PLATE 61 (of Jerusalem; Erdman 210-11): "Behold: in the Visions of Elohim Jehovah, behold Joseph & Mary And be comforted O Jerusalem in the Visions of Jehovah Elohim She looked & saw Joseph the Carpenter in Nazareth & Mary His espoused Wife. And Mary said, If thou put me away from thee Dost thou not murder me? Joseph spoke in anger & fury. Should I Marry a Harlot & an Adulteress? Mary answerd, Art thou more pure Than thy Maker who forgiveth Sins & calls again Her that is Lost Tho She hates. he calls her again in love. I love my dear Joseph But he driveth me away from his presence. yet I hear the voice of God In the voice of my Husband. tho he is angry for a moment, he will not Utterly cast me away. if I were pure, never could I taste the sweets Of the Forgive[ne]ss of Sins! if I were holy! I never could behold the tears Of love! of him who loves me in the midst of his anger in furnace of fire. Ah my Mary: said Joseph: weeping over & embracing her closely in His arms: Doth he forgive Jerusalem & not exact Purity from her who is Polluted. I heard his voice in my sleep O his Angel in my dream: Saying, Doth Jehovah Forgive a Debt only on condition that it shall Be Payed? Doth he Forgive Pollution only on conditions of Purity That Debt is not Forgiven! That Pollution is not Forgiven Such is the Forgiveness of the Gods, the Moral Virtues of the Heathen, whose tender Mercies are Cruelty. But Jehovahs Salvation Is without Money & without Price, in the Continual Forgiveness of Sins In the Perpetual Mutual Sacrifice in Great Eternity! for behold! There is none that liveth & Sinneth not! And this is the Covenant Of Jehovah: If you Forgive one-another, so shall Jehovah Forgive You: That He Himself may Dwell among You. Fear not then to take To thee Mary thy Wife, for she is with Child by the Holy Ghost Then Mary burst forth into a Song! she flowed like a River of Many Streams in the arms of Joseph & gave forth her tears of joy Like many waters, and Emanating into gardens & palaces upon Euphrates & to forests & floods & animals wild & tame from Gihon to Hiddekel, & to corn fields & villages & inhabitants Upon Pison & Arnon & Jordan. And I heard the voice among The Reapers Saying, Am I Jerusalem the lost Adulteress? or am I Babylon come up to Jerusalem? And another voice answerd Saying Does the voice of my Lord call me again? am I pure thro his Mercy And Pity. Am I become lovely as a Virgin in his sight who am Indeed a Harlot drunken with the Sacrifice of Idols does he Call her pure as he did in the days of her Infancy when She Was cast out to the loathing of her person. The Chaldean took Me from my Cradle. The Amalekite stole me away upon his Camels Before I had ever beheld with love the Face of Jehovah; or known That there was a God of Mercy: O Mercy O Divine Humanity! O Forgiveness & Pity & Compassion! If I were Pure I should never Have known Thee; If I were Unpolluted I should never have Glorified thy Holiness, or rejoiced in thy great Salvation. Mary leaned her side against Jerusalem, Jerusalem recieved The Infant into her hands in the Visions of Jehovah. Times passed on Jerusalem fainted over the Cross & Sepulcher She heard the voice Wilt thou make Rome thy Patriarch Druid & the Kings of Europe his Horsemen? Man in the Resurrection changes his Sexual Garments at will Every Harlot was once a Virgin: every Criminal an Infant Love!"
Here you may meet William Blake, join hands in a discussion, ask questions. This is your Blake Commentary. Please visit Larry's Blake Primer
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