BLAKE & DREAMS 5

  In the Book of Daniel we read that Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, has had a dream of which he did not know the interpretation. Daniel, a  captive of Judah, revealed that in the dream  Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the head of gold, and that silver, brass, iron, and clay represent  a decline in the strength of the kingdom. Inferior kingdoms shall riegn until "God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." Nebuchadnezzar conceded that Daniel's God  "is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets"

Daniel, Chapter 2

[3] And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

[16] Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

[19] Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

[25] Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

[28] But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

[31] Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
[32] This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
[33] His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

[36] This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
[37] Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
[38] And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
[39] And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
[40] And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
[41] And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
[42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
[43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
[44] And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
[45] Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
[46] Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
[47] The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

[48] Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

---

In the Divine Comedy Dante and Virgil encounter the figure which appeared in the Old Testament book of Daniel. 

From the National Gallery Victoria : Inferno XIV, 94-119: Dante and Virgil, in the third ring of the seventh circle, come across a blood-red stream. Dante explains that the rivers of Hell are formed by tears falling from the giant old man encased in the mountain of Ida on the island of Crete, the centre of the known world. For Dante this figure embodied the course of human history. His head is of gold, his arms and breast of silver, his lower abdomen brass, and below that he is of iron save that his right foot is of clay; this denotes the decay of the world from the Golden Age before the Fall to Dante's own time, the clay foot representing the degenerate church. Blake endows the figure with a crown, an orb and a sceptre to show that in his view the decay of the world was the result of political oppression - kingship and tyranny."

National Gallery of Victoria

The Symbolic Figure of the Course of Human History Described by Virgil.

In The Blake Disctionary, Damon gives additional information: "Empires rise and fall. The golden head may represent Babylon, the silver arms and torso: Empire of Medes and Persians; the brass loins: Greece; the iron legs: Rome; and the feet of iron and clay: Europe."

The appearance of the imagery of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in various contexts may suggests that it represents an archetypal dream. 

BLAKE & DREAMS 4

 First published Oct 2012

MILTON IL PENSEROSO V

In his manuscript notes accompanying his watercolors Blake singles out these verses from Milton for his fifth illustration to Il Penseroso: 

Descriptions of Illustrations to Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso (E 684)

"There in close covert by some Brook 
Where no profaner Eye may look 
With such concert as they keep 
Entice the dewy featherd Sleep 
And let some strange mysterous 
Dream Wave on his Wings in airy stream 
Of liveliest Portraiture displayd 
On my Sleeping eyelids laid 
And as I wake sweet Music breathe 
Above; about: or underneath: 
Sent by some Spirit to Mortals good 
Or the unseen Genius of the Wood" 

Blake wrote: 
"Milton sleeping on a Bank. Sleep descending with a Strange Mysterious Dream upon his Wings of Scrolls & Nets & Webs unfolded by Spirits in the Air & in the Brook around Milton are Six Spirits or Fairies hovering on the air with Instruments of Music" 

The wing of sleep dips into the water of materiality to bring images to Milton's dreaming self. Milton sleeps in what appears to be a grave; his hands cover his genitals warding off sexual involvement. 

The upper part of the picture is dominated by a circular rainbow in the center of which are the four fallen Zoas. The angel who brings the dream to Milton bears the Seven Eyes of God on his wings.

This illustration attempts to show a process of integration taking place. The dreaming man is receiving images from his unconscious which may resolve the conflicts which divide his psyche. He has the protection of the numinous forces to provide assistance in assimilating the experiences which have created entanglements in 'Scrolls & Nets & Webs'. He is surrounded in his sleep by 'his Sixfold Emanation' as 'Six Spirits or Fairies hovering on the air with Instruments of Music.'

The symbolic meaning of this illustration is closely related the conclusion of Blake's Milton and can be contrasted with the Epilogue to Gates of Paradise.

Milton, Plate 2, (E 96)
"Say first! what mov'd Milton, who walkd about in Eternity
One hundred years, pondring the intricate mazes of Providence
Unhappy tho in heav'n, he obey'd, he murmur'd not. he was silent
Viewing his Sixfold Emanation scatter'd thro' the deep In torment!" 
 

Milton, Plate 33 [36], (E 132)
"Behold Milton descended to Redeem the Female Shade
From Death Eternal; such your lot, to be continually Redeem'd
By death & misery of those you love & by Annihilation
When the Sixfold Female percieves that Milton annihilates
Himself: that seeing all his loves by her cut off: he leaves     
Her also: intirely abstracting himself from Female loves
She shall relent in fear of death: She shall begin to give
Her maidens to her husband: delighting in his delight
And then & then alone begins the happy Female joy"
 

Milton, Plate 40 [46], (E 141)
"Before Ololon Milton stood & percievd the Eternal Form
Of that mild Vision; wondrous were their acts by me unknown
Except remotely; and I heard Ololon say to Milton

I see thee strive upon the Brooks of Arnon."
 

Milton, Plate 41 [48], (E 143)
"Then trembled the Virgin Ololon & replyd in clouds of despair

Is this our Femin[in]e Portion the Six-fold Miltonic Female      
Terribly this Portion trembles before thee O awful Man
Altho' our Human Power can sustain the severe contentions
Of Friendship, our Sexual cannot: but flies into the Ulro.
Hence arose all our terrors in Eternity! & now remembrance
Returns upon us! are we Contraries O Milton, Thou & I            
O Immortal! how were we led to War the Wars of Death
Is this the Void Outside of Existence, which if enterd into

Plate 42 [49]       
Becomes a Womb? & is this the Death Couch of Albion
Thou goest to Eternal Death & all must go with thee

So saying, the Virgin divided Six-fold & with a shriek
Dolorous that ran thro all Creation a Double Six-fold Wonder! 
Away from Ololon she divided & fled into the depths              
Of Miltons Shadow as a Dove upon the stormy Sea.

Then as a Moony Ark Ololon descended to Felphams Vale
In clouds of blood, in streams of gore, with dreadful thunderings
Into the Fires of Intellect that rejoic'd in Felphams Vale
Around the Starry Eight: with one accord the Starry Eight became 
One Man Jesus the Saviour. wonderful! round his limbs
The Clouds of Ololon folded as a Garment dipped in blood
Written within & without in woven letters: & the Writing
Is the Divine Revelation in the Litteral expression:
A Garment of War, I heard it namd the Woof of Six Thousand Years 

And I beheld the Twenty-four Cities of Albion
Arise upon their Thrones to Judge the Nations of the Earth
And the Immortal Four in whom the Twenty-four appear Four-fold
Arose around Albions body: Jesus wept & walked forth
From Felphams Vale clothed in Clouds of blood, to enter into     
Albions Bosom, the bosom of death & the Four surrounded him
In the Column of Fire in Felphams Vale; then to their mouths the Four
Applied their Four Trumpets & them sounded to the Four winds" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

We went to the tennis court early this morning as usual but found something unusual: a moth clinging to the fence behind the court. Since I remembered from long ago that this was a particularly beautiful species of moth, I went for a closer look. I remembered the color - a pale luminous green, and the form - graceful wings with extended tails, but I had forgotten another feature - small well articulated 'eyes' on the wings. Since I had been looking at the wings of sleep covered with the Eyes of God, I was astonished to find eyes on the wings of a Luna moth. The name of the moth connects it with the moon, the feminine and Beulah. So Milton's Mysterious Dream is not far removed from the commonplace of ordinary life.

BLAKE & DREAMS 3

  Katharine of Aragon was the first wife of Henry VIII of England. He attempted to have the marriage annuled in order to marry Anne Boleyn. When the Pope refused to grant an annulment, a schism developed between England and the Catholic Church. Catherine died at Kimbolton Castle on 7 January 1536.

Fitzwilliam Museum

Queen Katharine Drean

circa 1783 to 1790

Blake's picture titled Queen Katharine's Dream is an illustration to lines from William Shakespeare's play Henry VII. Blake choose to illustrate lines from the play which echo his own feelings. As Katharine of Aragon the first wife of Henry lies on her deathbed she reports a dream which she had of the glorious world which awaited her.

Henry VIII , Scene IV
"KATHARINE
No? Saw you not, even now, a blessed troop
Invite me to a banquet; whose bright faces
Cast thousand beams upon me, like the sun?
They promised me eternal happiness;
And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel
I am not worthy yet to wear: I shall, assuredly.
GRIFFITH
I am most joyful, madam, such good dreams
Possess your fancy."

Blake painted illustrations for this scene at least three times. A earliest image of the scene resides in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and is dated between 1783 and 1790. Look for motifs from Visions of the Daughters of Albion, Blake's lithograph of Enoch, and Plate 33 (37) of Jerusalem in this painting. Shown here are the later images.

British Museum, London (dated 1809).................National Gallery, Washington

                                                                              (dated 1825)