Milton E-Book

William Blake

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "Milton," William Blake crafts an ambitious epic that melds his mystical visions with a profound exploration of the human condition and artistic inspiration. Written in the form of a poetic narrative, the text features rich symbolic imagery and innovative, sometimes perplexing, language that challenges conventional literary form. Blake invokes the figure of John Milton, presenting him as a symbolic representation of the poet's own struggle with the constraints of the material world and the quest for spiritual truth. The interwoven themes of redemption, creation, and duality are emblematic of Blake's larger body of work, positioning "Milton" within the context of the Romantic movement and the broader quest for individuality and enlightenment in the face of societal norms. William Blake, a visionary poet, painter, and printmaker, was driven by his unrelenting quest for understanding and the divine. Living in 18th-century England, a time marked by profound political and social upheaval, Blake's personal experiences and fervent beliefs influenced his artistic endeavors. His engagement with theology, mysticism, and his disdain for institutionalized religion permeate his work, culminating in the creation of "Milton," where he grapples with the complexities of creativity and the divine purpose behind artistic expression. "Milton" is a rewarding journey for readers seeking to navigate the intersections of art, spirituality, and morality. Blake's intricate blend of mythological and autobiographical elements encourages deep contemplation and dialogue. This book not only serves as a testament to Blake's genius but also invites readers to explore their own inner landscapes, making it a significant addition to any literary scholar's collection.

Leseprobe

William Blake

Milton

With the Original Illustrations by William Blake

 

EAN 8596547001355

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Book the First

Book the Second

Book the First

Table of Contents

Plates

Book the First

Daughters of Beulah! Muses who inspire the Poet’s Song, 

Record the journey of immortal Milton thro’ your Realms 

Of terror & mild moony lustre, in soft sexual delusions 

Of varied beauty, to delight the wanderer and repose

His burning thirst & freezing hunger! Come into my hand 

By your mild power; descending down the Nerves of my right arm 

From out the Portals of my Brain, where by your ministry 

The Eternal Great Humanity Divine planted his Paradise, 

And in it caus’d the Spectres of the Dead to take sweet form 

In likeness of himself. Tell also of the False Tongue! vegetated 

Beneath your land of shadows: of its sacrifices, and

Its offerings: even till Jesus, the image of the Invisible God, 

Became its prey; a curse, an offering, and an atonement 

For Death Eternal in the heavens of Albion, & before the Gates 

Of Jerusalem his Emanation, in the heavens beneath Beulah.

Say first! what mov’d Milton, who walk’d about in Eternity 

One hundred years, pond’ring the intricate mazes of Providence, 

Unhappy tho’ in heav’n, he obey’d, he murmur’d not, he was silent.

Viewing his Sixfold Emanation scatter’d thro’ the deep 

In torment: To go into the deep her to redeem & himself perish?

That cause at length mov’d Milton to this unexampled deed, 

A Bard’s prophetic Song! for sitting at eternal tables.

Terrific among the Sons of Albion, in chorus solemn & loud 

A Bard broke forth: all sat attentive to the awful man.

Mark well my words! they are of your eternal salvation!

Three Classes are Created by the Hammer of Los, & Woven

By Enitharmons Looms when Albion was slain upon his Mountains 

And in his Tent, thro envy of Living Form, even of the Divine Vision 

And of the sports of Wisdom in the Human Imagination

Which is the Divine Body of the Lord Jesus. blessed for ever.

Mark well my words. they are of your eternal salvation:

Urizen lay in darkness & solitude, in chains of the mind lock’d up 

Los siezd his Hammer & Tongs; he labourd at his resolute Anvil

Among indefinite Druid rocks & snows of doubt & reasoning.

Refusing all Definite Form, the Abstract Horror roofd. stony hard.

And a first Age passed over & a State of dismal woe:

Down sunk with fright a red round Globe hot burning. deep 

Deep down into the Abyss. panting: conglobing: trembling ;

And a second Age passed over & a State of dismal woe.

Rolling round into two little Orbs & closed in two little Caves 

The Eyes beheld the Abyss: lest bones of solidness freeze over all 

And a third Age passed over & a State of dismal woe.

From beneath his Orbs of Vision, Two Ears in close volutions 

Shot spiring out in the deep darkness & petrified as they grew 

And a fourth Age passed over & a State of dismal woe.

Hanging upon the wind, Two Nostrils bent down into the 

Deep And a fifth Age passed over & a State of dismal woe.

In ghastly torment sick, a Tongue of hunger & thirst flamed out

And a sixth Age passed over & a State of dismal woe.

Enraged & stifled without & within: in terror & woe, he threw his 

Right Arm to the north, his left Arm to the south, & his 

Feet Stampd the nether Abyss in trembling & howling & dismay 

And a seventh Age passed over & a State of dismal woe

Terrified Los stood in the Abyss & his immortal limbs 

Grew deadly pale; he became what he beheld: for a red 

Round Globe sunk down from his Bosom into the Deep in pangs 

He hoverd over it trembling & weeping. suspended it shook 

The nether Abyss in tremblings. he wept over it, he cherish’d it

 In deadly sickening pain: till separated into a Female pale 

As the cloud that brings the snow: all the while from his Back 

A blue fluid exuded in Sinews hardening in the Abyss

Till it separated into a Male Form howling in Jealousy

Within labouring. beholding Without: from Particulars to Generals 

Subduing his Spectre, they Builded the Looms of Generation 

They Builded Great Golgonooza Times on Times Ages on Ages 

First Orc was Born then the Shadowy Female: then All Los’s Family 

At last Enitharmon brought forth Satan Refusing Form, in vain 

The Miller of Eternity made subservient to the Great Harvest 

That he may go to his own Place Prince of the Starry Wheels

Beneath the Plow of Rintrah & the harrow of the Almighty 

In the hands of Palamabron. Where the Starry Mills of Satan 

Are built beneath the Earth & Waters of the Mundane Shell 

Here the Three Classes of Men take their Sexual texture Woven 

The Sexual is Threefold: the Human is Fourfold.

If you account it Wisdom when you are angry to be silent, and 

Not to shew it: I do not account that Wisdom but Folly.

Every Mans Wisdom is peculiar to his own Individ[u]ality 

O Satan my youngest born, art thou not Prince of the Starry Hosts 

And of the Wheels of Heaven, to turn the Mills day & night?

Art thou not Newtons Pantocrator weaving the Woof of Locke 

To Mortals thy Mills seem every thing & the Harrow of Shaddai 

A scheme of Human conduct invisible & incomprehensible 

Get to thy Labours at the Mills & leave me to my wrath.

Satan was going to reply, but Los roll’d his loud thunders.

Anger me not! thou canst not drive the Harrow in pitys paths.

Thy Work is Eternal Death, with Mills & Ovens & Cauldrons.

Trouble me no more. thou canst not have Eternal Life

So Los spoke! Satan trembling obeyd weeping along the way.

Mark well my words, they are of your eternal Salvation

Between South Molton Street & Stratford Place: Calvarys foot 

Where the Victims were preparing for Sacrifice their Cherubim 

Around their loins pourd forth their arrows & their bosoms beam 

With all colours of precious stones, & their inmost palaces 

Resounded with preparation of animals wild & tame 

(Mark well my words! Corporeal Friends are Spiritual Enemies) 

Mocking Druidical Mathematical 

Proportion of Length Bredth Highth Displaying 

Naked Beauty! with Flute & Harp & Song

Palamabron with the fiery Harrow in morning returning 

From breathing fields. Satan fainted beneath the artillery 

Christ took on Sin in the Virgins Womb, & put it off on the Cross

All pitied the piteous & was wrath with the wrathful & Los heard it.

And this is the manner of the Daughters of Albion in their beauty 

Every one is threefold in Head & Heart & Reins, & every one 

Has three Gates into the Three Heavens of Beulah which shine 

Translucent in their Foreheads & their Bosoms & their Loins 

Surrounded with fires unapproachable: but whom they please 

They take up into their Heavens in intoxicating delight 

For the Elect cannot be Redeemd, but Created continually 

By Offering & Atonement in the crue[l]ties of Moral Law 

Hence the three Classes of Men take their fix’d destinations 

They are the Two Contraries & the Reasoning Negative.

While the Females prepare the Victims. the Males at Furnaces