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| Harry Ramson Center The University of Texas at Austin The Good Farmer, from the Parable of the Sower c. 1785 |
[4] And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
[5] A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
[6] And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
[7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
[8] And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[9] And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
[10] And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
[11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
[12] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
[13] They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
[14] And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
[15] But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
[16] No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
[17] For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
The group of people on the left of the image are those who were unable to receive the word which Jesus offered. Each had a reason: they had other commitments; they tried to follow the way but there were other thing which needed attention; they couldn't put aside what they were already involved in.
They could not provide the soil in which the seed might grow. Only the man on the right had a place within himself which was prepared for the growth of the seed of the word. He could give it time and space to mature and become productive. As Blake pictures him he is not turned toward Jesus but looks up to the heavens because from there the inner word would be replenished.
Luke 10
[38] Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
[39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
[40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
[41] And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
[42] But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Milton, Plate 37 [41], (E 139)
"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[.]
Thy purpose & the purpose of thy Priests & of thy Churches
Is to impress on men the fear of death; to teach
Trembling & fear, terror, constriction; abject selfishness
Mine is to teach Men to despise death & to go on
In fearless majesty annihilating Self, laughing to scorn
Thy Laws & terrors, shaking down thy Synagogues as webs
I come to discover before Heavn & Hell the Self righteousness
In all its Hypocritic turpitude, opening to every eye
These wonders of Satans holiness shewing to the Earth
The Idol Virtues of the Natural Heart, & Satans Seat
Explore in all its Selfish Natural Virtue & put off
In Self annihilation all that is not of God alone:
To put off Self & all I have ever & ever Amen"
This post may make it clearer how self-annihilation can be seen as the same process as preparing the soil so that it capable of nurturing the seed or word in an honest and good heart.
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3 comments:
On first sight you seemed to be cheerfully promoting suicide.
"self-annihilation can be seen as the same process as preparing the soil"?
Even as a metaphor it seems like an extreme form of mental gymnastics, like trying to understand Blake's prophetic books while reading them.
I followed your link & saw we'd discussed the same topic in 2014. Phew! wouldn't use so many words today.
Glad to find you still finding new things to say, as clear-sighted as ever.
Re economy of words, I think your pithy sayings in "Divine Economy" are the easiest to grasp and yet as profound as any of Blake's later works. They fit easily into the consciousness and thus can be taken away and mused upon.
Those little statements were a crystallization of observations from my experience. They left out the reasoning, the feeling, and the import which contribute to assimilating the ideas. When Blake's friend Ozias Humphry requested that he print pictures from some of the Illuminated Books without the text, Blake complied but later said:
"Those I Printed for Mr Humphry are a selection from the different Books of such as could be Printed without the Writing tho to the Loss of some of the best things For they when Printed perfect accompany Poetical Personifications & Acts without which Poems they never could have been Executed"
When pure sugar is crystallized from cane syrup both nutrients and flavor are lost.
Your mind, however, is like the soil that has been prepared to receive the seed. Even the minimum of content can stimulate the roots to reach out for the necessary elements for growth to begin.
I miss Larry being around to keep me from saying the wrong thing. ellie
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