BLAKE'S COMUS 10

In the Butts picture for the 5th illustration for Comus, Blake departs considerably from his earlier image. At the table are animals known for extremes: the elephant for his size, the lion as a predator, the hog for consuming food, the bird as a scavenger of the dead. Blake is illustrating the excessive appetites in nature with which Comus proposes the Lady should feel free to try in order 'to please, and sate the curious taste.'

Wikimedia Commons  
Milton's Comus
Butts Set, Illustration 5

A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634
John Milton
 
Line 709
"Wherefore did Nature powre her bounties froth,
With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the Seas with spawn innumerable,
But all to please, and sate the curious taste?"

 Line 678
"Why should you be so cruel to your self,
And to those dainty limms which nature lent
For gentle usage, and soft delicacy?
But you invert the cov'nants of her trust,"
 
The withered man on the left may represent what Blake sees as the wisdom which Comus follows. Young and vigorous in appearance as the tempter, his philosophy is weak and weary when put to the test. Comus invites the Lady to be wise by tasting his wisdom. 

Line 811
"But this will cure all streight, one sip of this
Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight
Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste." 
 
There is another more significant addition to illustration 5 of the Butts set: the serpent seen in the cloud along Comus' wand. Any pretense of beneficence is destroyed when the wand is seen in conjunction with the figure of the serpent. However the serpent seems to emanate from the vial held by the old man and not from the dominant image of Comus. The figures of Comus and the Lady seem less at odds in this illustration than in the one in the Thomas Set. Comus is even less threatening, more distressed; and the lady less self-protective. Perhaps Blake is indicating the threat is less from the sexuality represented by the figure of Comus and more from the materialist ideas of natural philosophy apparent in his arguments.
 
The lament of Los over his estranged Enitharmon may describe the feelings of Comus when he finds the Lady unobtainable. 

Four Zoas, Night VII, Page 81,(E 357)
"Then Los mournd on the dismal wind in his jealous lamentation

Why can I not Enjoy thy beauty   Lovely Enitharmon
When I return from clouds of Grief in the wandring Elements
Where thou in thrilling joy in beaming summer loveliness 
Delectable reposest ruddy in my absence flaming with beauty
Cold pale in sorrow at my approach trembling at my terrific
Forehead & eyes thy lips decay like roses in the spring 
How art thou Shrunk thy grapes that burst in summers vast Excess
Shut up in little purple covering faintly bud & die    
Thy olive trees that pourd down oil upon a thousand hills
Sickly look forth & scarcely stretch their branches to the plain
Thy roses that expanded in the face of glowing morn
PAGE 82 
Hid in a little silken veil scarce breathe & faintly shine
Thy lilies that gave light what time the morning looked forth
Hid in the Vales faintly lament & no one hears their voice
All things beside the woful Los enjoy the delights of beauty
Once how I sang & calld the beasts & birds to their delights 
Nor knew that I alone exempted from the joys of love
Must war with secret monsters of the animating worlds
O that I had not seen the day then should I be at rest
Nor felt the stingings of desire nor longings after life
For life is Sweet to Los the wretched to his winged woes   
Is given a craving cry that they may sit at night on barren rocks
And whet their beaks & snuff the air & watch the opening dawn"

Paradise Lost 7

Milton's Paradise, from Book Four:
When GABRIEL to his next in power thus spake.
UZZIEL, half these draw off, and coast the South
With strictest watch; these other wheel the North,
Our circuit meets full West.
As flame they part Half wheeling to the Shield, half to the Spear.
From these, two strong and suttle Spirits he calld
That neer him stood, and gave them thus in charge.

ITHURIEL and ZEPHON, with wingd speed
Search through this Garden, leav unsearcht no nook,
But chiefly where those two fair Creatures Lodge,
Now laid perhaps asleep secure of harme.

This Eevning from the Sun's decline arriv'd
Who tells of som infernal Spirit seen
Hitherward bent (who could have thought?) escap'd
The barrs of Hell, on errand bad no doubt:
Such where ye find, seise fast, and hither bring.
So saying, on he led his radiant Files, Daz'ling the Moon;
these to the Bower direct In search of whom they sought:
him there they found Squat like a Toad, close at the eare of EVE;
Assaying by his Devilish art to reach
The Organs of her Fancie, and with them forge
Illusions as he list, Phantasms and Dreams,

Here's a good summary of Book Four.

This Image occurs only in the Butts set

Image 7 A

llustration of Paradise Lost
Wiki Common

The chief interest in this Plate is the appearance of two angels that Milton seems to have invented:
Ithuriel and Zephon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
In the Holy Bible, Zephon was a son of Eliphaz (Esau's eldest son). According to the book of Genesis, his brothers were Omar, Teman, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalek.

In the Book of Enoch, Zephon, also Zepho (Heb. צפון "hidden") was an angel, sent by the archangel Gabriel together with Ithuriel, to find out the location of Satan after his Fall.

In Canaanite Religion Zephon was also identified with Jebel Aqra, the home of the Elohim, from which Yahu was cast out.

According to John Milton's Paradise Lost Zephon is a cherub and a guardian prince of Paradise.

BLAKE'S COMUS 9

Blake's Illustration 5 shows Comus in his own element in the company of enchanted men with the appearance of birds. His wand and cup stand ready to work their spells. Immobilized the Lady sits on a rectangular chair decorated with women entwined by snakes. The Lady sits demurely with hands crossed over her bosom. 

Wikimedia
Original in Huntington Gallery
Milton's Comus
Illustration 5

A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634
John Milton
 
[Stage Direction]
"The Scene changes to a stately Palace, set out with all manner of deliciousness; soft Musick, Tables spred with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady set in an inchanted Chair, to whom he offers his Glass, which she puts by, and goes about to rise.
 
Line 659
"Comus.
Nay Lady sit; if I but wave this wand,
Your nervs are all chain'd up in Alabaster,
And you a statue; or as Daphne was
Root-bound, that fled Apollo,

Lady.
Fool do not boast, Thou canst not touch the freedom of my minde
With all thy charms, although this corporal rinde
Thou haste immanacl'd, while Heav'n sees good."

Comus through deceit has brought the Lady to his Palace in order to entice her with merriment. But to keep her there he has resorted to seating her in an enchanted chair from which she cannot move. The struggle between Comus and the Lady takes the form of a colloquy between the libertine and virtuous. Although the Lady upholds chastity and Comus invites her to 'bliss', their arguments are philosophical and focus our attention on the value of temperance.  

Milton had earlier stated in the lines of the Elder Brother his position concerning the contrast between the enlightened soul and one enslaved in 'his own dungeon'.   

Line 381
"He that has light within his own cleer brest           
May sit i'th center, and enjoy bright day,
But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid-day Sun;
Himself is his own dungeon."
 
The Lady and Comus discuss their positions at great length; she remains spell-bound but firmly stands her ground against her tempter. 
 
Line 690 Lady
"'Twill not, false traitor,
'Twill not restore the truth and honesty
That thou hast banish't from thy tongue with lies,
Was this the cottage, and the safe abode
Thou told'st me of? What grim aspects are these,
These oughly-headed Monsters? Mercy guard me!
Hence with thy brew'd inchantments, foul deceiver,
Hast thou betrai'd my credulous innocence
With visor'd falshood and base forgery,
And wouldst thou seek again to trap me here
With lickerish baits fit to ensnare a brute?
Were it a draft for Juno when she banquets,
I would not taste thy treasonous offer; none
But such as are good men can give good things,
And that which is not good, is not delicious
To a wel-govern'd and wise appetite."

Line 737
Comus
"List Lady be not coy, and be not  cosen'd
With that same vaunted name Virginity,
Beauty is nature's coyn, must not be hoorded,
But must be currant and the good thereof
Consists in mutual and partak'n bliss,
Unsavoury in th' injoyment of it self.
If you let slip time, like a neglected rose
It withers on the stalk with languish't head.
Beauty is natures brag, and must be shown
In courts, at feasts, and high solemnities
Where most may wonder at the workmanship;"

In two of his works Blake tells that the 'soul of sweet delight' cannot be defiled, but he is not speaking of preserving physical chastity. He is speaking of the holiness of life, and the purity of sex as an act of love. Milton's Lady has probably not yet learned this for she is inexperienced, but she may be on her way to doing so.

America, Plate 8, (E 54) 
"To make the desarts blossom, & the deeps shrink to their fountains,
And to renew the fiery joy, and burst the stony roof.
That pale religious letchery, seeking Virginity,                 
May find it in a harlot, and in coarse-clad honesty
The undefil'd tho' ravish'd in her cradle night and morn:
For every thing that lives is holy, life delights in life;
Because the soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd.
Fires inwrap the earthly globe, yet man is not consumd;      
Amidst the lustful fires he walks: his feet become like brass,
His knees and thighs like silver, & his breast and head like gold."  

Marriage of Heaven & Hell, Plate 9, (E 37) 
"The soul of sweet delight. can never be defil'd,"

Visions of Daughters of Albion, Plate 3, (E 47)
"Silent I hover all the night, and all day could be silent.
If Theotormon once would turn his loved eyes upon me;            
How can I be defild when I reflect thy image pure?
Sweetest the fruit that the worm feeds on. & the soul prey'd on by woe
The new wash'd lamb ting'd with the village smoke & the bright swan
By the red earth of our immortal river: I bathe my wings.
And I am white and pure to hover round Theotormons breast."       

Illustrations of Paradise 6

Wikipedia Common
Plate 6

The man on top surrounded by stars and moon is of course Satan; he's folded with his favorite
animal, the Serpent.  The serpent's mouth is close to Satan's face, and Satan looking down
to what was happening below sees Eve's face touching that of Adam.

Adam and Eve are resting on a pile of fruit (Apples? the Book says flowers)- the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil.  You might say that the ghostly Satan above curses Adam, pointing his finger at him.

The fruit was delicious and Good, but they know that Evil is also
possible.  But this is a scene of innocent conjugal love.

Blake might spend a thousand words to describe this story, but the picture tells it all.

Milton wrote it with much detail:



Robert Essick tells us on page 114:

"The bat-winged devil and his serpent roughly parallel the distinction between the self and its 'Spectre'" (which is described in great detail in "My Spectre around me night and day'.)

From Book 4:

From Book 4:

So spake our general Mother, and with eyes
Of conjugal attraction unreprov'd,
And meek surrender, half imbracing leand
On our first Father, half her swelling Breast [ 495 ]
Naked met his under the flowing Gold
Of her loose tresses hid: he in delight
Both of her Beauty and submissive Charms
Smil'd with superior Love, as Jupiter
On Juno smiles, when he impregns the Clouds [ 500 ]
That shed May Flowers; and press'd her Matron lip
With kisses pure: aside the Devil turnd
For envie, yet with jealous leer maligne
Ey'd them askance, and to himself thus plaind.

Sight hateful, sight tormenting! thus these two [ 505 ]
Imparadis't in one anothers arms
The happier Eden, shall enjoy thir fill
Of bliss on bliss, while I to Hell am thrust,
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire,
Among our other torments not the least, [ 510 ]
Still unfulfill'd with pain of longing pines;
Yet let me not forget what I have gain'd
From thir own mouths; all is not theirs it seems:
One fatal Tree there stands of Knowledge call'd,
Forbidden them to taste

(For a better account go to Dartmouth Ed, upon which this is based.)

BLAKE'S COMUS 8

The challenge to the two brothers is to remove from Comus the instruments of enchantment, his cup and wand, without falling under his enchantment themselves. Since their swords would be useless against the enchanter they are supplied with 'haemony' by the attendant Spirit.
 
Milton's description of 'haemony' tells us that the flower grows on a plant which itself is unattractive. The benefit which Milton attributes to 'haemony' is that it can be used ''Gainst all inchantments' as was the 'moly' of Homer's Odyssey which allowed Ulysses to resit the attraction of Circe, the mother of Comus.

Wikimedia Commons
Milton's Comus
Butts Set, Illustration 4

A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634

John Milton
 
Line 629
 
"Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull'd me out;
The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,
But in another Countrey, as he said, Bore a bright golden flowre, but not in this soyl:
Unknown, and like esteem'd, and the dull swayn
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon,
And yet more med'cinal is it then that Moly
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave;
He call'd it Haemony, and gave it me,
And bade me keep it as of sovran use 'Gainst all inchantments"


Blake recognized the irony of using the attractive flower as protection from Comus because, as Damon in A Blake Dictionary tells us that, 'The plucking of a flower is an ancient symbol for sexual experience.' (Page 265). Blake had used the plucking of a flower to represent Othoon's first sexual experience in Visions of the Daughters of Albion.
 
Perhaps Milton and Blake were implying that some knowledge of sexuality would act as an insulation against the attractions that Comus would offer to the pubescent girl and to her young brothers as well.  

Visions of Daughters of Albion, Plate 1, (E 45)
"Along the vales of Leutha seeking flowers to comfort her;
And thus she spoke to the bright Marygold of Leutha's vale                                     

   Art thou a flower! art thou a nymph! I see thee now a flower;
   Now a nymph! I dare not pluck thee from thy dewy bed!

   The Golden nymph replied; pluck thou my flower Oothoon the mild
   Another flower shall spring, because the soul of sweet delight
   Can never pass away. she ceas'd & closd her golden shrine.    

Then Oothoon pluck'd the flower saying, I pluck thee from thy bed
Sweet flower. and put thee here to glow between my breasts
And thus I turn my face to where my whole soul seeks.

Over the waves she went in wing'd exulting swift delight;
And over Theotormons reign, took her impetuous course."    

In another reference to Greek mythology Blake pictured in this illustration what appears to be Artemis in the sky above the attendant Spirit and the brothers. As the moon goddess, Artemis is the female counterpart to Apollo, the sun god. Herself a virgin, her particular charge was to look after virginal maidens and women in childbirth. Confirmation of the identity of the figure in the upper part of the illustration may be made by comparing her to Blake's image for the 14th of the Illustrations of the Book of Job. To the left of the central figure is the sun and Apollo; to the right is the moon and Artemis guiding her serpent chariot. An additional image of the moon goddess appear in Blake's illustration for Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso: Illustration 7, Melancholy.
 
Milton was unmarried and 26 years old when he wrote Comus or A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle. Eight years later he married Mary Powell, the daughter of a business associate. His bride was 17 years old. Mary shortly left her new home and husband and returned to her family. It was not until three years later the Mary rejoined John in London. In Comus Milton had written about issues relating to the coming of age of a young woman; he later experienced the tensions of relating to an adolescent girl who had unresolved issues of autonomy and sexuality.

Illustrations of Paradise 5

This Plate (No. 5) appears only on the Thomas set:
Satan Spying on Adam and Eve and

William Blake at the Henry E. Huntington Library

from www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/‎:
Book IV
Book V: (for Raphael's descent)


Raphael's Descent into Paradise

Like so many of Blake's images this one has three levels;

Two things are happening here:

1. At God's direction the angel Raphael is coming down to Earth in the fulcrum of a V shaped cloud.

He turns up towards God with his elbows out and his hands pointed over his chest like you might identify yourself.

2. Satan with wings, encased in the snake, looks on sadly at God's creation of Adam and Eve.

The snake raises his mouth right above Satan's head. His wings are prominent.

At the bottom of the image three strong trees become visible; on the left border Satan stands beside it.

At the right side Adam and Eve stand, facing one another. Adam is touching the fourth of the  strong trees. 

Beside him Eve touches a tree, smaller but with fruit.

Looking at the image as a whole the mortals are on the fringe of the woods while the two angels have come down with two obvious intentions.

Extracts from Paradise Lost

Saw undelighted all delight, all kind
Of living Creatures new to sight and strange:
Two of far nobler shape erect and tall,
Godlike erect, with native Honour clad
In naked Majestie seemd Lords of all, [ 290 ]
And worthie seemd, for in thir looks Divine
The image of thir glorious Maker shon,
Truth, wisdome, Sanctitude severe and pure,
Severe but in true filial freedom plac't;
Whence true autority in men; though both [ 295 ]
Not equal, as thir sex not equal seemd;
For contemplation hee and valour formd,
For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace,
Hee for God only, shee for God in him:
His fair large Front and Eye sublime declar'd [ 300 ]
Absolute rule; and Hyacinthin Locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clustring, but not beneath his shoulders broad:
Shee as a vail down to the slender waste
[Did Blake get his vail/Vala from here?]
Her unadorned golden tresses wore [ 305 ]
Disheveld, but in wanton ringlets wav'd
As the Vine curles her tendrils, which impli'd
Subjection, but requir'd with gentle sway,
And by her yielded, by him best receivd,
Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, [ 310 ]
And sweet reluctant amorous delay.
Nor those mysterious parts were then conceald,
Then was not guiltie shame, dishonest shame
Of natures works, honor dishonorable,
Sin-bred, how have ye troubl'd all mankind [ 315 ]
With shews instead, meer shews of seeming pure,
And banisht from mans life his happiest life,
Simplicitie and spotless innocence.
So passd they naked on, nor shund the sight
Of God or Angel, for they thought no ill: [ 320 ]
So hand in hand they passd, the lovliest pair
That ever since in loves imbraces met,
Adam the goodliest man of men since borne
His Sons, the fairest of her Daughters Eve.
Under a tuft of shade that on a green [ 325 ]
Stood whispering soft, by a fresh Fountain side
They sat them down.
(So much for the Garden scene.)

Attend: That thou art happie, owe to God; [ 520 ]
That thou continu'st such, owe to thy self,
That is, to thy obedience; therein stand.
This was that caution giv'n thee; be advis'd.
God made thee perfet, not immutable;
And good he made thee, but to persevere [ 525 ]
He left it in thy power, ordaind thy will
By nature free, not over-rul'd by Fate
Inextricable, or strict necessity;
Our voluntarie service he requires,
Not our necessitated, such with him [ 530 ]
Finds no acceptance, nor can find, for how
Can hearts, not free, be tri'd whether they serve
Willing or no, who will but what they must
By Destinie, and can no other choose?
Myself and all th' Angelic Host that stand [ 535 ]
In sight of God enthron'd, our happie state
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds;
On other surety none; freely we serve
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall: [ 540 ]
And Som are fall'n, to disobedience fall'n,
And so from Heav'n to deepest Hell; O fall
From what high state of bliss into what woe!
Attentive, and with more delighted eare [ 545 ]
Divine instructer, I have heard, then when
Cherubic Songs by night from neighbouring Hills
Aereal Music send: nor knew I not
To be both will and deed created free;
Yet that we never shall forget to love [ 550 ]
Our maker, and obey him whose command
Single, is yet so just, my constant thoughts
Assur'd me and still assure: though what thou tellst
Hath past in Heav'n, Som doubt within me move,
But more desire to hear, if thou consent, [ 555 ]
The full relation, which must needs be strange,

BLAKE'S COMUS 7

In the previous image the attendant Spirit was in a spiritual form, not material; he/she observed without being observed. In Illustration 4 we see the two brothers on either side of the Spirit. In order to interact with the brothers and warn them of the Lady's plight, the spirit becomes visible taking on the appearance of a shepherd familiar to the children. In Spirit form he overheard the conversation between Comus and the Lady. Unable to intervene directly he seeks out the brothers, becomes manifest to them, and offers to  provide them with a mysterious flower which is effective against enchantment. 
 
Illustration 4 shows the brothers in conversation with the Spirit appearing as their father's shepherd. The spirit holds the 'haemony' whose protection will allow the brothers to assault Comus' lair and rescue the Lady. At the top of the picture a veiled individual rides a serpent chariot across the sky. 
 
Clearly the young woman has become the focus of forces which are working to transform her in some way. She is exposed to temptation from Comus who will offer an exit from the protected world of childhood into a debased sexuality. Her brothers desire to use the violence of physical force to return her to the state in which the journey  began. The attendant Spirit offers a power through which the tempter can be dispelled with undefined consequences. Unknown forces, too, are in the air with the potential for influencing the development of the young woman. 

Wikimedia
Original in Huntington Gallery
Milton's Comus
Illustration 4

A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634
John Milton
Line 560
[Attendant Spirit]
"I was all eare,
And took in strains that might create a soul
Under the ribs of Death; but O ere long
Too well I did perceive it was the voice
Of my most honour'd Lady, your dear sister. Amaz'd I stood, harrow'd with grief and fear,
And O poor hapless Nightingale thought I,
How sweet thou sing'st, how neer the deadly snare!
Then down the Lawns I ran with headlong hast
Through paths, and turnings oft'n trod by day,
Till guided by mine ear I found the place
Where that damn'd wisard hid in sly disguise
(For so by certain signes I knew) had met
Already, ere my best speed could prvent,
The aidless innocent Lady his wish't prey,
Who gently ask't if he had seen such two,
Supposing him som neighbour villager;
Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guess't
Ye were the two she mean't, with that I sprung
Into swift flight, till I had found you here,
But furder know I not."
 
The attendant Spirit instructs the brothers on the use to which the 'haemony' may be put.
 
Line 647
"if you have this about you
(As I will give you when we go) you may
Boldly assault the necromancers hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood,
And brandish't blade rush on him, break his glass,
And shed the lushious liquor on the ground,
But sease his wand;"
 
Blake like Milton saw the need for protection to be provided by spiritual forces in order for man to navigate the treacherous paths through a demonic world.

Milton, Plate 23 [25], (E 119)
"We were plac'd here by the Universal Brotherhood & Mercy
With powers fitted to circumscribe this dark Satanic death
And that the Seven Eyes of God may have space for Redemption.
But how this is as yet we know not, and we cannot know;
Till Albion is arisen; then patient wait a little while,
Six Thousand years are passd away the end approaches fast;
This mighty one is come from Eden, he is of the Elect,
Who died from Earth & he is returnd before the Judgment. This thing
Was never known that one of the holy dead should willing return
Then patient wait a little while till the Last Vintage is over:"

Milton, Plate 24 (E 119)
"Enitharmon wept
One thousand years, and all the Earth was in a watry deluge
We calld him Menassheh because of the Generations of Tirzah 
Because of Satan: & the Seven Eyes of God continually
Guard round them, but I the Fourth Zoa am also set
The Watchman of Eternity, the Three are not! & I am preserved
Still my four mighty ones are left to me in Golgonooza
Still Rintrah fierce, and Palamabron mild & piteous
Theotormon filld with care, Bromion loving Science
You O my Sons still guard round Los."

Might we be reminded of the gift of the Holy Spirit:
John 14
[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Illustrations of Paradise Lost 3

wikipedia
Paradise Lost 3
William Blake

Christ offers to Redeem Man

"Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sit'st"
(The Image suggests that the Light of God is reflected by Christ) 
Angels on each side "cast Their Crowns before him" (them?)(Book 3;351-2)
Satan is down below with his spear in his right arm; his left arm is wearing a shield.
His face has a sad expression.
From William Blake at the Huntington, by Robert N. Essick, #44:

From Paradise Lost Book Three:
John Milton  
"From the pure Empyrean where he sits
High Thron'd above all highth, bent down his eye,
His own works and their works at once to view:
About him all the Sanctities of Heaven [ 60 ]
Stood thick as Starrs, and from his sight receiv'd
Beatitude past utterance; on his right
The radiant image of his Glory sat,
His onely Son; On Earth he first beheld
Our two first Parents, yet the onely two [ 65 ]
Of mankind, in the happie Garden plac't,
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
Uninterrupted joy, unrivald love
In blissful solitude; he then survey'd
Hell and the Gulf between, and Satan there [ 70 ]
Coasting the wall of Heav'n on this side Night
In the dun Air sublime, and ready now
Eternal King; thee Author of all being,
Fountain of Light, thy self invisible [ 375 ]

Thron'd inaccessible, but when thou shad'st
The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud
Drawn round about thee like a radiant Shrine,
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appeer, [ 380 ]
Yet dazle Heav'n, that brightest Seraphim"


and/or that Christ (in the N.T. is beginning to replace the 
'Light' of the Father (O.T.) (In life the 'father' is replaced 
by the Son, and many tycoons want their son to take their place.)

"Coasting the wall of Heaven .....,"

Christ at the Atonement   in the posture of the Crucifixion. 
Christ stands before God the Father 'High Thron'd but bent Down' (358)

"Now had the Almighty Father from above,
Thee Father first they sung Omnipotent",
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,
(immortal invisible)

God sits bent over in a 'rectilinear' throne, his face is bent and 
hidden from the Son in front of him.

BLAKE'S COMUS 6

Prominently featured in Illustration 3 of Comus is a single bull or ox in the Thomas Set and a pair in the Butts set. Milton mentions the ox only to signify the time of day. Blake chooses to place the ox centrally in his illustration to allude to its use as a sacrificial animal. The myths surrounding Bacchus involve situations calling for sacrifice. Blake calls to our attention that sacrifice may be required in the mask without specifying who or what may be sacrificed.  

Comparing Illustration 3 of the Thomas and Butts sets we see that Blake make numerous changes although he maintained the same elements. The grapes are less prominent the second set and the boys look more mature. The boys' swords which lay on the ground in the first image do not appear in the second picture. The Butts illustration shows a path leading from the Lady toward her brothers. The form, size and position of the attendant Spirit is altered. Comus looks toward the brothers although in the first image he focused on the swords.

The conversation between Comus and the Lady which relates the incident of Comus encountering the brothers, is pictured by Blake in Illustration 2. We read here Comus' retelling of that event. By describing in glowing terms his meeting with the brothers, Comus convinces the Lady that he sincerely wishes to give her assistance. The Lady naively believes she will be safer with the smooth stranger than if she waits for her brothers return.

Wikimedia Commons
Milton's Comus
Butts Set, Illustration 3

A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634
John Milton
Line 91
"Comus: [To Lady] Two such I saw, what time the labour'd Oxe
In his loose traces from the furrow came,

And the swink't hedger at his Supper sate;
I saw them under a green mantling vine
That crawls along the side of yon small hill,
Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots,
Their port was more then human, as they stood;
I took it for a faëry vision
Of som gay creatures of the element
That in the colours of the Rainbow live
And play i'th plighted clouds. I was aw-strook,
And as I past, I worshipt: if those you seek,
It were a journey like the path to Heav'n
To help you find them.  Lady: Gentle villager
What readiest way would bring me to that place?

Comus: Due west it rises from this shrubby point.
Lady: To find out that, good Shepherd, I suppose,
In such a scant allowance of Star-light,
Would overtask the best Land-Pilots art,
Without the sure guess of well-practiz'd feet. 
Comus: I know each lane, and every alley green
Dingle or bushy dell of this wilde Wood,
And every bosky bourn from side to side
My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood,
And if your stray attendance be yet lodg'd,
Or shroud within these limits, I shall know
Ere morrow wake, or the low roosted lark
From her thach't pallat rowse, if otherwise
I can conduct you Lady to a low
But loyal cottage, where you may be safe
Till further quest'.  Lady: Shepherd I take thy word,
And trust thy honest offer'd courtesie,
Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds
With smoaky rafters, then in tapstry Halls
And Courts of Princes, where it first was nam'd,
And yet is most pretended: In a place
Less warranted then this, or less secure
I cannot be, that I should fear to change it,
Eie me blest Providence, and square my triall
To my proportion'd strength. Shepherd lead on.——" 


In the following passage in The Book of Urizen Blake uses the ox in the slaughterhouse to symbolize the sorry state which man endures under the rule of his Reasoning Power or Selfhood. In contrasting selfish and selfless love in The Clod & the Pebble, a pair of cattle join the sheep as representing lives lived for others not their own ease or pleasure. Blake sees that the weak and unprotected are sacrificed to the cruelty of self-righteous desire.

The Book of Urizen, Plate 23, (E 81)
"4. He in darkness clos'd, view'd all his race,
And his soul sicken'd! he curs'd
Both sons & daughters; for he saw
That no flesh nor spirit could keep                        
His iron laws one moment.

5. For he saw that life liv'd upon death
Plate 25
The Ox in the slaughter house moans
The Dog at the wintry door
And he wept, & he called it Pity
And his tears flowed down on the winds

6. Cold he wander'd on high, over their cities              
In weeping & pain & woe!
And where-ever he wanderd in sorrows
Upon the aged heavens
A cold shadow follow'd behind him
Like a spiders web, moist, cold, & dim                      
Drawing out from his sorrowing soul
The dungeon-like heaven dividing.
Where ever the footsteps of Urizen
Walk'd over the cities in sorrow.

7. Till a Web dark & cold, throughout all                   
The tormented element stretch'd
From the sorrows of Urizens soul
And the Web is a Female in embrio  
None could break the Web, no wings of fire." 

Songs of Innocence & of Experience, Song 32, (E 19)  

"The CLOD & the PEBBLE  

Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hells despair.

     So sang a little Clod of Clay,
     Trodden with the cattles feet:
     But a Pebble of the brook,
     Warbled out these metres meet.

Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to Its delight:
Joys in anothers loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heavens despite."