaming
With every Colour, Lion, Tyger, Horse, Elephant, Eagle Dove, Fly,
    Worm,
And the all wondrous Serpent clothed in gems & rich array
    Humanize
In the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Covenant of Jehovah.
 in Eternity as One Man  They Cry

Where is the Covenant of Priam, the Moral Virtues of the Heathen
Where is the Tree of Good & Evil that rooted beneath the cruel
    heel
Of Albions Spectre the Patriarch Druid! where are all his Human
    Sacrifices                                              
For Sin in War & in the Druid Temples of the Accuser of Sin:
    beneath
The Oak Groves of Albion that coverd the whole Earth beneath his
    Spectre
Where are the Kingdoms of the World & all their glory that grew
    on Desolation
The Fruit of Albions Poverty Tree when the Triple Headed
    Gog-Magog Giant
Of Albion Taxed the Nations into Desolation & then gave the
    Spectrous Oath

Such is the Cry from all the Earth from the Living Creatures of
    the Earth
And from the great City of Golgonooza in the Shadowy Generation
And from the Thirty-two Nations of the Earth among the Living
    Creatures
(Erdman - 257 -8)


Notes:

Here is another dimension of the apocalypse:

In Forgiveness of Sins which is Self Annihilation.

The Druid Spectre was Annihilate loud thundring rejoicing
    terrific vanishing
Fourfold Annihilation & at the clangor of the Arrows of Intellect
The innumerable Chariots of the Almighty appeard in Heaven
And Bacon & Newton & Locke, & Milton & Shakspear & Chaucer


When Blake succeeded in annihilating his Spectre, he found his primary
enemies, Bacon & Newton & Locke listed with his primary friends and sources: Milton & Shakspear & Chaucer.


Then he named the four horses of the Apocalypse and described them thusly:

the Four Rivers of  the Water of Life  taken from Genesis Chapter 2:

[10] And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
¹¹ The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

[13] And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.[

14] And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates

Another description:

South stood the Nerves of the Eye.

East in Rivers of bliss the Nerves of the Expansive Nostrils

West, flowd the Parent Sense the Tongue.

North stood The labyrinthine 


in Eternity as One Man  cries re a list of the various forms of Ulro:

Where is the Covenant of Priam, the Moral Virtues of the Heathen

Where is the Tree of Good & Evil that rooted beneath the cruel
heel Of Albions Spectre the Patriarch Druid! 

where are all his Human Sacrifices                                             
For Sin in War & in the Druid Temples of the Accuser of Sin:
beneathThe Oak Groves of Albion that coverd the whole Earth beneath his
Spectre

Where are the Kingdoms of the World & all their glory that grew
on Desolation

All gone in the New Age, the Kingdom of God that is coming.

SYMBOLIC FIGURE III

We return to Fearful Symmetry for assistance from Northrop Frye in squeezing more meaning from Blake's Symbolic Figure. Frye's chapter Nightmare with Her Ninefold is a study of Blake's Four Zoas. During the writing of the Four Zoas, Blake was working out the symbolism which would reappear in other forms. Frye's mastery of Blake's thought makes him the ideal reference for seeing the depth and breath of the constructions of Blake's imagination.

Frye, Page 274-5:

"Los and Orc are called Urthona and Luvah respectively when spoken of in the context of the eternal as opposed to the temporal world. The whole four represent more of less the four aspects of God's imaginative energy, Urthona being his creative fertility, which appears in the fallen world as Los; Tharmas his power to bring what he creates into complete existence, the first privilege lost to man at the Fall; Luvah his capacity for love and joy; and Urizen his wisdom and sense of form. Urizen is thus the  unfallen or eternal name of what in the fallen world eventually becomes Satan, the dead matter which is the 'form' of nature insofar as it has any apart from life.
...
"The imagination sees the east, not as one of thirty-two arbirtrary divisions of what Blake calls a 'concave' space, but as the quarter of beginnings, as the region of newborn life and light. It sees the north, at least in Britain, as an attractive magnet pulling all things downward to it. The north then is a 'nadir' and the east a 'center' of renewed energy: the south, the region of intensest sunshine, is therefore a 'zenith' and the west with its bounding ocean a 'circumference.'
"We may understand this point more clearly if we go back to the Book of Daniel again to Nebucadnezzar's dream of himself as a statue with a head of gold, breast of silver, loins of brass and legs of iron. This statue is Albion before the fall, when great nations dwelt together as one Man. Now this Man must have been the form of unfallen space, and it is the form which the prophetic imagination strives to visualize here. We may notice that Nebucadnezzar forgot his dream and had to have it recalled to him by a prophet.
"Albion's golden head in the southern zenith was Eden, the city of the sun, and the unfallen Urizen. The silver breast of the circumference was the surrounding garden of Eden, or Beulah, the unfallen Tharmas. The brazen loins and genitals of the center were the region of generation and sexual desire, the unfallen Orc and Vala...The iron legs were dark but unfallen 'Ulro,' more of less the region the imagination now enters when it tells ghost stories, the abode of Urthona...The four levels of existence are the four levels of consciousness also. Urizen is the highest level or zenith of active awareness, or creation; Tharmas is the lower level of relaxed awareness; Luvah is the still lower level of love and copulation; and Urthona is 'subconscious' sleep and dream, the nadir of imaginative energy. Further, this world of city and garden is no longer underneath an indefinite sky. The domain of the unfallen Urizen,  Albion's golden head, is the real or mental sun; that of Tharmas the real moon; that of Luvah or Orc the real stars; and that of Urthona the real mountains, full of mines which are fairy palaces. The present physical universe, the underground cave of the mind, or mundane shell, is thus the fallen Urthona's 'dens.' "          

William Blake 
English 1757 1827 
Illustration to Dante's Divine Comedy 1824-27
Hell Canto 14: The Symbolic Figure of the Course of
Human History Described by Virgil 
pen, ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk
52.7 x 37.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1920

In Frye's passage he has described the positions and meanings of the fourfold functions in the unfallen world. Here is a account from the Four Zoas as the 'Four Mighty Ones' have fallen into disarray and struggle among themselves for dominance.

Four Zoas, Night VI, Page 74, (E 351)
"Thus Urizen in sorrows wanderd many a dreary way
Warring with monsters of the Deeps in his most hideous pilgrimage
Till his bright hair scatterd in snows his skin barkd oer with wrinkles
Four Caverns rooting downwards their foundations thrusting forth
The metal rock & stone in ever painful throes of vegetation
The Cave of Orc stood to the South a furnace of dire flames
Quenchless unceasing. In the west the Cave of Urizen             
For Urizen fell as the Midday sun falls down into the West
North stood Urthonas stedfast throne a World of Solid darkness
Shut up in stifling obstruction rooted in dumb despair
The East was Void. But Tharmas rolld his billows in ceaseless eddies
Void pathless beat with Snows eternal & iron hail & rain  
All thro the caverns of fire & air & Earth, Seeking
For Enions limbs nought finding but the black sea weed & sickning slime
Flying away from Urizen that he might not give him food
Above beneath on all sides round in the vast deep of immensity
That he might starve the sons & daughters of Urizen on the winds 
Making between horrible chasms into the vast unknown
All these around the world of Los cast forth their monstrous births
But in Eternal times the Seat of Urizen is in the South
Urthona in the North Luvah in East Tharmas in West

And now he came into the Abhorred world of Dark Urthona          
By Providence divine conducted not bent from his own will
Lest death Eternal should be the result for the Will cannot be violated
Into the doleful vales where no tree grew nor river flowd
Nor man nor beast nor creeping thing nor sun nor cloud nor star
Still he with his globe of fire immense in his venturous hand    
Bore on thro the Affrighted vales ascending & descending
Oerwearied or in cumbrous flight he venturd oer dark rifts
Or down dark precipices or climbd with pain and labour huge
Till he beheld the world of Los from the Peaked rock of Urthona
And heard the howling of red Orc distincter & distincter   
Page 75 
Redoubling his immortal efforts thro the narrow vales
With difficulty down descending guided by his Ear
And by his globe of fire he went down the Vale of Urthona   
Between the enormous iron walls built by the Spectre dark
Dark grew his globe reddning with mists & full before his path 
Striding across the narrow vale the Shadow of Urthona   
A spectre Vast appeard whose feet & legs with iron scaled
Stampd the hard rocks expectant of the unknown wanderer
Whom he had seen wandring his nether world when distant far
And watchd his swift approach collected dark the Spectre stood   
Beside hi[m] Tharmas stayd his flight & stood in stern defiance
Communing with the Spectre who rejoicd along the vale
Round his loins a girdle glowd with many colourd fires
In his hand a knotted Club whose knots like mountains frownd
Desart among the Stars them withering with its ridges cold
Black scales of iron arm the dread visage iron spikes instead
Of hair shoot from his orbed scull. his glowing eyes
Burn like two furnaces. he calld with Voice of Thunder

Four winged heralds mount the furious blasts & blow their trumps
Gold Silver Brass & iron clangors clamoring rend the shores     
Like white clouds rising from the Vales his fifty two armies
From the four Cliffs of Urthona rise glowing around the Spectre
Four sons of Urizen the Squadrons of Urthona led in arms
Of gold & silver brass & iron he knew his mighty sons

Then Urizen arose upon the wind back many a mile         
Retiring into his dire Web scattering fleecy snows
As he ascended howling loud the Web vibrated strong
From heaven to heaven from globe to globe."

Plate 97

Plate 97
LC Rosenwald

PLATE 97
Awake! Awake Jerusalem! O lovely Emanation of Albion
Awake and overspread all Nations as in Ancient Time
For lo! the Night of Death is past and the Eternal Day
Appears upon our Hills: Awake Jerusalem, and come away

So spake the Vision of Albion & in him so spake in my hearing
The Universal Father. Then Albion stretchd his hand into
    Infinitude.
And took his Bow. Fourfold the Vision for bright beaming Urizen
Layd his hand on the South & took a breathing Bow of carved Gold
Luvah his hand stretch'd to the East & bore a Silver Bow bright
    shining
Tharmas Westward a Bow of Brass pure flaming richly wrought
Urthona Northward in thick storms a Bow of Iron terrible
    thundering.

And the Bow is a Male & Female & the Quiver of the Arrows of
    Love,
Are the Children of this Bow: a Bow of Mercy & Loving-kindness:
    laying
Open the hidden Heart in Wars of mutual Benevolence Wars of Love
And the Hand of Man grasps firm between the Male & Female Loves
And he Clothed himself in Bow & Arrows in awful state Fourfold
In the midst of his Twenty-eight Cities each with his Bow
    breathing
(Erdman 256)

Notes:

Albion (as Los) naked, his right hand stretching out into ‘infiniture’, the (Spiritual) Sun in his left hand 

And took his Bow. Fourfold the Vision:

Of Urizen on the South with a golden bow. The arrows of Love

Of Luvah on the East with a silver bow.

of Tharmas on the West with a brass bow. 

Of Urthonas on the North with an iron bow.

See Symbolic Figure (http://ramhornd.blogspot.com/2012/07/symbolic-figure.html). 

The arrows of Love,  Are the Children of this Bow:

Blake is describing the activity of Eternity; the bows and arrows are transfigurated into Love and Children.

Corporeal Wars are changed to Wars of mutual Benevolence Wars of Love.

The plate in general is another portrait of the Apocalypse. 

SYMBOLIC FIGURE II

The Old Testament character who is brought to mind by the 'great Old Man of Crete' is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He is mentioned twice by Blake; once as the inscription on the picture of the man who has been driven to a animal existence by his insanity. The other mention is in a letter to Hayley in which Blake refers to the struggles he endured in overcoming his internal enemy, his 'beasts and devils.'

Letters, Number 51, (E 755)
[To William Hayley]
[23 October 1804] 
"For
now! O Glory! and O Delight!  I have entirely reduced that
spectrous Fiend to his station, whose annoyance has been the ruin
of my labours for the last passed twenty years of my life.  He is
the enemy of conjugal love and is the Jupiter of the Greeks, an
iron-hearted tyrant, the ruiner of ancient Greece.  I speak with
perfect confidence and certainty of the fact which has passed
upon me.  Nebuchadnezzar had seven times passed over him; I have
had twenty; thank God I was not altogether a beast as he was; but
I was a slave bound in a mill among beasts and devils; these
beasts and these devils are now, together with myself, become
children of light and liberty, and my feet and my wife's feet are
free from fetters."  

In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar's dream is recalled and interpreted by Daniel who had been taken captive to Babylon. The dream is of an image like the one Blake represented on Page 30 of the Dante series - The symbolic figure of the course of human history by Virgil. Milton Klonsky, on page 144 of Blake's Dante, states: "Dante's 'Old Man' is based on the image in Nebuchadnezzar's prophetic dream, as related in the second book of Daniel. His allegory of the successively degenerating periods of human history, from gold to silver to brass to iron, is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses."

Daniel, Chapter 2
[27] Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded, cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
[28] But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
[29] As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
[30] But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
[31] Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
[32] This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
[33] His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
[34] Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
[35] Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
[36] This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
[37] Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
[38] And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
[39] And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
[40] And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
[41] And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
[42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
[43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
[44] And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
[45] Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
[46] Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
[47] The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

William Blake 
English 1757–1827 
Illustration to Dante's Divine Comedy 1824-27
Hell Canto 14: The Symbolic Figure of the Course of
Human History Described by Virgil 
pen, ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk
52.7 x 37.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1920

In Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the kingdom of Babylon would be followed by future kingdoms less fine than Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. However following the fourth kingdom, God's kingdom would replace earthly kingdoms and would never end.


In Dante's scheme which Blake's image illustrates, there would be a continued descent into the lowest levels of hell with increasing pain and humiliation. Blake's sympathies would follow Nebuchadnezzar's dream, rather than Dante's projection. Blake believed that error could and would be annihilated without resort to vengeful punishment and destruction of individuals.  

Milton, Plate 38 [43], (E 139)
"Here is Jerusalem bound in chains, in the Dens of Babylon
In the Eastern porch of Satans Universe Milton stood & said
Satan! my Spectre! I know my power thee to annihilate
And be a greater in thy place, & be thy Tabernacle               
A covering for thee to do thy will, till one greater comes
And smites me as I smote thee & becomes my covering.
Such are the Laws of thy false Heavns! but Laws of Eternity
Are not such: know thou: I come to Self Annihilation
Such are the Laws of Eternity that each shall mutually     
Annihilate himself for others good, as I for thee"

Plate 96

Plate 96
Yale Center for British Art

PLATE 96                                                      
As the Sun & Moon lead forward the Visions of Heaven & Earth
England who is Brittannia entered Albions bosom rejoicing    

Then Jesus appeared standing by Albion as the Good Shepherd
By the lost Sheep that he hath found & Albion knew that it
Was the Lord the Universal Humanity, & Albion saw his Form
A Man. & they conversed as Man with Man, in Ages of Eternity
And the Divine Appearance was the likeness & similitude of Los

Albion said. O Lord what can I do! my Selfhood cruel
Marches against thee deceitful from Sinai & from Edom
Into the Wilderness of Judah to meet thee in his pride  
I behold the Visions of my deadly Sleep of Six Thousand Years
Dazling around thy skirts like a Serpent of precious stones &
    gold
I know it is my Self. O my Divine Creator & Redeemer

Jesus replied Fear not Albion unless I die thou canst not live
But if I die I shall arise again & thou with me       
This is Friendship & Brotherhood without it Man Is Not

So Jesus spoke! the Covering Cherub coming on in darkness
Overshadowd them & Jesus said Thus do Men in Eternity
One for another to put off by forgiveness, every sin

Albion replyd. Cannot Man exist without Mysterious     
Offering of Self for Another, is this Friendship & Brotherhood
I see thee in the likeness & similitude of Los my Friend

Jesus said. Wouldest thou love one who never died
For thee or ever die for one who had not died for thee
And if God dieth not for Man & giveth not himself      
Eternally for Man Man could not exist. for Man is Love:
As God is Love: every kindness to another is a little Death
In the Divine Image nor can Man exist but by Brotherhood

So saying. the Cloud overshadowing divided them asunder
Albion stood in terror: not for himself but for his Friend
Divine, & Self was lost in the contemplation of faith
And wonder at the Divine Mercy & at Los's sublime honour

Do I sleep amidst danger to Friends! O my Cities & Counties
Do you sleep! rouze up! rouze up. Eternal Death is abroad

So Albion spoke & threw himself into the Furnaces of affliction
All was a Vision, all a Dream: the Furnaces became
Fountains of Living Waters Howing from the Humanity Divine
And all the Cities of Albion rose from their Slumbers, and All
The Sons & Daughters of Albion on soft clouds Waking from Sleep
Soon all around remote the Heavens burnt with flaming fires
And Urizen & Luvah & Tharmas & Urthona arose into
Albions Bosom: Then Albion stood before Jesus in the Clouds
Of Heaven Fourfold among the Visions of God in Eternity

Notes:

This is the climax of Jerusalem and of Blake’s myth:

Plates 95-97 have three images of Albion in various modes:

95: the newly awakened Albion springing up from the grave;

96: an aged Albion embracing England, who is surprised that he is not dead.

97: the embrace of Plate 96 occurs  in the flaming “fountains of living waters” 

Then Jesus appeared like the shepherd finding the lost sheep, conversing as ‘Man to Man’.

So Jesus spoke! the Covering Cherub coming on in darkness Overshadowd them

In the midst of this reconciliation a stark symbol of evil is still there.


The appearance of Jesus is the primary symbol of the new birth that has occurred for Albion  in the likeness & similitude of Los:   

  Los was always the creative Zoa; he has a special name in his fallen state which in Eternity is called Urthona.

In the paragraph starting with ‘Albion said’ he confessed his cruel Selfhood. Confession is preliminary to forgiveness.  Jesus is called the Forgiveness. In his presence (‘man to man’) we surely must become aware of our deficiencies and react as Albion did here.

Jesus’ reply points to his sacrificial death and Resurrection which Albion has shared and which Jesus calls Friendship & Brotherhood.

So Albion spoke & threw himself into the Furnaces of affliction
All was a Vision, all a Dream: the Furnaces became
Fountains of Living Waters.

SYMBOLIC FIGURE

Since Blake created 102 images for Dante's Divine Comedy, it is easy for some of them to receive little attention. When the set of pictures was dispersed after the heirs of John Linnell made them available for sale, 36 pictures came into the possession of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melborne. It is one of these pictures upon which we focus our attention. Thanks to the generosity of The National Gallery of Victoria for allowing publication of this image on this blog.

This image is labelled The Symbolic Figure of the Course of Human History Described by Virgil. Damon (Blake Dictionary) states that it "represents the form of Empire shedding fruitless tears." Empires rise and fall. The golden head may represent Babylon, the silver arms and torso: Empire of Medes and Persians; the brass loins: Greece; the iron legs: Rome; and the feet of iron and clay: Europe.

The prominent symbols of empire include the radiant crown, the orb, and the sceptre or sword. The loins are covered with scales as are Satan's in various Blake images. Blake is specific in his assigning the four metals and the four directions to the four Eternal Zoas in this quote from near the end of Jerusalem:
 
Jerusalem, Plate 97, (E 256) 
"Fourfold the Vision for bright beaming Urizen 
Layd his hand on the South & took a breathing Bow of carved Gold 
Luvah his hand stretch'd to the East & bore a Silver Bow bright shining 
Tharmas Westward a Bow of Brass pure flaming richly wrought 
Urthona Northward in thick storms a Bow of Iron terrible thundering."

William Blake 
English 1757–1827 
Illustration to Dante's Divine Comedy 1824-27
Hell Canto 14: The Symbolic Figure of the Course of
Human History Described by Virgil 
pen, ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk
52.7 x 37.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1920

Virgil speaking to Dante:
"Amid the sea there lies a wasted land,”
he told me thereupon, “whose name is Crete,
under whose king the world of old was pure.
There is a mountain there, which, happy once
with waters and green leaves, was Ida called;
’t is now abandoned like a thing outworn.
Whilom as trusty cradle for her son
Rhea selected it, and when he wept,
to hide him better, caused a shouting there.
Within that mountain stands a great Old Man,
who holds his shoulders toward Damiata turned,
and who, as at his mirror, looks at Rome.
His head is formed of finest gold, his arms
and breast are of the purest silver, then,
as far as to his loins, he ’s made of brass;
all chosen iron is he down from there,
save that baked clay his right foot is, and straighter
he stands on that, than on the other foot.
Each of these parts, except the golden one,
is broken by a cleft, whence trickle tears,
which, when collected, perforate that cave.
From rock to rock they course into this vale;
then Acheron with Styx and Phlegethon
they form, and through this narrow duct descend
as far as where one goes no further down;
they form Cocytus there; and what that pool
is like, thou ’lt see; hence here it is not told."

Blake has the Spectre speak words which may be apropos for a figure representing the course of human history. The metals, the clay and the tears enter into the written imagery of Dante and Blake, and the visual image which links them both.

Jerusalem, Plate 10, (E 153)
"O that I could cease to be! Despair! I am Despair

Created to be the great example of horror & agony: also my
Prayer is vain I called for compassion: compassion mockd
Mercy & pity threw the grave stone over me & with lead
And iron, bound it over me for ever: Life lives on my
Consuming: & the Almighty hath made me his Contrary
To be all evil, all reversed & for ever dead: knowing
And seeing life, yet living not; how can I then behold
And not tremble; how can I be beheld & not abhorrd

So spoke the Spectre shuddring, & dark tears ran down his shadowy face
Which Los wiped off, but comfort none could give! or beam of hope
Yet ceasd he not from labouring at the roarings of his Forge
With iron & brass Building Golgonooza in great contendings
Till his Sons & Daughters came forth from the Furnaces
At the sublime Labours for Los. compelld the invisible Spectre   
PLATE 11
To labours mighty, with vast strength, with his mighty chains,
In pulsations of time, & extensions of space, like Urns of Beulah
With great labour upon his anvils, & in his ladles the Ore
He lifted, pouring it into the clay ground prepar'd with art;
Striving with Systems to deliver Individuals from those Systems; 
That whenever any Spectre began to devour the Dead,
He might feel the pain as if a man gnawd his own tender nerves."

plate 95

Plate 95
Yale Center for British Art

Jerusalem,Plate 95

"Her [Vala’s] 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
In anger: the wrath of God breaking bright flaming on all sides
    around
His awful limbs: into the Heavens he walked clothed in flames
Loud thundring, with broad flashes of flaming lightning & pillars
Of fire, speaking the Words of Eternity in Human Forms, in
    direful
Revolutions of Action & Passion, thro the Four Elements on all
    sides
Surrounding his awful Members. Thou seest the Sun in heavy clouds
Struggling to rise above the Mountains. in his burning hand
He takes his Bow, then chooses out his arrows of flaming gold
Murmuring the Bowstring breathes with ardor! clouds roll around
    the
Horns of the wide Bow, loud sounding winds sport on the mountain
    brows
Compelling Urizen to his Furrow; & Tharmas to his Sheepfold;
And Luvah to his Loom: Urthona he beheld mighty labouring at
His Anvil, in the Great Spectre Los unwearied labouring & weeping
Therefore the Sons of Eden praise Urthonas Spectre in songs
Because he  kept the Divine Vision in time of trouble.

As the Sun & Moon lead forward the Visions of Heaven & Earth
England who is Brittannia enterd Albions bosom rejoicing,
Rejoicing in his indignation! adoring his wrathful rebuke.
She who adores not your frowns will only loathe your smiles"
(Erdman 254-5)

Notes:
Here we have the awakening of Albion. Like a new born baby he’s bawling.
But it’s ‘The Breath Divine’, bright flaming on all sides 

In the last post we read “Time was Finished”; this one pursues that condition.

The picture presents a strong, virale man: he appears to be Los springing
up from his furnace, or is it Albion and Everyman. He’s naked and “clothed in flames”.
(Erdman Illuminated 374)

Albion is speaking, perhaps words of praise as he enters the kingdom.

Albion spoke the Words of Eternity:

He invites us to see the Sun rising above the mountains....
and lists the appropriate Eternal activity of Urizen, Tharmas, and Urthona
Blake put a flower in the lower right  corner because Los had kept’the Divine Vision in
time of trouble’ (from PLATE 44 [30])

OOTHOON'S LAMENT

Blake's reputation as an advocate of free love comes, to a large extent, from his work Visions of the Daughters of Albion from 1793.

Oothoon was not shy, she was in love with Theotormon and had a sexual relationship with him. Perhaps they intended to be wed. Unfortunately Bromion forced her into a sexual encounter with him. Theotormon became enraged not only at Bromion, but at Oothoon as well.

Oothoon's defense is that love should be a free and joyous experience entered into for mutual pleasure. Love does not convey a right to possess or control the beloved. Jealousy and false modesty should not enter into a relationship of love. Taking away another's freedom and self respect are not characteristics of love. Love that restricts freedom and happiness is self-love. If a man who enjoys his pleasure with a woman, seeks to chain her through laws or morality, propriety and social convention, he is a hypocrite.  

Visions of Daughters of Albion
Plate 3, Copy G, 1795
Courtesy of Wikimedia
Original in Houghton Library

Visions of the Daughters of Albion, Plate 3, (E 46)
"The Argument

I loved Theotormon
And I was not ashamed
I trembled in my virgin fears
And I hid in Leutha's vale!

I plucked Leutha's flower,                          
And I rose up from the vale;
But the terrible thunders tore
My virgin mantle in twain." 

Visions of the Daughters of Albion, Plate 6, (E 49)
"And does my Theotormon seek this hypocrite modesty!
This knowing, artful, secret, fearful, cautious, trembling hypocrite.

Then is Oothoon a whore indeed! and all the virgin joys
Of life are harlots: and Theotormon is a sick mans dream
And Oothoon is the crafty slave of selfish holiness.             

But Oothoon is not so, a virgin fill'd with virgin fancies
Open to joy and to delight where ever beauty appears
If in the morning sun I find it: there my eyes are fix'd
Plate 7
In happy copulation; if in evening mild. wearied with work;
Sit on a bank and draw the pleasures of this free born joy.

The moment of desire! the moment of desire! The virgin
That pines for man; shall awaken her womb to enormous joys
In the secret shadows of her chamber; the youth shut up from     
The lustful joy. shall forget to generate. & create an amorous image
In the shadows of his curtains and in the folds of his silent pillow.
Are not these the places of religion? the rewards of continence?
The self enjoyings of self denial? Why dost thou seek religion?
Is it because acts are not lovely, that thou seekest solitude,   
Where the horrible darkness is impressed with reflections of desire.

Father of jealousy. be thou accursed from the earth!
Why hast thou taught my Theotormon this accursed thing?
Till beauty fades from off my shoulders darken'd and cast out,
A solitary shadow wailing on the margin of non-entity.           

I cry, Love! Love! Love! happy happy Love! free as the mountain wind!
Can that be Love, that drinks another as a sponge drinks water?
That clouds with jealousy his nights, with weepings all the day:
To spin a web of age around him. grey and hoary! dark!
Till his eyes sicken at the fruit that hangs before his sight.   
Such is self-love that envies all! a creeping skeleton
With lamplike eyes watching around the frozen marriage bed."

plate 94

 Plate 94

PLATE 94
Albion cold lays on his Rock: storms & snows beat round him.
Beneath the Furnaces & the starry Wheels & the Immortal Tomb
Howling winds cover him: roaring seas dash furious against him
In the deep darkness broad lightnings glare long thunders roll

The weeds of Death inwrap his hands & feet blown incessant
And washd incessant by the for-ever restless sea-waves foaming
    abroad
Upon the white Rock. England a Female Shadow as deadly damps
Of the Mines of Cornwall & Derbyshire lays upon his bosom heavy
Moved by the wind in volumes of thick cloud returning folding
    round
His loins & bosom unremovable by swelling storms & loud rending
Of enraged thunders. Around them the Starry Wheels of their Giant
    Sons
Revolve: & over them the Furnaces of Los & the Immortal Tomb
    around
Erin sitting in the Tomb, to watch them unceasing night and day
And the Body of Albion was closed apart from all Nations.

Over them the famishd Eagle screams on boney Wings and around
Them howls the Wolf of famine deep heaves the Ocean black
    thundering
Around the wormy Garments of Albion: then pausing in deathlike
    silence

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

(Erdman 254)      

Notes:

Albion cold lays on his Rock: According to Blake’s myth Albion (England, Everyman) rested in Beulah until he fell asleep and dropped to Ulro, cold asleep on his Rock, beside the roaring seas of Time and Space, in a stormy night.

Continuing with the text a Female Shadow:

That of course was Vala, who at other places is said to have seduced Albion, another way of saying the same thing.  Damon  (page 92) refers to her as Brittannia, as does Blake a few lines farther down.


Cornwall is the western most part of England, and some of it's mines are said to be under the water.


The famishd Eagle screams   and the  Wolf of famine  howls  over the scene of the dead Albion.      

Time was Finished! The Breath Divine Breathed over Albion.  Night Nine of The Four Zoas has a colorful portrait of this magic moment when Eternal Life begins, replacing  Mortal Death, although he was a much younger man when he wrote it.    Here's a sample:

Let the slave grinding at the mill run out into the field
Let him look up into the heavens & laugh in the bright air
Let the inchaind soul shut up in darkness & in sighing           
Whose face has never seen a smile in thirty weary years
Rise & look out his chains are loose his dungeon doors are open
And let his wife & children return from the opressors scourge
They look behind at every step & believe it is a dream
Are these the Slaves that groand along the streets of Mystery    
Where are your bonds & task masters are these the prisoners

Where are your chains where are your tears why do you look around
If you are thirsty there is the river go bathe your parched limbs
The good of all the Land is before you for Mystery is no more

Then All the Slaves from every Earth in the wide Universe        
Sing a New Song drowning confusion in its happy notes
(Erdman 402)

**************************************************

The picture above portrays the three accusers spoken of in Plate 93.

In the bottom picture a mourning woman tried to bring to life the dead man (Albion); as Jerusalem she will succeed.                                   

HOMER BEARING SWORD

Homer Bearing the Sword
Illustrations to Dante, design 7
Hell, Canto 4
Original in National Gallery of Victoria, Melborne
Courtesy of Wikimedia

Erdman's words are in green.
Blake's words are in blue.
Klonskys comments are in gray.
Ellie's notes are in black.

On a few of Blake's Illustrations to Dante he wore text to clarify his intentions. Design number seven includes more text than the others. The illustration of Dante's passage occupies only the upper left corner of the picture and Blake uses the rest of the picture to express his attitude toward Dante's ideas.

Inscriptions, Illustrations to Dante,  (E 689)

On design No 7, "HELL Canto 4", figure with sword
and laurel crown, in center of diagram of celestial Universe:
labeled "Homer" above his crown and "Satan" between his head and
his sword

[Spheres from outer to inner] 

Vacuum   Starry Heaven  Saturn  Jupiter   Mars   Sun   Venus   Mercury   Moon  

Limbo of Weak Shadows

[upper right - above and below and within the circle]

Terrestrial Paradise     It is an Island in Limbo      Purgatory

[written within the second circle surrounding Homer]

Every thing in Dantes Comedia shews That for Tyrannical
Purposes he has made This World the Foundation of All & the
Goddess Nature & not the Holy Ghost   as Poor Churchill said
Nature thou art my Goddess

. . . & the Goddess Nature   & not  the Holy
Ghost. . . .           
     Round Purgatory is Paradise & round Paradise is Vacuum or
Limbo. so that Homer is the Center of All   I mean the Poetry of
the Heathen Stolen & Perverted from the Bible not by Chance but
by design by the Kings of Persia and their Generals   The Greek
Heroes & lastly by The Romans
 
[written within the third circle]

    Swedenborg does the same in saying that in this World is the
Ultimate of Heaven
     This is the most damnable Falshood of Satan & his Antichrist

Here are comments from Blake's Dante by Milton Klonsky, Page 138.

Klonsky calls the main body of this illustration a "schematic outline, and a condemnation, of the system of Dante's Divine Comedy."

"Occupying the center of the picture are eight circles numbered diagonally from the left. Homer, his name inscribed above his head, is standing within the ninth circle, which is unnumbered, so that all nine correspond to the circles of the Inferno."  

This image conveys Blake's conviction that Dante was infected with the same misapprehension of the organisation of the cosmos as was Homer. The center of the Spheres is not for Blake, purgatory, a terrestrial paradise or an island in limbo. Central to Blake is the Holy Ghost. The poetry (mythology) of the Greeks and Romans (represented by Homer), although it developed out of the earlier poetry (prophecy, mythology) recorded in the Bible, had led to a society dedicated to tyranny and  war. Notice that Homer carries a sword and wears a crown.

It is easy to imagine that Blake, as he illustrated Dante's Divine Comedy, felt as Los felt in his opposition to Hand in this passage from Jerusalem.

Jerusalem , Plate 8, (E 151-2)

"Hand has absorbd all his Brethren in his might
All the infant Loves & Graces were lost, for the mighty Hand
Plate 9
Condens'd his Emanations into hard opake substances;
And his infant thoughts & desires, into cold, dark, cliffs of death.
His hammer of gold he siezd; and his anvil of adamant.
He siez'd the bars of condens'd thoughts, to forge them:
Into the sword of war: into the bow and arrow:                   
Into the thundering cannon and into the murdering gun
I saw the limbs form'd for exercise, contemn'd: & the beauty of
Eternity, look'd upon as deformity & loveliness as a dry tree:
I saw disease forming a Body of Death around the Lamb
Of God, to destroy Jerusalem, & to devour the body of Albion     
By war and stratagem to win the labour of the husbandman:
Awkwardness arm'd in steel: folly in a helmet of gold:
Weakness with horns & talons: ignorance with a rav'ning beak!
Every Emanative joy forbidden as a Crime:
And the Emanations buried alive in the earth with pomp of religion:          
Inspiration deny'd; Genius forbidden by laws of punishment:
I saw terrified; I took the sighs & tears, & bitter groans:
I lifted them into my Furnaces; to form the spiritual sword.
That lays open the hidden heart: I drew forth the pang
Of sorrow red hot: I workd it on my resolute anvil:              
I heated it in the flames of Hand, & Hyle, & Coban
Nine times; Gwendolen & Cambel & Gwineverra
Are melted into the gold, the silver, the liquid ruby,
The crysolite, the topaz, the jacinth, & every precious stone,
Loud roar my Furnaces and loud my hammer is heard:               
I labour day and night, I behold the soft affections
Condense beneath my hammer into forms of cruelty
But still I labour in hope, tho' still my tears flow down.
That he who will not defend Truth, may be compelld to defend
A Lie: that he may be snared and caught and snared and taken     
That Enthusiasm and Life may not cease: arise Spectre arise!"

Plate 93

PLATE 93

[ Anytus Melitus & Lycon thought Socrates a

Very Pernicious Man   So Caiphas thought Jesus]

Enitharmon heard. She raisd her head like the mild Moon

O Rintrah! O Palamabron! What are your dire & awful purposes

Enitharmons name is nothing before you: you forget all my Love!

The Mothers love of obedience is forgotten & you seek a Love

Of the pride of dominion, that will Divorce Ocalythron &

    Elynittria   

Upon East Moor in Derbyshire & along the Valleys of Cheviot

Could you Love me Rintrah, if you Pride not in my Love

As Reuben found Mandrakes in the field & gave them to his Mother

Pride meets with Pride upon the Mountains in the stormy day

In that terrible Day of Rintrahs Plow & of Satans driving the

    Team.  

Ah! then I heard my little ones weeping along the Valley!

Ah! then I saw my beloved ones fleeing from my Tent

Merlin was like thee Rintrah among the Giants of Albion

Judah was like Palamabron: O Simeon! O Levi! ye fled away

How can I hear my little ones weeping along the Valley       

Or how upon the distant Hills see my beloveds Tents.

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

**************************************************

Notes:

(Los and Enitharmon are the parents of the sons discussed here.)

In a long paragraph we read Enitharmon’s extended reverie about the end of time.

(You may remember that in the last plate Enitharmon expressed her fear that ‘emanations will cease to be’.)

Enitharmon fears that the childish (innocent) love of her children had been replaced by pride:

O Rintrah! O Palamabron:

This pair of Sons of Albion are best explained in The Bard’s Song, found in the first part of Milton.  Like all Blake’s characters they are contraries of ‘good and bad’.

Plate 93

Judah was like Palamabron: O Simeon! O Levi! ye fled away: the children of Israel had fled from Jehovah worshipping pagan gods. But Blake had already said the same thing re the ‘children of England’. (For Blake England and Palestine were virtually the ‘same’.)

Then Los again took up his speech as Enitharmon ceast:

His prophecy is more hopeful. In the end Satan (“that Seems but Is  Not”) is replaced by ‘our Eternal destiny’,  but includes his usual harsh judgment of Bacon, Newton, Locke.


This Picture is fascinating":

The top part embraces  what you may find at the beginning of the plate.

The three accusers are running and pointing their fingers at what they discern as Sin.

At the bottom a placid and resigned Enitharmon sits in water or in a red furnace waiting to be with Los at the end. (Erdman Illustrated Blake, page 372)

So the two images together illustrate the doleful effects of (material) Sin.  Blake denied Sin and called it Error to be overcome by Truth at the Last Judgment.

AUGURIES OF INNOCENCE

You may have learned in an elementary physics class that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; you may have balanced an equation to demonstrate that nothing may be lost or gained. Such is the calculation of Sir Isaac Newton; but it is not the calculation of William Blake. Blake adds into his equations factors which cannot be measured . Effects may be multiplied, divided, added, or subtracted  by spiritual forces which act from the hearts, minds and imaginations of men. For good or ill  there may be unintended consequences as a result of the status of the Soul. If a man is 'organized by Divine Providence for Spiritual communion' his choices will encourage the development of his spirit at the expense of self enhancement. If the Selfhood or false reasoning power dominates the mind, a man will 'not see spiritual agency' and will fail to recognise the connections among all things. 


Milton, Plate 26 [28], (E 124)
"And every 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 perishing Vegetable Memory."

Letters, To Butts, (E 724)
"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!--I too well remember the Threats I heard!--If you who are organized
by Divine Providence for Spiritual communion. Refuse & bury your Talent in
the Earth even tho you should want Natural Bread. Sorrow & Desperation
pursues you thro life! & after death shame & confusion of face to eternity--
Every one in Eternity will leave you aghast at the Man who was crownd with
glory & honour by his brethren & betrayd their cause to their enemies. You
will be calld the base Judas who betrayd his Friend!"

Descriptive Catalog, (E 544)
"Reasons and opinions concerning acts, are not history.
Acts themselves alone are history, and these are neither the exclusive
property of Hume, Gibbon nor Voltaire, Echard, Rapin, Plutarch, nor
Herodotus. Tell me the Acts, O historian, and leave me to reason
upon them as I please; away with your reasoning and your rubbish.
 All that is not action is not [P 45] worth reading. Tell me the What;
I do not want you to tell me the Why, and the How; I can find that
out myself, as well as you can, and I will not be fooled by you into
opinions, that you please to impose, to disbelieve what you think im-
probable or impossible. His opinions, who does not see spiritual
agency, is not worth any man's reading; he who rejects a fact because
it is improbable, must reject all History and retain doubts only."

In Auguries of Innocence Blake is showing that nothing can be viewed in isolation. Even the most distant effects have causes not attributable to natural events.  Every act has consequences.

British Museum

Young's Night Thoughts 

 Pickering Manuscript, (E 490)
"Auguries of Innocence
...
A Robin Red breast in a Cage 
Puts all Heaven in a Rage
A Dove house filld with doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thro all its regions
A dog starvd at his Masters Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State 
A Horse misusd upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear
A Skylark wounded in the wing 
A Cherubim does cease to sing
The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight
Does the Rising Sun affright
Every Wolfs & Lions howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul 
The wild deer wandring here & there
Keeps the Human Soul from Care
The Lamb misusd breeds Public strife
And yet forgives the Butchers Knife
The Bat that flits at close of Eve 
Has left the Brain that wont Believe
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbelievers fright
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belovd by Men 
He who the Ox to wrath has movd
Shall never be by Woman lovd
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spiders enmity
He who torments the Chafers sprite 
Weaves a Bower in endless Night
The Catterpiller on the Leaf
Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief
Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly
For the Last judgment draweth nigh 
He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar
The Beggers Dog & Widows Cat
Feed them & thou wilt grow fat
The Gnat that sings his Summers song 
Poison gets from Slanders tongue
The poison of the Snake & Newt
Is the sweat of Envys Foot
The Poison of the Honey Bee
Is the Artists jealousy 
The Princes Robes & Beggars Rags
Are Toadstools on the Misers Bags
A truth thats told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent
It is right it should be so 
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine 
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
The Babe is more than swadling Bands
Throughout all these Human Lands
..." 

 Complete Auguries of Innocence. 

What is this spiritual agency other than connections among various happenings in this world and in the spiritual world. Acts performed in human lives influence the spiritual condition of the person who performs them and of others who are touched by them. Carelessness about the treatment of the weak and vulnerable is not innocent although the consequences may be unintended.

If we look only for natural causes and connect events only through what we can weigh and measure, we are not aware of the harm or good which results from ordinary or extraordinary acts. The outer and the inner are not distinct areas; what is done outwardly is a consequence of inner acts and affects the inner life as well as the outer life.

If a man choose to live according to outward considerations exclusively, his inner being will be starved and will atrophy.  

Gospel of John
Chapter 12
[35] Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light 
with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for
he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
[36] While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children 
of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself 
from them.