America 17

Rosenwald LC
Plate 16


The Text

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                                      PLATE 16

Over the hills, the vales, the cities, rage the red flames fierce;
The Heavens melted from north to south; and Urizen who sat 
Above all heavens in thunders wrap'd, emerg'd his leprous head 
from out his holy shrine, his tears in deluge piteous
Falling into the deep sublime! flag'd with grey-brow'd snows
And thunderous visages, his jealous wings wav'd over the deep;
Weeping in dismal howling woe he dark descended howling
Around the smitten bands, clothed in tears & trembling shudd'ring cold.
His stored snows he poured forth, and his icy magazines
He open'd on the deep, and on the Atlantic sea white shiv'ring.
Leprous his limbs, all over white, and hoary was his visage.
Weeping in dismal howlings before the stern Americans
Hiding the Demon red with clouds & cold mists from the earth;
Till Angels & weak men twelve years should govern o'er the strong:
And then their end should come, when France reciev'd the Demons light. 
Stiff shudderings shook the heav'nly thrones! 
France Spain & Italy,In terror view'd the bands of Albion, and the ancient 
Guardians Fainting upon the elements, smitten with their own plagues 
They slow advance to shut the five gates of their law-built heaven
Filled with blasting fancies and with mildews of despair
With fierce disease and lust, unable to stem the fires of Orc;
But the five gates were consum'd, & their bolts and hinges melted
And the fierce flames burnt round the heavens, & round the abodes of men

FINIS
(Erdman 57-8)

                    About the Text

Urizen who sat Above all heavens aptly described at several places in the image. 
Blake is saying that Urizen is in charge of this mess.Urizen was Weeping in 
dismal howlings: everything is wrong here.

twelve years: he's talking history now; the 12 years might be construed as the 
years between the end of the American Revolution and the beginning of the French 
one--- or he might mean something entirely different.

"the five gates of their law-built heaven": look at Song of Los:
"Thus the terrible race of Los & Enitharmon gave Laws & Religions to the sons of 
Har binding them more
And more to Earth: closing and restraining:
Till a Philosophy of Five Senses was complete Urizen wept & gave it into the 
hands of Newton & Locke"(Erdman 68)

                           About the Image

A female bends on her knees with her head down and her hands in a pose

of prayer. Her hair is blue according to copy O and run over to the
right margin in what Erdman calls a niagara. A little man is sitting on
top of her head reading a book.

On top of her back two people are standing, one with a book perhaps and
the other pointing up to the right. Behind her feet seems to be a
figure on his hands with his face down.

Blake has put more and more small figures in juxtaposition with the
large one.  He's inviting his 'students' to think what they will
according to their level of perception.

These squigles reach their epitome at the bottom; first impressions of
it are a 'snake pit' or den of dragons, enclosing in the bottom center
'finis'.  You might suppose that he's saying that the American
Revolution is a batch of garbage.

Like the French Revolution Blake started out enthusiastically, so much
so that he wore the redcap of the revolutionists. But both revolutions
became illusory for Blake, succinctly expressed by the short slogan:
"he crushed the tyrant in his head
and became a tyrant in his stead.

America 16

Rosenwald LC
Plate 15

                              The Text

The red fires rag'd! the plagues recoil'd! then rolld they back
cross the limbs of Albions Guardian, the spotted plague smote Bristols
And the Leprosy Londons Spirit, sickening all their bands:
The millions sent up a howl of anguish and threw off their hammerd mail,
And cast their swords & spears to earth, & stood a naked multitude. 
Albions Guardian writhed in torment on the eastern sky
Pale quivring toward the brain his glimmering eyes, teeth chattering
Howling & shuddering his legs quivering; convuls'd each muscle &
sinew
Sick'ning lay Londons Guardian, and the ancient miter'd York
Their heads on snowy hills, their ensigns sick'ning in the sky  
The plagues creep on the burning winds driven by flames of Orc,
And by the fierce Americans rushing together in the night
Driven o'er the Guardians of Ireland and Scotland and Wales
They spotted with plagues forsook the frontiers & their banners
seard
With fires of hell, deform their ancient heavens with shame &
The plagues creep on the burning winds driven by flames of Orc,
And by the fierce Americans rushing together in the night
Driven o'er the Guardians of Ireland and Scotland and Wales
They spotted with plagues forsook the frontiers & their banners
seard
With fires of hell, deform their ancient heavens with shame &
woe.
Hid in his eaves the Bard of Albion felt the enormous plagues.
And a cowl of flesh grew o'er his head & scales on his back &
ribs;
And rough with black scales all his Angels fright their ancient
heavens
The doors of marriage are open, and the Priests in rustling
scales
Rush into reptile coverts, hiding from the fires of Orc,
That play around the golden roofs in wreaths of fierce desire,
Leaving the females naked and glowing with the lusts of youth
For the female spirits of the dead pining in bonds of religion;
Run from their fetters reddening, & in long drawn arches sitting:
They feel the nerves of youth renew, and desires of ancient
times,
Over their pale limbs as a vine when the tender grape appears
(Erdman 56-7)

                                  About the Text

On Albions Angels: This passage represents the disaster to 'Guardians'
England suffered as much as America from the war.
of England, Ireland and Scotland and Wales, beginning with Bristol, 
perhaps the embarkation point for the Redcoats heading to America.

This is the only use that Blake made of the term Bard of Albion; was 
he referring to himself? so demoralized?

we can only reflect on what he meant. 'Bard' is used often:
At the beginning of Songs of Experience:

Introduction.
Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, & Future sees
Whose ears have heard,
The Holy Word,
That walk'd among the ancient trees.
Calling the lapsed Soul
In the light of that poem we may assume that the Bard of 
Albion was the prophet of England; Blake has certainly
assumed that role, but the bard in this plate has fallen
to the point of becoming serpent-like.
                                   
                               About the Image

Those strange hieroclyphics we've met before are used to separate
sections of the text; they might be throught of as limbs of the tree
that fills the left border, which has become so commonplace.

A group of figure may be thought of as climbing the tree; more clearly
defined figures (notably female) are found in flames at the bottom.
(In my mind its reminiscent if the conventional Hell.)

There are all sorts of ideas about the significance of the symbols that
Erdman's page 153 present to us, such as the 'liberated horse' at
line 3. (It does show up better in this copy.

America 15

Although this is Plate 14 of Erdman's  electronic edition of The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake's,
newly Revised 1988 edited  by  David V. Erdman, I've called it America 15; that's because I added a preliminary statement and called it America 1.

America 15
Rosenwald LC

The Text

Plate 14

In the flames stood & view'd the armies drawn out in the sky
Washington Franklin Paine & Warren Allen Gates & Lee:
And heard the voice of Albions Angel give the thunderous command:
His plagues obedient to his voice flew forth out of their clouds
Falling upon America, as a storm to cut them off
As a blight cuts the tender corn when it begins to appear.
Dark is the heaven above, & cold & hard the earth beneath;
And as a plague wind fill'd with insects cuts off man & beast;
And as a sea o'erwhelms a land in the day of an earthquake; t
Fury! rage! madness! in a wind swept through America
And the red flames of Orc that folded roaring fierce around
The angry shores, and the fierce rushing of th'inhabitants
together:
The citizens of New-York close their books & lock their chests;
The mariners of Boston drop their anchors and unlade;
The scribe of Pensylvania casts his pen upon the earth;
The builder of Virginia throws his hammer down in fear.
Then had America been lost, o'erwhelm'd by the Atlantic,
And Earth had lost another portion of the infinite,
But all rush together in the night in wrath and raging fire
The red fires rag'd! the plagues recoil'd! then rolld they back
with fury

About the Text

In the flames: the fire appears in Plate 3, 9, 12, and perhaps
elsewhere referring of course to the violence, the war, the
Revolution.

Allen Gates & Lee: these three appear with the original three
named earlier:
Ethan Allen captured Fort_Ticonderoga and founded Vermont.

In the second Continental Congress   Richard Henry Lee moved
for Independence.

Albion's Angel, as you may recall, is a sobriquet for the king
of England. With his 'thunderous command' he threatens the
plague (of War) and all sorts of bad things (like a tax on tea).

The people respond with Fury! rage! madness; Blake named
Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Virginia where revolutionary
sentiments prevailed.  They turn their rage and red fires on
Albion's Angel.

About the Image

For the gobbledygook at the top I can only refer you to Erdman's

Illuminated Blake, page 152.

In the middle of the image we see the inevitable tree with a uprising 

limb (trunk?) and a horizontal limb overshadowing two figures; the 

roots go down on the right margin to the bottom. Behind it is the 

trunk of a second large tree.

The figure on the right is a nude female pointing on the reclining male

figure on the left. Her legs are spread and between them emerges a snake

like creature, his head pointed as if to strike the male.

This may be considered a representation of the Angel of Albion and of

America.

Above the last four lines is the same sort of gobbledygook as there was

at the top.

At the bottom is a dragon like form with fire coming out of its mouth.

That may represent the general fiery distress of everyone.

If you use your imagination you may find a lot of meaning in the Plate.

America 14

Rosenwald LC
America 14

PLATE 13
What time the thirteen Governors that England sent convene
In Bernards house; the flames coverd the land, they rouze they
     cry
Shaking their mental chains they rush in fury to the sea
To quench their anguish; at the feet of Washington down fall'n
They grovel on the sand and writhing lie, while all              

The British soldiers thro' the thirteen states sent up a howl
Of anguish: threw their swords & muskets to the earth & ran
From their encampments and dark castles seeking where to hide
From the grim flames; and from the visions of Orc; in sight
Of Albions Angel; who enrag'd his secret clouds open'd           
From north to south, and burnt outstretchd on wings of wrath
     cov'ring
The eastern sky, spreading his awful wings across the heavens;
Beneath him roll'd his num'rous hosts, all Albions Angels camp'd
Darkend the Atlantic mountains & their trumpets shook the valleys
Arm'd with diseases of the earth to cast upon the Abyss,         
Their numbers forty millions, must'ring in the eastern sky.

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About the Text

Bernards house: Sir Francis Bernard was the colonial governor ot Massachusetts.

a howl Of anguish: during the Revolutionary War a great many of the

'redcoats' wound up as patriots (See Redcoat).

wings of wrath: the 'wings' are very visible in the image. In the next line it's called

'awful wings'. Blake used the figure of 'wings' often; look for example at MHH 15.

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About the Image

Blake developed this plate to Jerusalem (plate 58):

Rosenwald  LC
Jerusalem Plate 58

The wings are less imposing than the one in America,

but obviously bat-like, the daughters and sons of Albion

rather than Albion's Angel.

Here the prone figure at the bottom is skeletal, which may

remind you of George MacDonald's Lilith. In America the
prone figure is fastened down by a snake; here it's simply
dead.

......

Part of this story appears in Visions of the Daughters of 
America, where Oothoon is referred to as the "soft soul of America", by which Blake meant perhaps the 'softness' of
a democracy compared to a military dictatorship.

In the middle 20th century it was said that Mussolini made
the trains run on time.  Of course he did some other things that like Hitler were much less pleasant.

America 13

Rosenwald LC
America 13
PLATE 12
So cried he, rending off his robe & throwing down his scepter.
In sight of Albions Guardian, and all the thirteen Angels
Rent off their robes to the hungry wind, & threw their golden
     scepters
Down on the land of America. indignant they descended
Headlong from out their heav'nly heights, descending swift as
     fires        
Over the land; naked & flaming are their lineaments seen
In the deep gloom, by Washington & Paine & Warren they stood
And the flame folded roaring fierce within the pitchy night
Before the Demon red, who burnt towards America,
In black smoke thunders and loud winds rejoicing in its terror   

Breaking in smoky wreaths from the wild deep, & gath'ring thick
In flames as of a furnace on the land from North to South

(Erdman 55-6)

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About the Text

So cried he: 'he' here seems to me to mean Boston's Angel.

Taking off their robes and throwing away their golden sceptors

mean the governors, etc. are renouncing their place as agents

of the King.

Descending from their heavenly heights means the fire of 

resistence to the King's power in America.

Blake named Washington Paine and Warren; those were the ones

that he was apparently most familiar with.

The Demon red signified military hostilities.

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About the Image

Erdman has this to say on page 150 about this plate:

The tree that overshadows the text is a birch.

Below the text is a tomb being entered by a bearded old man with a crutch under 

hisleft arm ; he is creeping forward into the tomb.  This is said to be Blakes emblem 

of Death's Door.

Widimedia Common
Gates of Paradise

Here is another similar image, in Gates of

Paradise:

"13 But when once I did descry 

The Immortal Man that cannot Die
14 Thro evening shades I haste away
To close the Labours of my Day
15 The Door of Death I open found
And the Worm Weaving in the Ground
16 Thou'rt my Mother from the Womb
Wife, Sister, Daughter to the Tomb
Weaving to Dreams the Sexual strife
And weeping over the Web of Life" (Erdman 269)

It likely appears at other places as well.

We need to remember that for Blake going through

Death's Door is not a trial but a joy.

Back to America:  the background is stormy and
colorful, suggesting a sunset.  Beyond the clouds the distance shows mountains.

The old man is coming from a green grassy area. We're in " In England's green & pleasant Land"

America 12

Rosenwald LC
America Plate 11

"PLATE 11

Fiery the Angels rose, & as they rose deep thunder roll'd
Around their shores: indignant burning with the fires of Orc
And Bostons Angel cried aloud as they flew thro' the dark night.

He cried: Why trembles honesty and like a murderer,
Why seeks he refuge from the frowns of his immortal station!     
Must the generous tremble & leave his joy, to the idle: to the
     pestilence!
That mock him? who commanded this? what God? what Angel!
To keep the gen'rous from experience till the ungenerous
Are unrestraind performers of the energies of nature;
Till pity is become a trade, and generosity a science,           
That men get rich by, & the sandy desart is giv'n to the strong
What God is he, writes laws of peace, & clothes him in a tempest
What pitying Angel lusts for tears, and fans himself with sighs
What crawling villain preaches abstinence & wraps himself
In fat of lambs? no more I follow, no more obedience pay.        

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About the Text

the Angels rose: by that Blake meant of course the 13 angels of
the colonies; with Bostons Angel he called the readers' attention
to the trouble that started in Boston involving the 'boston teaparty'.
Try to read it this way:
as they flew thro' the dark night Boston's angel cried...

This plate may be construed as Blake's declaration of independence
from the conventional Christianity and interpretation of the Bible
that focuses on violence and war.  Isn't it interesting that virtually
every war we've ever had has been ardently supported by the
religious community?

                  About the Image

After the first sentence we see something like a swan flying high with 

a man (representing the 13 angels) flying on its back.

At the bottom we see a serpent like dragon and on it's back a lady,
child and smaller child being assisted by his elder sibling.

When I think about the swan and the dragon, it appears that the swan
might reflect the declaration of independence and the dragon reflects
the final victory of the colonies, who of course have varied weight.

They have subdued and domesticated the dragon king.

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America 11

Rosenwald LC
America 10

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The Text

PLATE 10
Thus wept the Angel voice & as he wept the terrible blasts
Of trumpets, blew a loud alarm across the Atlantic deep.
No trumpets answer; no reply of clarions or of fifes,
Silent the Colonies remain and refuse the loud alarm.

On those vast shady hills between America & Albions shore;       
Now barr'd out by the Atlantic sea: call'd Atlantean hills:
Because from their bright summits you may pass to the Golden
     world
An ancient palace, archetype of mighty Emperies,
Rears its immortal pinnacles, built in the forest of God
By Ariston the king of beauty for his stolen bride,              

Here on their magic seats the thirteen Angels sat perturb'd
For clouds from the Atlantic hover o'er the solemn roof.

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About the Text

The Angel here is presumably Albion's Angel, the eternal king.
The Trumpet is the loud call to War, but the Colonies don't respond.

The second paragraph refers to the Atlantic as the shady hills between
America and England.

Atlantis
from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

Damon 27 "Ariston, king of beauty, anciently built for his stolen bride Anama
a pinnacle, type of mighty emperies. in the forest of God on the Atlantean Hills"

The thirteen angels sat here (this is an eternal drama, not a material one).

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About the Image

Look also at this copy of the plate. A detailed description of the boy in the picture follows.