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Creator:
Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:
"Reuben return'd to his place, in vain..." (Plate 36)
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 3/8 x 5 7/8 inches (21.2 x 15 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in orange ink, upper right: "36"

Lettered inside image: "Reuben return'd to his place, in vain he sought beautiful Tirzah, | For his Eyelids were narrow'd, & his Nostrils scented the ground. | And Sixty Winters Los raged in the Divisions of Reuben, | Building the Moon of Ulro, plank by plank & rib by rib. | Reuben slept in the Cave of Adam, and Los folded his Tongue | Between Lips of mire & clay, then sent him forth over Jordan. | In the love of Tirzah he said: Doubt is my food day & night. | All that beheld him fled howling and gnawed their tongues | For pain: they became what they beheld. In reasonings Reuben returned | To Heshbon: disconsolate he walk'd thro' Moab & he stood | Before the Furnaces of Los in a horrible dreamful slumber, | On Mount Gilead looking toward Gilgal : and Los bended | His Ear in a spiral circle outward; then sent him over Jordan. | The Seven Nations fled before him, they became what they beheld: | Hand, Hyle & Coban fled; they became what they beheld: | Gwantock & Peachey hid in Damascus beneath Mount Lebanon, | Brereton & Slade in Egypt, Hutton & Skofeld & Kox | Fled over Chaldea in terror, in pains in every nerve, | Kotope & Bowen became what they beheld, fleeing over the Earth: | And the Twelve Female Emanations fled with them agonizing. | Jerusalem trembled seeing her Children driv'n by Los's Hammer, | In the visions of the dreams of Beulah, on the edge of Non-Entity. | Hand stood between Reuben & Merlin, as the Reasoning Spectre | Stands between the Vegetative Man & his Immortal Imagination. | And the Four Zoas clouded rage, East & West & North & South: | They change their situations, in the Universal Man. | Albion groans, he sees the Elements divide before his face, | And England, who is Brittannia, divided into Jerusalem & Vala : | And Urizen assumes the East, Luvah assumes the South, | Is his dark Spectre ravening from his open Sepulcher. | And the Four Zoas, who are the Four Eternal Senses of Man, | Became Four Elements separating from the Limbs of Albion: | These are their names in the Vegetative Generation. | And Accident & Chance were found hidden in Length, Bredth & Heighth: | And they divided into Four ravening deathlike Forms, | Fairies & Genii & Nymphs & Gnomes of the Elements: | These are States Permanently Fixed by the Divine Power. | The Atlantic Continent sunk round Albion's cliffy shore, | And the Sea poured in amain upon the Giants of Albion, | As Los bended the Senses of Reuben. Reuben is Merlin | Exploring the Three States of Ulro; Creation, Redemption, & Judgment. | And many of the Eternal Ones laughed after their manner: | Have you known the Judgment that is arisen among the | Zoas of Albion; where a Man dare hardly to embrace | His own Wife, for the terrors of Chastity that they call | By the name of Morality; their Daughters govern all | In hidden deceit! they are Vegetable, only fit for burning. | Art & Science cannot exist but by Naked Beauty display 'd. | Then those in Great Eternity who contemplate on Death | Said thus, What seems to Be; Is; To those to whom | It seems to Be, & is productive of the most dreadful | Consequences to those to whom it seems to Be ; even of | Torments, Despair, Eternal Death; but the Divine Mercy | Steps beyond and Redeems Man in the Body of Jesus. Amen. | And Length, Bredth, Heighth again Obey the Divine Vision. Hallelujah."

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.1(36)
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
fire | flames | hammer | literary theme | men | religious and mythological subject | sun | text | vegetation
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3466
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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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