america 3

 America 3
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PLATE 3

                             A PROPHECY

The Guardian Prince of Albion burns in his nightly tent,
Sullen fires across the Atlantic glow to America's shore:
Piercing the souls of warlike men, who rise in silent night,
Washington, Franklin, Paine & Warren, Gates, Hancock & Green;
Meet on the coast glowing with blood from Albions fiery Prince.  

Washington spoke; Friends of America look over the Atlantic sea;
A bended bow is lifted in heaven, & a heavy iron chain
Descends link by link from Albions cliffs across the sea to bind
Brothers & sons of America, till our faces pale and yellow;
Heads deprest, voices weak, eyes downcast, hands work-bruis'd,  
Feet bleeding on the sultry sands, and the furrows of the whip  
Descend to generations that in future times forget.----
The strong voice ceas'd; for a terrible blast swept over the heaving sea;

The eastern cloud rent; on his cliffs stood Albions wrathful Prince              

A dragon form clashing his scales at midnight he arose,

And flam'd red meteors round the land of Albion beneath[.]      
His voice, his locks, his awful shoulders, and his glowing eye

(Erdman 52)

        

Text

The 'Guardian Prince of Albion' occurs also at The Song of Los. You may assume  

that it refers to the King of England (in a veiled way). 

He burns at the 'sullen fires' of America. What might these sullen fires mean?  Perhaps at the revolutionary fervor in America.

The 'warlike men: Washington, Franklin, Paine & Warren, Gates, Hancock & Green (probably meant Greene);We might wonder if Blake primarily knew these historical figures re the American Revolution. The one he was most familiar with was Paine.

Washington speaks explicating the oppression America has suffered from Albion.

The  statement elicits the fury of the Prince of Albion in dragon form.

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                         About the Image

Note the words in the Title: 

America: straight up and down;

a Prophecy: slanted. 

Note the upper and lower portions: Lightness above (Erdman calls it the 'mental realm').
In the Lightness between the two words of the title are what Erdman calls two philosophers.
I see America on the left and  the Prince of Albion on the right.
The left one is bent over reading a book assisted by a childlike figure.
The right one is also bent over and two angels above him point to AMERICA.

below is a black area, a battlefield; a dead soldier still holding his sword and a women on help (expecting her kiss will revive him), but there are others lying around, with two severed heads.

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Comments


In the 1790's there were many trials for treason in Great Britain
"over thirty radicals were initially arrested and three tried for high treason" Blake produced America a Prophecy expecting to be arrested; he wrote in his notebook "I shan't live five years. and if I live one it will be a Wonder. June 1793"(Erdman, 694) (but he lived another 35 years). 

Blake's early draft mentioned King George III by name but not in finished versions.

The Song of Los, America and Europe all describe Africa and Europe; why might that be? "in Biblical and apocalyptic tradition the dragon is defeated by the Messiah"

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America 2

Silent as despairing love, and strong as jealousy,
The hairy shoulders rend the links, free are the wrists of fire;
Round the terrific loins he siez'd the panting struggling womb;
It joy'd: she put aside her clouds & smiled her first-born smile;
As when a black cloud shews its lightnings to the silent deep.
Soon as she saw the terrible boy then burst the virgin cry.
I know thee, I have found thee, & I will not let thee go;
Thou art the image of God who dwells in darkness of Africa;
And thou art fall'n to give me life in regions of dark death.
On my American plains I feel the struggling afflictions
Endur'd by roots that writhe their arms into the nether deep:
I see a serpent in Canada, who courts me to his love;
In Mexico an Eagle, and a Lion in Peru;
I see a Whale in the South-sea, drinking my soul away.
O what limb rending pains I feel. thy fire & my frost
Mingle in howling pains, in furrows by thy lightnings rent;
This is eternal death; and this the torment long foretold.
[The stern Bard ceas'd, asham'd of his own song; enrag'd he swung His harp aloft sounding, then dash'd its shining frame against A ruin'd pillar in glittring fragments; silent he turn'd away, And wander'd down the vales of Kent in sick & drear lamentings.
swung
His harp aloft sounding, then dash'd its shining frame against
A ruin'd pillar in glittring fragments; silent he turn'd away,
And wander'd down the vales of Kent in sick & drear lamentings.
<erdman 52)

---

What is the plant? closer inspection suggests that the branch is a root, under the earth, but the text reveals that we have to do, not with ground and underground but with a  womb. This man is being born.
So perhaps we have a double meaning here, the womb and a tree.  We may recall that the newborn Orc was taken, not up a tree, but up a mountain  (actually the Tree of Mystery).
Choosing the earthly facet of Orc we see two plants, a straight one (tree) and a vine, indicated by the loops going up until they point to the begnning of the text.  Choosing the earthly facet of Orc we see two plants, a straight one (tree) and a vine, indicated by the loops going up until they point to the begnning of the text.  

---

"Soon as she saw the terrible boy then burst the virgin cry."  The 'terrible boy' of course is Orc; but 'the virgin cry'?, what virgin might that be? Look at The Night of Enitharmon's Joy.

Hecate
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate

In America 2 'vengeance is the keynote representing Revolution.
The bard (Blake) is ashamed of his song and smashes it (metaphorically).

Regardless of the text, what is this image saying?
Starting at the bottom we see a man with legs bent and arms spread out and bent at the elbows as if to be sitting on the branch of a tree (or bush) who is he?
The text suggests that he is Orc,

Silent and strong! This is a description of Orc's birth.  It has all sorts of connotations.

'She' is presumbably Enitharmon, of whom Arc was her firstborn.  There are several accounts of the birth by Enitharmon, perhaps most definitive in Chapter VII of the Book of Urizen , already used in America 1.

That's a different side of this female:
Europe a Prophecy is said to a large extent to be " devoted to the night of Enitharmon's joy, when she establishes her Woman's World with its false religion of chastity and vengeance: a religion of eighteen hundread years, which is the error of official Christianity."^[11]  In other words, it is said to represents a Feminine Will over a patriarchal Christianity.

"Thou art the image of God who dwells in darkness of Africa;
And thou art fall'n to give me life in regions of dark death.
On my American plains I feel the struggling afflictions 
Endur'd by roots that writhe their arms into the nether deep:
I see a serpent in Canada, who courts me to his love;
In Mexico an Eagle, and a Lion in Peru;
I see a Whale in the South-sea, drinking my soul away."
in Africa (as a revolution against slavery
in America
in Canada (a serpent);
in Mexico (an eagle)
in Peru (a lion) 
in the South Seas (a whale)  
This demonstrates the vividness of Blake's imagination; the sees (the possibility) of revolution everywhere.  
In the last line he reveals how sick and sorrowful he feels about the world.

america 0

Ruler and Oppressed
David Erdman, who wrote Prophet Against Empire. told us that 'Gwin, King of Norway', a poem  written several years before America a Prophecy was a very apt precursor to Blake's America a
Prophecy. Gwin might be considered a type, of which there are many antitypes in Blake's poetry.
The first antitype might be 'Europe a Prophecy, but there are many others.  Gwin might be  considered a pattern for the old story of this 'vale of tears'. The shrewd 'get ahead' and all too often at the expense of his less gifted brothers.  That's the story of  life beginning with Genesis and coming right down to the 21st century. 
The outcome is also everlasting:
The Grey Monk:
"The hand of Vengeance found the Bed
To which the Purple Tyrant fled
The iron hand crushd the Tyrants head
And became a Tyrant in his stead."
(Erdman 490)

---

GWIN, KING OF NORWAY
 Come, kings, and listen to my song,
When Gwin, the son of Nore,
Over the nations of the North His cruel sceptre bore:
 The Nobles of the land did feed Upon the hungry Poor;
They tear the poor man's lamb, and drive The needy from their door!
 The land is desolate; our wives And children cry for bread;
 Arise, and pull the tyrant down; Let Gwin be humbled.

Gordred the giant rous'd himself From sleeping in his cave;
Erdman (page 21) related Gordred to George Washington.)
He shook the hills, and in the clouds The troubl'd banners wave.
Beneath them roll'd, like tempests black, The num'rous sons of blood;
Like lions' whelps, roaring abroad, Seeking their nightly food.
 Down Bleron's hills they dreadful rush, Their cry ascends the clouds;
The trampling horse, and clanging arms Like rushing mighty floods!
 Their wives and children, weeping loud, Follow in wild array,
Howling like ghosts, furious as wolves In the bleak wintry day.

 "Pull down the tyrant to the dust, "Let Gwin be humbled," They cry;
"and let ten thousand lives Pay for the tyrant's head."
Ten thousand lives is modest when compared to what it cost to put
down, Hitler for example.
 From tow'r to tow'r the watchmen cry, "O Gwin, the son of Nore,
"Arouse thyself! the nations black, "Like clouds, come rolling o'er!"
 Gwin rear'd his shield, his palace shakes, His chiefs come rushing round;
... They stand around the King;
Then suddenly each seiz'd his spear, And clashing steel does ring,
 The husbandman does leave his plow, To wade thro' fields of gore;
The merchant binds his brows in steel, And leaves the trading shore:
 The shepherd leaves his mellow pipe, And sounds the trumpet shrill;
 The workman throws his hammer down To heave the bloody bill. 
...Gwin leads his host as black as night, When pestilence does fly.
 With horses and with chariots-- And all his spearmen bold,
March to the sound of mournful song, Like clouds around him roll'd.
 Gwin lifts his hand--the nations halt; "Prepare for war," he cries--
Gordred appears!--his frowning brow t Troubles our northern skies. 
The armies stand, like balances Held in th' Almighty's hand;--

 "Gwin, thou hast fill'd thy measure up, "Thou'rt swept from out the land."
 And now the raging armies rush'd, Like warring mighty seas;
 The Heav'ns are shook with roaring war, The dust ascends the skies!
 Earth smokes with blood, and groans, and shakes, To drink her childrens' gore,
A sea of blood; nor can the eye See to the trembling shore!
 And on the verge of this wild sea Famine and death doth cry;
The cries of women and of babes. Over the field doth fly.
 The King is seen raging afar; With all his men of might;
Like blazing comets, scattering death Thro' the red fev'rous night.
 Beneath his arm like sheep they die, And groan upon the plain;
The battle faints, and bloody men Fight upon hills of slain.
 Now death is sick, and riven men Labour and toil for life;
 Steed rolls on steed, and shield on shield, Sunk in this sea of strife!
 The god of war is drunk with blood, The earth doth faint and fail;
 The stench of blood makes sick the heav'ns; Ghosts glut the throat of hell!
 O what have Kings to answer for, Before that awful throne!
When thousand deaths for vengeance cry, And ghosts accusing groan!
 Like blazing comets in the sky, That shake the stars of light,
Which drop like fruit unto the earth, Thro' the fierce burning night;
 Like these did Gwin and Gordred meet, And the first blow decides;
Down from the brow unto the breast Gordred his head divides! Gwin fell;
the Sons of Norway fled, All that remain'd alive;
..Who mourn'd his sons, and overwhelm'd The pleasant south country.
(Erdman 417-20) .

america-1

AMERICA a PROPHECY LAMBETH Printed by William Blake in the year 1793PLATE 1

America plate i
Rosenwald LC

                                                            PRELUDIUM

The shadowy daughter of Urthona stood before red Orc.
When fourteen suns had faintly journey'd o'er his dark abode;
His food she brought in iron baskets, his drink in cups of iron;
Crown'd with a helmet & dark hair the nameless female stood;
A quiver with its burning stores, a bow like that of night,
When pestilence is shot from heaven; no other arms she need:
Invulnerable tho' naked, save where clouds roll round her loins,
Their awful folds in the dark air; silent she stood as night;
For never from her iron tongue could voice or sound arise;
But dumb till that dread day when Orc assay'd his fierce embrace.
Dark virgin; said the hairy youth, thy father stern abhorr'd;
Rivets my tenfold chains while still on high my spirit soars;
Sometimes an eagle screaming in the sky, sometimes a lion,
Stalking upon the mountains, & sometimes a whale I lash
The raging fathomless abyss, anon a serpent folding
Around the pillars of Urthona, and round thy dark limbs,
On the Canadian wilds I fold, feeble my spirit folds.
For chaind beneath I rend these caverns; when thou bringest food
I howl my joy! and my red eyes seek to behold thy face
In vain! these clouds roll to & fro, & hide thee from my sight.

---

Notes (taken from saylor):
America, A Prophecy, was first engraved in 1793, in eighteen plates, and deals with Blake's interpretation of the American Revolution. 

Orc (partly from Latin orcus, hell) is the spirit of freedom inspiring the American revolt. He is associated with the classical Titans, with the Norse god Loki, also imprisoned in a "cavern" (line 18) under a mountain, and with Esau, the rightful heir of Isaac (cf. "hairy youth" in line 11 with Gen. 27: 11). 

The "Daughter of Urthona" is the land of America; a new civilization is taking possession of.it.

Urthona: the creative power of the imagination, later identified with Los, the hero of most of Blake's prophecies.] 

fourteen: the age of puberty. 

Iron: Urthona or Los in Blake is a blacksmith: (cf. Isa. 54.16.12] tenfold: 
an allusion to the ten commandments of the moral law, used to restrain the impetus toward freedom.13] 

Eagle: The four animals mentioned here and below represent both the four elements and the four quarters of America.

The two characters here are 'Red Orc' and Enitharmon?  The story of the birth of Orc is elaborated in the Book of Urizen.: 

Chapter VII.  In this plate Orc takes the form of an eagle, a lion, a whale, a serpent. All these figures are elaborated in various places of Blake's poetry.



CHAPTER VII

Book of Urizen  (from The works of William Blake)

1. They namèd the child Orc; he grew,
Fed with milk of Enitharmon.

2. Los awoke her. O sorrow and pain!
A tight'ning girdle grew
Around his bosom. In sobbings
He burst the girdle in twain;
But still another girdle
Oppress'd his bosom. In sobbings

Again he burst it. Again
Another girdle succeeds.
The girdle was form'd by day;
By night was burst in twain.

3. These falling down on the Rock
Into an iron Chain,
In each other link by link lock'd.

4. They took Orc to the top of a mountain.
O how Enitharmon wept!
They chain'd his young limbs to the Rock
With the Chain of Jealousy,
Beneath Urizen's deathful Shadow.

5. The Dead heard the voice of the Child,
And began to awake from sleep;
All things heard the voice of the Child,
And began to awake to life.

6. And Urizen, craving with hunger,
Stung with the odours of Nature,
Explor'd his dens around.

7. He form'd a line and a plummet
To divide the Abyss beneath;
He form'd a dividing rule;

8. He formèd scales to weigh,
He formèd massy weights;
He formèd a brazen quadrant;
He formèd golden compasses,
And began to explore the Abyss;
And he planted a garden of fruits.

9. But Los encircled Enitharmon
With fires of Prophecy
From the sight of Urizen and Orc.

10. And she bore an enormous race.

Thel

From wikipedia:


"The daughters of Mne Seraphim are all shepherdesses in the Vales of Har, apart from the youngest, Thel. She spends her time wandering on her own, trying to find the answer to the question that torments her: why does the springtime of life inevitably fade so that all things must end? She meets the Lily of the Valley who tries to comfort her. When Thel remains uncomforted, the Lily sends her on to ask the Cloud. The Cloud explains that he is part of a natural process and, although he sometimes disappears, he is never gone forever. Thel replies that she is not like the Cloud and when she disappears she will not return. So the Cloud suggests asking the same question of the Worm. The Worm is still a child and cannot answer. Instead it is the Worm’s mother, the Clod of Clay, who answers. The Clod explains that we do not live for ourselves, but for others. She invites Thel to enter into her underground realm and see the dark prison of the dead where Thel herself will one day reside. However, Thel is assailed by mysterious voices asking a whole series of yet more terrible questions about existence. Uttering a shriek, she flees back to her home in the Vales of Har. The pit represents sex and mortality of life, while the Vales of Har represent virginity and eternity. The first part of the poem shows the good part of life as in Songs of Innocence whereas the concluding part shows that life is full of sorrows where smiles are never seen, as in Songs of Experience.

The question is "Why the physical senses darken the soul by excluding it from the wisdom and joy of eternity?".

Thel is the allegory of the unborn spirit who has gathered experience from her own discoveries and has decided to remain forever innocent."

"The Book of Thel is best understood as a rewriting of Milton's Comus..

Blake tells the same story, but in biological terms, not moral ones."



(Damon)

            THE BOOK of THEL

      The Author & Printer Willm Blake, 1789.

 PLATE i
            THEL'S Motto,

 Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?
 Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:
 Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?
 Or Love in a golden bowl?

Thel
Rosenwald LC

Thel
Rosenwald LC

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Thel 1
Rosenwald LC

 PLATE 1
          THEL

           I

The daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks.     
All but the youngest; she in paleness sought the secret air.
To fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day:
Down by the river of Adona her soft voice is heard:
And thus her gentle lamentation falls like morning dew.          

O life of this our spring! why fades the lotus of the water?
Why fade these children of the spring? born but to smile & fall.
Ah! Thel is like a watry bow. and like a parting cloud.
Like a reflection in a glass. like shadows in the water.
Like dreams of infants. like a smile upon an infants face,       
Like the doves voice, like transient day, like music in the air;
Ah! gentle may I lay me down, and gentle rest my head.          
And gentle sleep the sleep of death. and gentle hear the voice  
Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.

The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass            
Answer'd the lovely maid and said; I am a watry weed,
And I am very small, and love to dwell in lowly vales;
So weak, the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head.
Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all.
Walks in the valley. and each morn over me spreads his hand      
Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lilly flower,
Thou gentle maid of silent valleys. and of modest brooks;
For thou shalt be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
To flourish in eternal vales: then why should Thel complain, 

Five human figures soar around the title-word "Thel" (line 1): a nude man reaching toward a large eagle, a nude man holding a sword and shield, and a gowned woman holding a small child in her outstretched arms. Below, a nude man rests on the branch of a tree (or perhaps a tassel of grain) and looks up toward the child. Spiraling vines and stylized flowers, perhaps lilies, spring from several of the title letters. The design does not represent any specific incident in the text, but the man with shield and spear may be one of the "thousand fighting men" referred to near the end of the poem (plate 8, line 16).

(From Blake Archive)   

Thel Plate 2
Adelaide

PLATE 2
Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a sigh.
She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.
Thel answerd. O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.
Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the 
     o'ertired.                                                 
Thy breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells thy milky
     garments,                                                   

He crops thy flowers. while thou sittest smiling in his face,
Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.
Thy wine doth purify the golden honey, thy perfume,
Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that
     springs
Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.        
But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.

Queen of the vales the Lilly answerd, ask the tender cloud,
And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky,
And why it scatters its bright beauty thro' the humid air.       
Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.

The Cloud descended, and the Lilly bowd her modest head:
And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.

We meet Har in a previously written Blake poem called Tiriel,
where he is said to correspond to old Adam before the apple was eaten.
In Thel Har may be thought to be the Heaven of the nymphs awaiting mortal birth.

The Lilly of the Valley, who has lived corporeally as well as 
eternally, addresses the question To Thel which begins Plate 2.

Thel answers describing the Lilly's activities on the Earth. 
And she describes her fears of vanishing (with mortal death of course).

This early work of Blake's is a discussion of life and death. 
Thel fears to live mortally because she fears death and after 
hearing of the four facets of mortal life she chose not to live 
mortally, but continue in the vale of Har, which has been variously 
interpreted as selfcenteredness or simply fear to take a chance about life. 
It is only the daring souls who choose Experience.

The birch tree is said to be the queen of the forest; this one has a single
branch and under it Thel stands in a regal way.  In front are a small
group of lilies, the main (largest one bowing deeply as to a queen). Smaller 
stems are waiting for their turn.

Thel Plate 3
Adelaide

PLATE 3
                       II.

O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee tell to me,
Why thou complainest not when in one hour thou fade away:
Then we shall seek thee but not find; ah Thel is like to thee.
I pass away. yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.

The Cloud then shew'd his golden bead & his bright form emerg'd, 
Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.

O virgin know'st thou not. our steeds drink of the golden springs
Where Luvah doth renew his horses: look'st thou on my youth,  
And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more.
Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away,           
It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy:
Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers;
And court the fair eyed dew. to take me to her shining tent;
The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun,
Till we arise link'd in a golden band, and never part;           
But walk united, bearing food to all our tender flowers

Dost thou O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee;
For I walk through the vales of Har. and smell the sweetest
     flowers;
But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds,
But I feed not the warbling birds. they fly and seek their food; 
But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away,
And all shall say, without a use this shining woman liv'd,
Or did she only live. to be at death the food of worms.

The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answer'd thus:
Then if thou art the food of worms. O virgin of the skies,       
How great thy use. how great thy blessing; every thing that
     lives,
Lives not alone, nor for itself: fear not and I will call
The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.
Come forth worm of the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.

The helpless worm arose, and sat upon the Lillys leaf,           
And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.




DISCUSSION:
There is little or nothing pictorial in this plate. Erdman, in The
Illuminated Blake tells us that it is "a curving branch of the seven
flowered lilly stem" of the previous plate.

The cloud is a very common symbol in Blake's poetry. Look for example at the
Introduction to Songs of Innocence. From this we might surmise that the
Cloud is a general symbol for dreams and visions.

The virgin speaking is of course Thel. 'Virgin' in this context suggests that
she has never beeen exposed to Experience or Mortal Life; she doesn't
understand why anything else would.

The cloud understands and tells Thel that though she pass away she will be
renewed tenfold.

Thel says it's not like that for her; she will fade away; she will eventually
be food for worms.

The (masculine) cloud returns: "How great thy use".  That's reminiscent of Walt
Whitmans statement to the dying soldier:  "I do not commiserate—I congratulate 
you."

Thel Plate 4

Rosenwald LC

PLATE 4
Then Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed.

Art thou a Worm? image of weakness. art thou but a Worm?
I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lillys leaf:
Ah weep not little voice, thou can'st not speak. but thou can'st
     weep;
Is this a Worm? I see thee lay helpless & naked: weeping,      
And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mothers smiles.

The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice, & raisd her pitying head;
She bowd over the weeping infant, and her life exhal'd
In milky fondness, then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes.

O beauty of the vales of Har. we live not for ourselves,         
Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed;
My bosom of itself is cold. and of itself is dark,

There are three figures here: in the top is the cloud like a naked male
flying and waving goodbye to Thel, the larger figure taking up most of
of the picture. The cloud has just introduced the worm, the small figure
at the bottom of the picture; it's in the middle of the lily cluster.

Thel sees the worm like a weeping infant.

The Clod of Clay also sees the (infant) worm and hears it weeping.  She
provides a motherly 'milky fondness' (worms generally live in clay). Then
she looked at Thel and told her "we live not for ourselves".

We might suppose that the life of a clod of clay must be pretty attenuated, and we 
might well conclude that generosity and love must be the foundation of the world.

Thel explains again, this time to the Clod of Clay why she had complained, and the 
Clod invites her to come on and live (mortally): 

"Wilt thou O Queen enter my house," 
By 'house' Blake meant of course the earth, the mortal world.

PLATE 5

But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head.
And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.

And says; Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee.
And I have given thee a crown that none can take away
But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know,       
I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet I live and love.

The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her white
     veil,
And said. Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep:
That God would love a Worm I knew, and punish the evil foot
That wilful, bruis'd its helpless form: but that he cherish'd it 
With milk and oil, I never knew; and therefore did I weep,
And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away,
And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.
Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answerd; I heard thy sighs.
And all thy moans flew o'er my roof. but I have call'd them down:
Wilt thou O Queen enter my house. 'tis given thee to enter,
And to return; fear nothing. enter with thy virgin feet.

The words of the Clod of Clay or the matron Clay fill the first paragraph.

She describes the blessed role that she has in God's plan; she understands that she is the mother of all those who come into mortal life.

Thel sits in a group of flowers, her arms folded over her breasts and watches the matron clay and the infant worm.

On the left above Thel's head is a large bud and on the right a large flower.

Finally the Cloud of Clay (the world) invites the Queen to come in and to return; that is an invitation we all have heard and responded to.

(See post.)

PLATE 6
                IV.

The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:
Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;
She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots
Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:
A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.

She wanderd in the land of clouds thro' valleys dark, listning
Dolours & lamentations: waiting oft beside a dewy grave
She stood in silence. listning to the voices of the ground,
Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down.
And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit.     

Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?
Or the glistning Eye to the poison of a smile!
Why are Eyelids stord with arrows ready drawn,
Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie?
Or an Eye of gifts & graces, show'ring fruits & coined gold!  
Why a Tongue impress'd with honey from every wind?
Why an Ear, a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?
Why a Nostril wide inhaling terror trembling & affright.
Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy!
Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?          

The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek.
Fled back unhinderd till she came into the vales of Har
                                    
                  The End

(Erdman 3-6)

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Notes:
The northern bar: From the beginning of time Eternity and
Time are the primary divisions of kinds of reality. Materalists
have considered Reality to be in Time, while spiritually minded
people consider that the primary Reality resides in Eternity.

Thel has been living in 'Paradise' (called the 'vales of Har'),
but she wants to have a look at the other side. The 'Northern
Bar' opened the 'eternal gates' allowing Thel to 'have a look'

Blake likely had several sources for the 'northern bar', but
none better than one of his favorite English poets. The Faerie
Queene by Edmund Spenser includes these lines:

"It cited was in fruitful soul of old
And girt in with two walls on either side
The one of iron, the other of bright gold
That none might thorough breake, nor over-stride;
And double gates it had which opened wide,
By which both in and out men might pass.
The one faire and fresh, the other old and dride:"

This has been described as the northern and southern bar.

Plate 6 of Thel describes what she saw there and how she reacted.
She saw the 'the land unknown', the 'land of sorrows & of tears'(commonly known as 'this vale of tears'), 'the land of clouds'.Well she didn't think much of it.

Blake gave another instance of that (nymphatic) reaction in the
Sea of Time and Space; there you see the northern stairway with
one nymph vigorously climbing the stairs against the stream of
those headed for the 'sea'.

Thel came many years before the Arlington Tempera, but the idea,
the concept had not changed. In Blake's myth those in Eternity
may choose to come down into material life. In fact the story
(like the story of the Bible) concerns the Fall and the Return.
You might say that Thel chose not to fall. The rest of us are
here because we fell.
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