The biblical English poet William Blake didn’t believe in either God or Man as separate entities but in Divine Humanity as a union of creative effort. The divine being takes the initiative. At the point of communication the two become an identity. Man must let go of his ego to be resurrected. The self-surpassing of human limitations is infinite. Paradise can be made here.
Blake saw the American (and later French) revolutions as victories for humanity against established authority and the message of Jesus as one of social liberation. In his 1790 poem The Marriage of Heaven & Hell (where the exuberance proverb appears) left-wing and right-wing political forces are wedded when the right is converted. The ‘left’ are the Devils and the ‘right’ are the Angels. Blake was on the left, supporting Voltaire and Thomas Paine.
Blake is a complex poet and no one really understood him until Northrop Frye came along. In this blog I am relying on “Blake’s Bible” which is published in Robert Denham’s Myth & Metaphor: Selected Essays by Northrop Frye 1974-88
Blake’s rules are radical but as our civilization crumbles they make more and more sense for us writers and concerned citizens:
- Throw away judgmental, conforming morality. It is the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ which God warned Man against in Eden
- Don’t be prudish about sex or nudity; this attitude came from having eaten the fruit of the forbidden tree
- Pursue your abilities to love and to create. Make them your highest goals. They are the center of potentially divine powers.
- Destroy your own grasping and clutching ego. That also will make you more human.
- Realize that the old, metaphorical cosmology of the Bible is not historical or scientific. Paradise and the Apocalypse are scenarios to be enacted on earth by human creators with a spiritual partner. Hell is what we have now.
Thanks for dropping by.The roses are blooming at my home as I write. I’ve helped them a little by fertilizing them and discarding the leaves ruined by black spot and pests. Please leave a comment below, as exuberant as you wish.
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Margaret Kell Virany lover of lang and lit, note-taker of Norrie Frye, journalist, editor, author, almost octogenarian
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Thanks, Marg, for the refresher of Blake. I did not have Northrop Frye as a prof but the former Jesuit priest, Dr. John Bligh and he was a wonderful purveyor of lang and lit also. He forsook the collar and married another English prof at Guelph which as a 19 ear old I thought how terribly romantixc. As a 60 Plus I still find it very romantic. I was wondering if you had ever been to the Galetta Nurseries. Lately on facebook they have been advertising their specialty roses. They look lovely and as a grower of miniature roses, I have to agree. My roses have never been as lovely as the last week and a half.
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How delightful to have an English professor who lived romantically! That’s not the stereotype. I must look at those Galetta roses.
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Thanks for this. I am learning to let go of judgement and ego. I am also learning to pursue abilities to love and create. I think I’m still a prude, though ;o^ Thanks as well for the lovely rose bush photos. Cheers!
T
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You’re well on your way to exuberance and beauty! It’s not easy. A little book of Blake’s poems was among the things my mother left and I think that’s the clue to why she was never a prude, even though born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne.
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I adore Blake, it’s always nice to meet a fellow Blake enthusiast. 🙂
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He’s a pretty popular guy but I think he died thinking nobody noticed him. Do you have a favorite quote?
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It’s tough to pick just one…but probably “Those who restrain desire do so because it is weak enough to be restrained.” I write romance, so this quote speaks to me 😉
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This is a marvellous post. There is much wisdom there. The Bible, especially the New Testament is a wonderful guide on how to live. There are a few passages that I owe much to. On the other hand Blake’s ‘rules’ are a pretty good guide too.
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Yes — where would be be without the Bible? I love trying to get down to the nitty gritty of where we’re trying to go and how to get there. Blake and Frye are big helps.
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‘Exuberance’: a state we all aspire to both in literature and life
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