"Thou never canst embrace sweet Enitharmon terrible Demon. Till
Thou art united with thy Spectre Consummating by pains &
labours
That mortal body & by Self annihilation back returning
To Life Eternal be assurd I am thy real Self
Tho thus divided from thee & the Slave of Every passion
Of thy fierce Soul Unbar the Gates of Memory look upon me
Not as another but as thy real Self I am thy Spectre
Thou didst subdue me in old times by thy Immortal Strength
When I was a ravning hungring & thirsting cruel lust & murder
Tho horrible & Ghastly to thine Eyes tho buried beneath
The ruins of the Universe. hear what inspird I speak & be silent
If we unite in one[,] another better world will be
Opend within your heart & loins & wondrous brain
Threefold as it was in Eternity & this the fourth Universe
Will be Renewd by the three & consummated in Mental fires
But if thou dost refuse Another body will be prepared
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For me & thou annihilate evaporate & be no more
For thou art but a form & organ of life & of thyself
Art nothing being Created Continually by Mercy & Love divine"
(Erdman 368)
Now in Milton:
Plate 14:
"Distinguish therefore States from Individuals in those States.
States Change: but Individual Identities never change nor cease:
You cannot go to Eternal Death in that which can never Die.
Satan & Adam are States Created into Twenty-seven Churches
And thou O Milton art a State about to be Created
Called Eternal Annihilation that none but the Living shall
Dare to enter: & they shall enter triumphant over Death
And Hell & the Grave! States that are not, but ah! Seem to be.
Judge then of thy Own Self: thy Eternal Lineaments explore
What is Eternal & what Changeable? & what Annihilable!
The Imagination is not a State: it is the Human Existence itself
Affection or Love becomes a State, when divided from Imagination
The Memory is a State always, & the Reason is a State
Created to be Annihilated & a new Ratio Created
Whatever can be Created can be Annihilated Forms cannot
The Oak is cut down by the Ax, the Lamb falls by the Knife
But their Forms Eternal Exist, For-ever. Amen Halle[l]ujah
Thus they converse with the Dead watching round the Couch of
Death.
For God himself enters Death's Door always with those that enter
And lays down in the Grave with them, in Visions of Eternity
Till they awake & see Jesus & the Linen Clothes lying
That the Females had Woven for them, & the Gates of their Fathers
House
And the Divine Voice was heard in the Songs of Beulah Saying
When I first Married you, I gave you all my whole Soul
I thought that you would love my loves & joy in my delights
Seeking for pleasures in my pleasures O Daughter of Babylon
Then thou wast lovely, mild & gentle. now thou art terrible
In jealousy & unlovely in my sight, because thou hast cruelly
Cut off my loves in fury till I have no love left for thee
Thy love depends on him thou lovest & on his dear loves
Depend thy pleasures which thou hast cut off by jealousy
Therefore I shew my jealousy & set before you Death.
Behold Milton descended to Redeem the Female Shade
From Death Eternal; such your lot, to be continually Redeem'd
By death & misery of those you love & by Annihilation
When the Sixfold Female percieves that Milton annihilates
Himself: that seeing all his loves by her cut off: he leaves
Her also: intirely abstracting himself from Female loves
She shall relent in fear of death: She shall begin to give
Her maidens to her husband: delighting in his delight
And then & then alone begins the happy Female joy
As it is done in Beulah, & thou O Virgin Babylon Mother of
Whoredoms
Shalt bring Jerusalem in thine arms in the night watches; and
No longer turning her a wandering Harlot in the streets
Shalt give her into the arms of God your Lord & Husband.
Such are the Songs of Beulah in the Lamentations of Ololon
(Erdman 132-33)
In the Eastern porch of Satans Universe Milton stood & said Satan! my Spectre! I know my power thee to annihilate And be a greater in thy place, & be thy Tabernacle A covering for thee to do thy will, till one greater comes And smites me as I smote thee & becomes my covering. Such are the Laws of thy false Heavns! but Laws of Eternity Are not such: know thou: I come to Self Annihilation Such are the Laws of Eternity that each shall mutually Annihilate himself for others good, as I for thee[.] Thy purpose & the purpose of thy Priests & of thy Churches Is to impress on men the fear of death; to teach Trembling & fear, terror, constriction; abject selfishness Mine is to teach Men to despise death & to go on In fearless majesty annihilating Self, laughing to scorn Thy Laws & terrors, shaking down thy Synagogues as webs I come to discover before Heavn & Hell the Self righteousness In all its Hypocritic turpitude, opening to every eye These wonders of Satans holiness shewing to the Earth The Idol Virtues of the Natural Heart, & Satans Seat Explore in all its Selfish Natural Virtue & put off In Self annihilation all that is not of God alone: To put off Self & all I have ever & ever Amen
And many more places in William Blake's works occur.
Researching this subject on the net I came across an article re Quietism and found this paragraph:
"The key components of Quietism, as it has traditionally been characterised, are that man's highest perfection consists of a self-annihilation, and subsequent absorption, of the soul into the Divine, even during the present life."
Regarding Tagore these paragraphs issued from the Universalistfriends.org:
" The Tagore mysticism is sad and quietist in feel. In this tone, the mysticism resonates with themes in some Quaker leaders. His writing can sound Buddhist in the call for self annihilation, but he shows more interest in engagement than detachment and in the world as a place for striving and celebration rather than suffering. The rebuttal of negation is essential to embrace optimism and appreciation of faith and grace in the present mode of existence, but it also has a tendency toward the antinomian in the assertion of freedom form established moral laws. Tagore’s is an articulate, religious struggle with universalism issues current today.
Tagore struggled in reflection and in politics with the polarity of inside and outside, freedom and imprisonment, self and other and life and death. He was always on the side of freedom, political, social and personal, that fused into a metaphysical freedom. Or, more accurately, his sense of metaphysical freedom was expressed in his life and writings in all the political, social and personal parts of life."
| Born | Rabindranath Thakur 7 May 1861 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency,British India |
|---|---|
| Died | 7 August 1941 (aged 80) Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Occupation | Poet, short story writer, song composer, novelist, playwright, essayist, painter |
| Language | Bengali, English |
| Nationality | India |
| Ethnicity | Bengali |
| Notable work(s) | Gitanjali, Gora, Ghare-Baire,Jana Gana Mana, Rabindra Sangeet, Amar Shonar Bangla(other works) |
| Notable award(s) | Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 |
| Spouse(s) | Mrinalini Devi (m. 1883–1902) |
| Children | five children, two of whom died in childhood |
| Relative(s) | Tagore family |
Here is a group of BBC pictures regarding Tagore:
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