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Illustrations of the Book of Job Job's Sacrifice Linnell set, Plate 18 |
"And my Servant Job shall pray for you
| And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his Friends |
also: Matthew 5
[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
[45]
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.
[46] For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[47] And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
[48] Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
When Blake had determined that he would return to London after his three years sojourn in Felpham, he wrote this heart-felt letter to his spiritual friend and corporeal supporter Thomas Butts. Blake felt moved to thank Butts for being a person who knew him well enough that he recognized God's workings in him. Butts would lift him up when he was despondent over the alienation which he suffered because of his ability to "See Visions, Dream Dreams, & prophecy & speak Parables."
Letters, To Butts,(E 728)
"Felpham April 25: 1803
My Dear Sir
I write in haste having recievd a pressing Letter from my
Brother. I intended to have sent the Picture of the Riposo which
is nearly finishd much to my satisfaction but not quite you shall
have it soon. I now send the 4 Numbers for Mr Birch with best
Respects to him <The Reason the Ballads have been suspended is
the pressure of other business but they will go on again soon>
Accept of my thanks for your kind & heartening Letter You
have Faith in the Endeavours of Me your weak brother & fellow
Disciple. how great must be your faith in our Divine Master. You
are to me a Lesson of Humility while you Exalt me by such
distinguishing commendations. I know that you see certain merits
in me which by Gods Grace shall be made fully apparent & perfect
in Eternity. in the mean time I must not bury the Talents in the
Earth but do my endeavour to live to the Glory of our Lord &
Saviour & I am also grateful to the kind hand that endeavours to
lift me out of despondency even if it lifts me too high--
And now My Dear Sir Congratulate me on my return to London
with the full approbation of Mr Hayley & with Promise--But Alas!
Now I may say to you what perhaps I should not dare to say
to any one else. That I can alone carry on my visionary studies
in London unannoyd & that I may converse with my friends in
Eternity. See Visions, Dream Dreams, & prophecy & speak Parables
unobserv'd & at liberty from the Doubts of other Mortals. perhaps
Doubts proceeding from Kindness. but Doubts are always pernicious
Especially when we Doubt our Friends Christ is very decided on
this Point. "He who is Not With Me is Against Me" There is no
Medium or Middle state & if a Man is the Enemy of my Spiritual
Life while he pretends to be the Friend of my Corporeal. he is a
Real Enemy--but the Man may be the friend of my Spiritual Life
while he seems the Enemy of my Corporeal but Not Vice Versa
What is very pleasant. Every one who hears of my going to
London again Applauds it as the only course for the interest of
all concernd in My Works. Observing that I ought not to be away
from the opportunities London affords of seeing fine Pictures and
the various improvements in Works of Art going on in London
But none can know the Spiritual Acts of my three years
Slumber on the banks of the Ocean unless he has seen them in the
Spirit or unless he should read My long Poem descriptive of those
Acts for I have in these three years composed an immense number
of verses on One Grand Theme Similar to Homers Iliad or Miltons
Paradise Lost the Person & Machinery intirely new to the
Inhabitants of Earth (some of the Persons Excepted) I have written
this Poem from immediate Dictation twelve or sometimes twenty or
thirty lines at a time without Premeditation & even against my
Will. the Time it has taken in writing was thus renderd Non
Existent. & an immense Poem Exists which seems to be the Labour
of a long Life all producd without Labour or Study. I mention
this to shew you what I think the Grand Reason of my being
brought down here
I have a thousand & ten thousand things to say to you. My
heart is full of futurity. I percieve that the sore travel which
has been given me these three years leads to Glory & Honour. I
rejoice & I tremble "I am fearfully & wonderfully made". I had
been reading the cxxxix Psalm a little before your Letter
arrived. I take your advice. I see the face of my Heavenly
Father he lays his Hand upon my Head & gives a blessing to all my
works why should I be troubled why should my heart & flesh cry
out. I will go on in the Strength of the Lord through Hell will
I sing forth his Praises. that the Dragons of the Deep may praise
him & that those who dwell in darkness & on the Sea coasts may be
gatherd into his Kingdom. Excuse my perhaps too great
Enthusiasm. Please to accept of & give our Loves to Mrs Butts &
your amiable Family. & believe me to be----
Ever Yours Affectionately
WILL. BLAKE. "Psalms 139
[7] Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
[8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
[9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
[10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
The 'Long Poem' on 'One Grand Theme' which Blake was composing in Felpham was of course Jerusalem which he labored over for many more years. In this passage from Plate 12 we read of the the building of Golgonooza, the city of Art & Manufacture, which would embody the characteristics through which the Kingdom of Heaven is made manifest on earth.
Characteristics of GolgonoozaGalatians 5[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,[23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Jerusalem, Plate 12, (E 155)"Terrified at the sublime Wonder, Los stood before his Furnaces.
And they stood around, terrified with admiration at Erins Spaces
For the Spaces reachd from the starry heighth, to the starry depth;
And they builded Golgonooza: terrible eternal labour!
What are those golden builders doing? where was the burying-place
Of soft Ethinthus? near Tyburns fatal Tree? is that
Mild Zions hills most ancient promontory; near mournful
Ever weeping Paddington? is that Calvary and Golgotha?
Becoming a building of pity and compassion? Lo!
The stones are pity, and the bricks, well wrought affections:
Enameld with love & kindness, & the tiles engraven gold
Labour of merciful hands: the beams & rafters are forgiveness:
The mortar & cement of the work, tears of honesty: the nails,
And the screws & iron braces, are well wrought blandishments,
And well contrived words, firm fixing, never forgotten,
Always comforting the remembrance: the floors, humility,
The cielings, devotion: the hearths, thanksgiving:
Prepare the furniture O Lambeth in thy pitying looms!
The curtains, woven tears & sighs, wrought into lovely forms
For comfort. there the secret furniture of Jerusalems chamber
Is wrought: Lambeth! the Bride the Lambs Wife loveth thee:
Thou art one with her & knowest not of self in thy supreme joy.
Go on, builders in hope: tho Jerusalem wanders far away,
Without the gate of Los: among the dark Satanic wheels."From an earlier post: Those who build their lives as expressions of the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians are the 'golden builders'; they are 'becoming a building' - carefully built just as Blake's illuminated poetry was produced with 'well wrought blandishments' and 'well contrived words.' The structure of Golgonooza is the principles and attitudes through which we build our character, the furnishings are the way we behave to one another: 'curtains woven tears and sighs, woven into lovely forms.' The outcome is the 'joy' of losing the 'self' by knowing the love in which we abide, and which abides in us.
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