WEAVING 7

British Museum
Milton
Plate 13 

In his chapter of Blake's Sublime Allegory Paley emphasizes the double purpose which the symbol of the garment serves. Which garment is worn depends upon the nature of the body being clothed, the entity weaving the garment, the stage of development for which the garment is provided, and the direction of the movement which is taking place. Further the perceiver may be deceived concerning the nature of the clothing if he is unable to recognize the underlying essence which is covered. 

Blake scatters references to weaving the garment throughout his work making them into a framework underlying his system rather than specific instances of an activity. From this we can be reminded that the garment may appear in our lives in many guises. It may conceal or reveal deeper levels of reality according to our ability to discern. We may be weaving garments to hide from ourselves or others or to avoid harsh conditions which need to be brought to light. Blake's protagonist in Milton found if necessary to remove the protection of his garment in order to expose himself to the dark corners of the grave, the sepulcher and death.

Here a couple of comments from Morton B Paley in the chapter The Figure of the Garment which is included in Blake's Sublime Allegory:

"Yet the garment itself is an ambiguous symbol. It can be put on or taken off; it can become confused with one's real self. ... Blake's own terminology, there is always the danger of becoming a dunce like Satan, who "dost not know the Garment from the Man," of mistaking the Individual, and his State. Potentially redemptive the garment of flesh can yet be imprisoning and destructive, and in his three long poems Blake gives considerable attention to each possibility." (Page 127)

"Here the full ambiguity of the weaving activity is expressed. It is in one sense is terrible betrayal of human identity, reducing it in Yeats's words 'a tattered coat upon a stick.'...Yet it is equally a regenerative activity, making it possible for the redemptive activity of the Seven Eyes of God to operate in the world of time and space. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in the Book of Zachariah, where Blake found the Seven Eyes, there is also a vision of the high priest Joshua 'clothed with filthy garments,' followed with a vision in which he is clothed with clean garments, showing that he will keep the ways of the Lord. (Zach 3:3)." (Page 132)

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 Milton, Plate 13, (E 106)

"Then Milton rose up from the heavens of Albion ardorous!         
The whole Assembly wept prophetic, seeing in Miltons face
And in his lineaments divine the shades of Death & Ulro
He took off the robe of the promise, & ungirded himself from the oath of God

And Milton said, I go to Eternal Death! The Nations still
Follow after the detestable Gods of Priam; in pomp               
Of warlike selfhood, contradicting and blaspheming.
When will the Resurrection come; to deliver the sleeping body
From corruptibility: O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come?
Tarry no longer; for my soul lies at the gates of death.
I will arise and look forth for the morning of the grave.       
I will go down to the sepulcher to see if morning breaks!
I will go down to self annihilation and eternal death,
Lest the Last Judgment come & find me unannihilate
And I be siez'd & giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood"

Gates of Paradise, For the Sexes, The Keys, (E 268)

"6   I rent the Veil where the Dead dwell   
     When weary Man enters his Cave
     He meets his Saviour in the Grave
     Some find a Female Garment there
     And some a Male, woven with care
     Lest the Sexual Garments sweet           
     Should grow a devouring Winding sheet"

Gates of Paradise, For the Sexes, (E 269)
[Epilogue]     
  "To The Accuser Who is
  The God of This World

Truly My Satan thou art but a Dunce
And dost not know the Garment from the Man
Every Harlot was a Virgin once
Nor canst thou ever change Kate into Nan

Tho thou art Worshipd by the Names Divine         
Of Jesus & Jehovah thou art still
The Son of Morn in weary Nights decline
The lost Travellers Dream under the Hill"