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Creator:
Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:
"Then the Divine Vision like a silent Sun..." (Plate 29)
Part Of:

Collective Title: Jerusalem: The Emanation of The Giant Albion, Copy E

Date:
1804 to 1820
Materials & Techniques:
Relief etching printed in orange ink, with watercolor and pen and black ink on moderately thick, smooth, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 13 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches (34.3 x 26.4 cm), Plate: 8 3/4 x 6 3/8 inches (22.3 x 16.2 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Lettered inside image: "Then the Divine Vision like a silent Sun appear'd above | Albion's dark rocks: setting behind the Gardens of Kensington | On Tyburn's River: in clouds of blood: where was mild Zion Hill's | Most ancient promontory: and in the Sun, a Human Form appear'd, | And thus the Voice Divine went forth upon the rocks of Albion. | I elected Albion for my glory: I gave to him the Nations | Of the whole Earth. He was the Angel of my Presence: and all | The Sons of God were Albion's Sons : and Jerusalem was my joy. | The Reactor hath hid himself thro' envy. I behold him, | But you cannot behold him till he be reveal'd in his System. | Albion's Reactor must have a Place prepar'd. Albion must Sleep | The Sleep of Death, till the Man of Sin & Repentance be reveal'd. | Hidden in Albion's Forests he lurks : he admits of no Reply | From Albion: but hath founded his Reaction into a Law | Of Adion, for Obedience to destroy the Contraries of Man. | He hath compell'd Albion to become a Punisher & hath possess'd | Himself of Albion's Forests & Wilds: and Jerusalem is taken, | The City of the Woods in the Forest of Ephratah is taken! | London is a stone of her ruins: Oxford is the dust of her walls: | Sussex & Kent are her scatter 'd garments: Ireland her holy place: | And the murder'd bodies of her little ones are Scotland and Wales. | The Cities of the Nations are the smoke of her consummation, | The Nations are her dust, ground by the chariot wheels | Of her lordly conquerors, her palaces levell'd with the dust. | I come that I may find a way for my banished ones to return. | Fear not, O little Flock, I come: Albion shall rise again. | So saying, the mild Sun inclos'd the Human Family. | Forthwith from Albion's darkning locks came two Immortal forms, | Saying: We alone are escaped, O merciful Lord and Saviour, | We flee from the interiors of Albion's hills and mountains; | From his Valleys Eastward; from Amalek, Canaan & Moab; | Beneath his vast ranges of hills surrounding Jerusalem. | Albion walk'd on the steps of fire before his Halls, | And Vala walk'd with him in dreams of soft deluding slumber. | He looked up & saw the Prince of Light with splendor faded. | Then Albion ascended mourning into the porches of his Palace: | Above him rose a Shadow from his wearied intellect | Of living gold, pure, perfect, holy ; in white linen pure he hover'd, | A sweet entrancing self-delusion, a wat'ry vision of Albion, | Soft exulting in existence; all the Man absorbing. | Albion fell upon his face prostrate before the wat'ry Shadow, | Saying: O Lord whence is this change? thou knowest I am nothing! | And Vala trembled & cover'd her face ; & her locks were spread on the pavement. | We heard astonish'd at the Vision & our hearts trembled within us; | We heard the voice of slumberous Albion, and thus he spake, | Idolatrous to his own Shadow words of eternity uttering: | O I am nothing when I enter into judgment with thee! | If thou withdraw thy breath I die & vanish into Hades, | If thou dost lay thine hand upon me, behold I am silent: | If thou withhold thine hand, I perish like a fallen leaf. | O I am nothing: and to nothing must return again: | If thou withdraw thy breath, Behold I am oblivion. | He ceas'd; the shadowy voice was silent: but the cloud hover'd over their heads | In golden wreathes, the sorrow of Man; & the balmy drops fell down. | And lo! that son of Man, that Shadowy Spirit of mild Albion, | Luvah descended from the cloud: in terror Albion rose: | Indignant rose the awful Man, & turn'd his back on Vala. | We heard the voice of Albion starting from his sleep: | Whence is this voice crying, Enion! that soundeth in my ears? | O cruel pity! O dark deceit! can love seek for dominion? | And Luvah strove to gain dominion over Albion: | They strove together above the Body where Vala was inclos'd, | And the dark Body of Albion left prostrate upon the crystal pavement: | Cover'd with boils from head to foot: the terrible smitings of Luvah. | Then frown'd the fallen Man, and put forth Luvah from his presence, | Saying, Go and Die the Death of Man, for Vala the sweet wanderer. | I will turn the volutions of your ears outward, and bend your nostrils | Downward, and your fluxile eyes englob'd roll round in fear; | Your with'ring lips and tongue shrink up into a narrow circle, | Till into narrow forms you creep: go take your fiery way: | And learn what 'tis to absorb the Man, you Spirits of Pity & Love. | They heard the voice and fled swift as the winter's setting sun. | And now the human blood foam'd high, the Spirits Luvah & Vala | Went down the Human Heart where Paradise & its joys abounded, | In jealous fears & fury & rage, & flames roll round their fervid feet: | And the vast form of Nature like a serpent play'd before them. | And as they fled in folding fires & thunders of the deep, | Vala shrunk in like the dark sea that leaves its slimy banks, | And from her bosom Luvah fell far as the east and West. | And the vast form of Nature like a serpent roll'd between, | Whether of Jerusalem's or Vala's ruins congenerated we know not: | All is confusion: all is tumult, & we alone are escaped. | So spoke the fugitives; they join'd the Divine Family, trembling..."

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.1(29)
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
fire | flames | literary theme | men | nudes | religious and mythological subject | text | vines | women
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3458
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William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]


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