Garments

We may suppose that the Eternals are naked. Falling down the right path

they are provided with a garment as shown in The Arlington Tempera






This picture is more or less 'the whole deal:

In the case of the nymphs they have diaphanous clothing; after descending to the Sea they receive their worldly garments at the hands of the 'writhing group' (Digby's term) busy with their spinning and weaving. You might call the garment they provide your personhood.




(George W. Digby with his Symbol and Image in WB has an extended discussion of the Arlington Tempera. It shows much clearer than my posts the relationship of spinning and weaving to Garments.)


Four Zoas Erdman 302:

Wondring she saw her woof begin to animate. & not

As Garments woven subservient to her hands but having a will

Of its own perverse & wayward Enion lovd & wept

Nine days she labourd at her work. & nine dark sleepless nights"

"Terrified & drinking tears of woe

Shuddring she wove--nine days & nights

Sleepless her food was tears





Milton "PLATE 18 [20]

......

And thus the Shadowy Female howls in articulate howlings

I will lament over Milton in the lamentations of the afflicted

My Garments shall be woven of sighs & heart broken lamentations

The misery of unhappy Families shall be drawn out into its border

Wrought with the needle with dire sufferings poverty pain & woe

.......................

For I will put on the Human Form & take the Image of God

Even Pity & Humanity but my Clothing shall be Cruelty

And I will put on Holiness as a breastplate & as a helmet

And all my ornaments shall be of the gold of broken hearts

And the precious stones of anxiety & care & desperation & death

And repentance for sin & sorrow & punishment & fear

To defend me from thy terrors O Orc! my only beloved!


Ephesians 6:

[14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

[15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

[16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:


Milton Plate 18 (Erdman 111-12):

"Orc answerd. Take not the Human Form O loveliest.

........

Wherefore dost thou Create & Weave this Satan for a Covering[?]

When thou attemptest to put on the Human Form, my wrath

Burns to the top of heaven against thee in Jealousy & Fear.

Then I rend thee asunder, then I howl over thy clay & ashes

When wilt thou put on the Female Form as in times of old

With a Garment of Pity & Compassion like the Garment of God

His garments are long sufferings for the Children of Men

Jerusalem is his Garment & not thy Covering Cherub O lovely

Shadow of my delight who wanderest seeking for the prey.

So spoke Orc"


PLATE 26 [28] of Milton

These are the Sons of Los, & these the Labourers of the Vintage

Thou seest the gorgeous clothed Flies that dance & sport in

summer

Upon the sunny brooks & meadows: every one the dance

Knows in its intricate mazes of delight artful to weave:

Each one to sound his instruments of music in the dance,

To touch each other & recede; to cross & change & return

These are the Children of Los; thou seest the Trees on mountains

The wind blows heavy, loud they thunder thro' the darksom sky

Uttering prophecies & speaking instructive words to the sons

Of men: These are the Sons of Los! These the Visions of Eternity

But we see only as it were the hem of their garments

When with our vegetable eyes we view these wond'rous Visions

(Erdman 123)


Matthew 14:

32] And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

[33] Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

[34] And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

[35] And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;

[36] And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.


Jerusalem Plate 66:

The Daughters of Albion clothed in garments of needle work

Strip them off from their shoulders and bosoms, they lay aside

Their garments; they sit naked upon the Stone of trial.

Los beheld in terror: he pour 'd his loud storms on the Furnaces:

(Erdman 218)

bible3 Eternity

The Couch of Death in Poetical Sketches
" The traveller that hath taken shelter under an oak, eyes
the distant country with joy! Such smiles were seen upon the
face of the youth! a visionary hand wiped away his tears, and a
ray of light beamed around his head! All was still. The moon
hung not out her lamp, and the stars faintly glimmered in the
summer sky; the breath of night slept among the leaves of the
forest; the bosom of the lofty hill drank in the silent dew,
while on his majestic brow the voice of Angels is heard, and
stringed sounds ride upon the wings of night. The sorrowful pair
lift up their heads, hovering Angels are around them, voices of
comfort are heard over the Couch of Death, and the youth breathes
out his soul with joy into eternity."
(Erdman 442)


Marriage of Heaven and Earth, Proverbs of Hell, 
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time."
(Erdman 36)

Notebook Title Eternity"
"He who binds to himself a joy 
Does the winged life destroy
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise"
(Erdman 470)

In the Preface of Milton:
"Rouze up O Young Men of the New Age! set your foreheads
against the ignorant Hirelings! For we have Hirelings in the
Camp, the Court, & the University: who would if they could, for
ever depress Mental & prolong Corporeal War. Painters! on you I
call! Sculptors! Architects! Suffer not the fash[i]onable Fools
to depress your powers by the prices they pretend to give for
contemptible works or the expensive advertizing boasts that they
make of such works; believe Christ & his Apostles that there is a
Class of Men whose whole delight is in Destroying. We do not
want either Greek or Roman Models if we are but just & true to
our own Imaginations, those Worlds of Eternity in which we shall
live for ever; in Jesus our Lord."
(Erdman 95)
(A wonderful passage! He's saying that 'our own imaginations' are
Eternal and Immortal.)

And in Plate 14 of Milton we read:
"And Milton said. I go to Eternal Death! Eternity shudder'd
For he took the outside course, among the graves of the dead
A mournful shade. Eternity shudderd at the image of eternal death"


Milton, Plate 23 [35], (E 132) 
"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"

bible3 Great Eternity

The Four Zoas begins in Night 1 with an altercation  of Tharmas and his 'wife', Enion in Erdman 303:
"A Frowning Continent appeard Where Enion in the Desart

Terrified in her own Creation, viewing her woven shadow
Sat in a dread intoxication of Repentance & Contrition           

There is from Great Eternity a mild & pleasant rest
Namd Beulah a Soft Moony Universe feminine lovely 
Pure mild & Gentle given in Mercy to those who sleep
Eternally. Created by the Lamb of God around
On all sides within & without the Universal Man
The Daughters of Beulah follow sleepers in all their Dreams
Creating Spaces lest they fall into Eternal Death 

from The Independent
5 Dec 02013

The figure of Albion, a personification of humanity and of 

Britain, is freeing himself from the shackles of materialism.

(From British Museum)

The Circle of Destiny complete they gave to it a Space
And namd the Space Ulro & brooded over it in care & love
They said The Spectre is in every man insane & most
Deformd     Thro the three heavens descending in fury & fire
We meet it with our Songs & loving blandishments & give          
To it a form of vegetation But this Spectre of Tharmas
Is Eternal Death What shall we do O God pity & help             
So spoke they & closd the Gate of the Tongue in trembling 

fear
What have I done! said Enion accursed wretch! What deed."  Well this is a mouthful! Follow these links, and you will get a new understanding of William Blake. The second appearance of Eternal Death casts it in a new light.

bible3 sin -

Although we frequently read about 'sin' in Blake's myth, Blake did not believe in sin: it was related to the Fall, to materiality, to the fallen world, so every time he spoke of 'sin' or anything else concern how things are in the 'world', from which we are scheduled to escape in due course.

                                 In Milton

PLATE 5
 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.

In Plate 13 he wrote

 pity the repentant Leutha. My            

Sick Couch bears the dark shades of Eternal Death infolding
The Spectre of Satan. he furious refuses to repose in sleepI 
humbly bow in all my Sin before the Throne Divine.
Not so the Sick-one; Alas what shall be done him to restore?
Who calls the Individual Law, Holy: and despises the Saviour.
Glorying to involve Albions Body in fires of eternal War--
Now Leutha ceas'd: tears flow'd: but the Divine Pity), supported her. 
All is my fault! We are the Spectre of Luvah the murderer.Of Albion: 
O Vala! O Luvah! O Albion! O lovely Jerusalem 
The Sin was begun in Eternity, and will not rest to Eternity
Till two Eternitys meet together, Ah! lost! lost! lost! for ever!
So Leutha spoke

From Milton Plate 29:
But in the Optic vegetative Nerves Sleep was transformed
To Death in old time by Satan the father of Sin & Death
And Satan is the Spectre of Orc & Orc is the generate Luvah
(Erdman 127)

From Milron Plate 39:
The Eternal Great Humanity Divine surrounded by 
His Cherubim & Seraphim in ever happy Eternity 
Beneath sat Chaos: Sin on his right hand Death on his left 
Ancient Night spread over all the heavn his Mantle of Laws

                                  And in Jerusalem

Plate 13 (Erdman 163)
Cast! Cast ye Jerusalem forth! The Shadow of delusions!
The Harlot daughter! Mother of pity and dishonourable forgiveness
Our Father Albions sin and shame! But father now no more!
Nor sons! nor hateful peace & love, nor soft complacencies
With transgressors meeting in brotherhood around the table,
Or in the porch or garden. No more the sinful delights
Of age and youth and boy and girl and animal and herb,
And river and mountain, and city & village, and house & family.


Plate 20
Jerusalem answer'd with soft tears over the valleys.
O Vala what is Sin? that thou shudderest and weepest
At sight of thy once lov'd Jerusalem! What is Sin but a little
Error & fault that is soon forgiven; but mercy is not a Sin
Nor pity nor love nor kind forgiveness! O! if I have Sinned
Forgive & pity me! O! unfold thy Veil in mercy & love!
Slay not my little ones, beloved Virgin daughter of Babylon
Slay not my infant loves & graces, beautiful daughter of Moab
I cannot put off the human form I strive but strive in vain
When Albion rent thy beautiful net of gold and silver twine;
Thou hadst woven it with art, thou hadst caught me in the bands
Of love; thou refusedst to let me go: Albion beheld thy beauty
Beautiful thro' our Love's comeliness, beautiful thro' pity.
The Veil shone with thy brightness in the eyes of Albion,
Because it inclosd pity & love; because we lov'd one-another!
Albion lov'd thee! he rent thy Veil! he embrac'd thee! he lov'd thee!
Astonish'd at his beauty & perfection, thou forgavest his furious love:
I redounded from Albions bosom in my virgin loveliness.
The Lamb of God reciev'd me in his arms he smil'd upon us: 
He made me his Bride & Wife: he gave thee to Albion.
Then was a time of love: O why is it passed away!(Erdman 165)

In Descriptions of the Last Judgment at Erdman 556:

……………………………………………...another demon with a
Key has the charge of Sin & is dragging her down by the hair 
beside them a figure is seen scaled with iron scales from head 
to feet precipitating himself into the Abyss with the Sword

The Spectator may suppose them Clergymen in the Pulpit Scourging 
Sin instead of Forgiving it

(Edman 557)

bible3 Jesus

Blake wrote Tirzah:                              

Whate'er is born of mortal birth

Must be consumèd with the earth,

To rise from generation free:

Then what have I to do with thee?

The sexes sprung from shame and pride,

Blowed in the morn, in evening died;

But mercy changed death into sleep;

The sexes rose to work and weep.

Thou, mother of my mortal part,

With cruelty didst mould my heart,

And with false self-deceiving tears

Didst blind my nostrils, eyes, and ears,

Didst close my tongue in senseless clay,

And me to mortal life betray.

The death of Jesus set me free:

Then what have I to do with thee?"

From UNC Analysis

The art bordering the poem provides the reader with an incite to what the poem means. In the picture, there are two women leaning over a naked man or looks weak or dead. They seem to be trying to pull him up to sit. On the other side, an old man with a long beard bows over the man on the ground while holding a pitcher to him. On the old man’s clothing, the phrase “It is Raised/a Spiritual Body” is written from 1 Corinthians 15:44 of the King James Bible (Eaves). The people standing around the weak man resemble those present when Jesus was about to rise from the dead, implying that the man laying before the women is a representation of Jesus. The Bible states in several places that women found Jesus. It looks as if they are trying to lift him up so the old man, possibly symbolizing God, can pour everlasting life into him. The way the weak man is laying signifies Jesus’ body on the cross. His legs are crossed and straight, and his head is limp. In the background, the apple tree represents the sin that created the situation. Jesus had to come down to save mankind after Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge. There are seven fruits on the tree, in Blake’s illustration, perhaps portraying the seven deadly sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride (King James Bible)

                   A Memorable Fancy

  Once I saw a Devil in a flame of fire. who arose before an
Angel that sat on a cloud. and the Devil utterd these words.
  The worship of God is.  Honouring his gifts in other men
each according to his genius. and loving the [PL 23] greatest men
best, those who envy or calumniate great men hate God, for there
is no other God.
  The Angel hearing this became almost blue but mastering
himself he grew yellow, & at last white pink & smiling, and then
replied,
  Thou Idolater, is not God One? & is not he visible in Jesus
Christ? and has not Jesus Christ given his sanction to the law of
ten commandments and are not all other men fools, sinners, &
nothings?
  The Devil answer'd; bray a fool in a morter with wheat. yet
shall not his folly be beaten out of him: if Jesus Christ is the
greatest man, you ought to love him in the greatest degree; now
hear how he has given his sanction to the law of ten
commandments: did he not mock at the sabbath, and so mock the
sabbaths God? murder those who were murderd because of him? turn
away the law from the woman taken in adultery? steal the labor of
others to support him? bear false witness when he omitted making
a defence before Pilate? covet when he pray'd for his disciples,
and when he bid them shake off the dust of their feet against
such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist
without breaking these ten commandments: Jesus was all virtue,
and acted from im[PL 24]pulse: not from rules.
  When he had so spoken: I beheld the Angel who stretched out
his arms embracing the flame of fire & he was consumed and arose
as Elijah.

(Erdman 43; MHH)

---

---

Then those in Great Eternity met in the Council of God
As one Man for contracting their Exalted Senses
They behold Multitude or Expanding they behold as one
As One Man all the Universal family & that one Man
They call Jesus the Christ & they in him & he in them
Live in Perfect harmony in Eden the land of life
Consulting as One Man above the Mountain of Snowdon Sublime
(Erdman 310-11)


1 Corinthians 15:44
King James Version (KJV)
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

Bible3 Satan

The two words 'devil' and Satan are often used interchangeably in the Bible and in Blake.

Job.2  (In this passage it would appear that Satan was numbered among 
the sons of God.)

1. [1] Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves 
2. before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
3. [2] And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered 
4. the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down 
5. in it.
6. [3] And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is 
7. none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and 
8. escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me 
9. against him, to destroy him without cause.
10. [4] And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath 
11. will he give for his life.
12. [6] And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
13. [7] So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore 
14. boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Zech.3

1. [1] And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2. [2] And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Matt.4

[1] Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
[2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
[3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
[4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
[5] Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
[6] And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
[7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
[10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
[11] Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

---

From The Marriage of Heaven and Earth we read:

Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs the unwilling.
And being restrain'd it by degrees becomes passive till it is only the shadow of desire.
The history of this is written in Paradise Lost, & the Governor or Reason is call'd Messiah.
And the original Archangel or possessor of the command of the heavenly host, is call'd the Devil or Satan and his children are call'd Sin & Death.
But in the Book of Job Miltons Messiah is call'd Satan.
For this history has been adopted by both parties.
It indeed appear'd to Reason as if Desire was cast out, but the Devil's account is, that the Messiah fell, & formed a heaven of what he stole from the Abyss.
(Erdman 34-5)

From The Four Zoas (Erdman 367):

And all the Songs of Beulah sounded comfortable notes
Not suffring doubt to rise up from the Clouds of the Shadowy
     Female 
Then myriads of the Dead burst thro the bottoms of their tombs
Descending on the shadowy females clouds in Spectrous terror
Beyond the Limit of Translucence on the Lake of Udan Adan
These they namd Satans & in the Aggregate they namd them Satan

(Erdman 672) Inscription for Our End is Come:

Satan's holy Trinity The Accuser The Judge & The Executioner

Plate 3 of Milton (Erdman 97):
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

bible3 Daughters of

Gen.5

1. [4] And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
2. [7] And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
3. [10] And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
4. [13] And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5. [16] And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
6. [19] And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
7. [22] And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
8. [26] And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
9. [30] And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

Blake used 'daughters of ...  freely, strictly comparable to 'sons of...
It occurs often in his poetry, but several of them are of special significance.

  VISIONS of the Daughters of Albion:

   MILTON                  

PLATE 1 [i] Preface.
The Stolen and Perverted Writings of Homer & Ovid: of
Plato &
Cicero. which all Men ought to contemn: are set up by
artifice
against the Sublime of the Bible. but when the New Age is at
leisure to Pronounce; all will be set right: & those
Grand Works
of the more ancient & consciously & professedly Inspired Men,
will hold their proper rank, & the Daughters of Memory shall become the Daughters of Inspiration.

PLATE 2  MILTON
Daughters of Beulah! Muses who inspired the Poets 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...

PLATE 5 (of Milton)
And this is the manner of the Daughters of Albion in

their beauty:

To the beautiful Daughters of Albion! they sport before the Kings
Clothed in the skin Of the Victim! blood! human blood! is the life
And delightful food of the Warrior: the well fed

Warriors flesh
Of him who is slain in War: fills the Valleys of

Ephraim with    
Breeding Women walking in pride & bringing forth under green trees

Plate 14

What do I here before the Judgment? without my Emanation?
With the daughters of memory, & not with the daughters of
     inspiration[?]
I in my Selfhood am that Satan: I am that Evil One! He is 
my Spectre! in my obedience to loose him from my Hells
To claim the Hells, my Furnaces, I go to Eternal Death

PLATE 10 of Jerusalem:                                                       

Into the Furnaces & into the valleys of the Anvils of Death
And into the mountains of the Anvils & of the heavy Hammers
Till he should bring the Sons & Daughters of Jerusalem to be
The Sons & Daughters of Los that he might protect 
Albions dread Spectres; storming, loud, thunderous & mightyThe Bellows & the Hammers move compell'd by Los's hand.



Here are some daughters of Jerusalem:

Rosenwald LOC
Jerusalem plate 32

Notice that on the right hand bottom is something like the Westminster Cathedral (a symbol of creativity), while the bottom left has St. Paul's Church a symbol of conventionality or conformance. The naked woman is Jerusalem of course with three 'daughters', and the veiled woman is Vala, her shadow or contrary.