Blake seeks to provide the Golden String which can lead us through the labyrinth of our experience or his own poetry.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

TO DRINK HIS POWERS [10]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 10



Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 1O, (E 305) 
"But Enitharmon answerd with a dropping tear & frowning  
Dark as a dewy morning when the crimson light appears 
To make us happy let them weary their immortal powers 
While we draw in their sweet delights while we return them scorn
On scorn to feed our discontent; for if we grateful prove
They will withhold sweet love, whose food is thorns & bitter roots.
We hear the warlike clarions we view the turning spheres 
Yet Thou in indolence reposest holding me in bonds
Hear! I will sing a Song of Death! it is a Song of Vala!
The Fallen Man takes his repose: Urizen sleeps in the porch
Luvah and Vala woke & flew up from the Human Heart 
Into the Brain; from thence upon the pillow Vala slumber'd.
And Luvah siez'd the Horses of Light, & rose into the Chariot of Day
Sweet laughter siezd me in my sleep! silent & close I laughd
For in the visions of Vala I walkd with the mighty Fallen One 
I heard his voice among the branches, & among sweet flowers.

Why is the light of Enitharmon darken'd in dewy morn 
Why is the silence of Enitharmon a terror & her smile a whirlwind
Uttering this darkness in my halls, in the pillars of my Holy-ones
Why dost thou weep as Vala? & wet thy veil with dewy tears,
In slumbers of my night-repose, infusing a false morning?
Driving the Female Emanations all away from Los 
I have refusd to look upon the Universal Vision
And wilt thou slay with death him who devotes himself to thee
Once born for the sport & amusement of Man now born to drink up all his Powers"

This is the beginning of the split between Los and Enitharmon: between the internal functioning of prophecy and its outward manifestation.

The world that is occupied by Los and Enitharmon is unconscious, a dream world controlled by primitive instincts. Enitharmon finds that to compensate for her sense of imprisonment, she can create a fantasy in which she is the star. Because of her longing to glorify her individuality she refuses to look upon the Universal Vision.

This is an inner world which she can mold to her own interpretation. She creates an image of herself as walking with the Mighty Fallen One. She assumes the role of Vala. But the dream she creates is elusive; she cannot maintain it on her own.

It is Los who suffers the consequences of Enitharmon's disconnection from the Divine Vision. His ability to sense his prophetic vision is disturbed. She who should be his delight sucks from him the creative energy he needs. Enitharmon's error continues to infect the development of the psyche and the outer experience of mankind until it is removed.


.

No comments:

Post a Comment