PERSPECTIVES

Wikipedia Commons
Jerusalem
Plate 37, Detail

From Blake's Style published Oct 6, 2014

Larry wrote:

   One simple clue to reading Blake concerns his use of dialogue; he spoke with many voices. He exercised this freedom especially with the larger prophecies, the three major works. These on first reading may seem to present insuperable difficulties, but the reader who pays close attention to the identity of the speaker at each point will thereby break down the forest into manageable groves of trees. In his three long poems Blake gave titles to various elements or speeches; they became units, landmarks or guideposts, casting light on what at first seemed general confusion. 

In Night i of 'The Four Zoas' for example we find Enitharmon's Song of Death (FZ1-10.9; E305), the "Nuptial Song" of the "demons of the deep" (FZ1-13.20; E308), and the message of the Daughters of Beulah, which they call the "Wars of Death Eternal"(FZ1-21.13; E311). These three songs comprise three of the many selves of the human psyche; needless to say their ideas and attitudes vary immensely. They all describe the same event, but they see it, oh, so differently. They use the same words with different meanings. For example consider that what the daughters call "Death Eternal" the demons call marriage. In this way Blake challenges the reader and stretches his mind and immensely rewards whoever will accept the challenge. He gives us the end of a golden string. 

---

Ellie added:

 

In the early pages of the Four Zoas the disintegration process is presented from various perspectives. Although it is Albion, the totality, who is coming apart, it is the broken factions who are left to explain what is happening. Enitharmon who has been released from her parents and her twin brother, promises to sing a Song of Death. The death of the old order she sees an opportunity. By turning away and refusing to 'look upon the Universal Vision' she will 'drink up' all the powers of man.

 Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 9, (E 305)

 "But the two youthful wonders wanderd in the world of Tharmas  
Thy name is Enitharmon; said the fierce prophetic boy         
While thy mild voice fills all these Caverns with sweet harmony
O how our Parents sit & mourn in their silent secret bowers   
Page 1O 
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

Page 11
I heard the sounding sea; I heard the voice weaker and weaker;
The voice came & went like a dream, I awoke in my sweet bliss.
Then Los smote her upon the Earth twas long eer she revivd
He answer'd, darkning more with indignation hid in smiles  
I die not Enitharmon tho thou singst thy Song of Death"  

Los, whose emanation Enitharmon is, makes his protest by striking Enitharmon. His regret over this act of violence leads to a proposed marriage between the two which is celebrated at the Nuptial Feast. Rather than repairing the breach the Nuptial Feast awakes the 'Demon of Waves' who initiates 'vegetative life' with 'Spirits of Flaming fire on high' to govern 'the mighty Song.' The process has moved out of the control of Los and Enitharmon as additional forces are turned loose.

 Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 13, (E 308)
"And Los & Enitharmon sat in discontent & scorn           
The Nuptial Song arose from all the thousand thousand spirits 
Over the joyful Earth & Sea, and ascended into the Heavens
For Elemental Gods their thunderous Organs blew; creating
Delicious Viands. Demons of Waves their watry Eccho's woke!
Bright Souls of vegetative life, budding and blossoming       
Page 14
Stretch their immortal hands to smite the gold & silver Wires
And with immortal Voice soft warbling fill all Earth & Heaven.
With doubling Voices & loud Horns wound round sounding
Cavernous dwellers fill'd the enormous Revelry, Responsing!
And Spirits of Flaming fire on high, govern'd the mighty Song.  
And This the Song! sung at The Feast of Los & Enitharmon"

Those observing the events from the perspective of Beulah, give a report to the divine presence. Their account focuses on Urizen and Luvah, two aspects of the human psyche, who began a plot to gain power over Jerusalem, the emanation of Albion.

Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 21, (E 311)

"So spoke the Ambassadors from Beulah & with solemn mourning   
They were introducd to the divine presence & they kneeled down
In Conways Vale thus recounting the Wars of Death Eternal     

The Eternal Man wept in the holy tent Our Brother in Eternity
Even Albion whom thou lovest wept in pain his family
Slept round on hills & valleys in the regions of his love
But Urizen awoke & Luvah woke & thus conferrd

Thou Luvah said the Prince of Light behold our sons & daughters  
Reposd on beds. let them sleep on. do thou alone depart
Into thy wished Kingdom where in Majesty & Power
We may erect a throne. deep in the North I place my lot
Thou in the South listen attentive. In silent of this night
I will infold the Eternal tent in clouds opake while thou       
Siezing the chariots of the morning. Go outfleeting ride
Afar into the Zenith high bending thy furious course
Southward with half the tents of men inclosd in clouds
Will lay my scepter on Jerusalem the Emanation
On all her sons & on thy sons O Luvah & on mine     
Till dawn was wont to wake them then my trumpet sounding loud
Ravishd away in night my strong command shall be obeyd
For I have placd my centinels in stations each tenth man
Is bought & sold & in dim night my Word shall be their law" 

So the fall of man can appear as release from constrains as it did to Enitharmon; as an imposition of a new order of governing as it did at the nuptials of Los and Enitharmon; and as distancing of man from his connection to the Infinite, as it did to Unizen and Luvah when they sought to overthrow the established psychic order. There are among the processes which Blake describes in detail as he develops his characters and leads his reader along the path to regeneration.

 

Blake's Style

Wikipedia Commons   Jerusalem   Plate 37, Detail   

From Blake's Style published Oct 6, 2014   One simple clue to reading Blake concerns his use of dialogue; he spoke with many voices. He exercised this freedom especially with the larger prophecies, the three major works. These on first reading may seem to present insuperable difficulties, but the reader who pays close attention to the identity of the speaker at each point will thereby break down the forest into manageable groves of trees. In his three long poems Blake gave titles to various elements or speeches; they became units, landmarks or guideposts, casting light on what at first seemed general confusion. 

In Night i of 'The Four Zoas' for example we find Enitharmon's Song of Death (FZ1-10.9; E305), second the "Nuptial Song" of the "demons of the deep" (FZ1-13.20; E308), and third the message of the Daughters of Beulah, which they call the "Wars of Death Eternal"(FZ1-21.13; E311). These three songs comprise three of the many selves of the human psyche; needless to say their ideas and attitudes vary immensely. They all describe the same event, but they see it, oh, so differently. They use the same words with different meanings. For example consider that what the daughters call "Death Eternal" the demons call marriage. In this way Blake challenges the reader and stretches his mind and immensely rewards whoever will accept the challenge. He gives us the end of a golden string.

---

Ellie added:

In the early pages of the Four Zoas the disintegration process was presented from various perspectives. Although it was Albion, the totality, who was coming apart, it was the broken factions who were left to explain what was happening. Enitharmon who had been released from her parents and her twin brother promised to sing a Song of Death. The death of the old order she saw an opportunity. By turning away and refusing to 'look upon the Universal Vision' she would 'drink up' all the powers of man.

Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 9, (E 305)
"But the two youthful wonders wanderd in the world of Tharmas
Thy name is Enitharmon; said the fierce prophetic boy
While thy mild voice fills all these Caverns with sweet harmony

O how our Parents sit & mourn in their silent secret bowers
Page 10
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 voiceI 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

Page 11

I heard the sounding sea; I heard the voice weaker and weaker;

The voice came & went like a dream, I awoke in my sweet bliss.

Then Los smote her upon the Earth twas long eer she revivd

He answer'd, darkning more with indignation hid in smiles
I die not Enitharmon tho thou singst thy Song of Death" 

Los, whose emanation Enitharmon was, made his protest by striking Enitharmon. His regret over this act of violence led to a proposed marriage between the two which was celebrated at the Nuptial Feast. Rather than repairing the breach the Nuptial Feast awoke the 'Demon of Waves' who initiated 'vegetative life' with 'Spirits of Flaming fire on high' to govern 'the mighty Song.' The process had moved out of the control of Los and Enitharmon as additional forces were turned loose.

Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 13, (E 308)
"And Los & Enitharmon sat in discontent & scorn 
The Nuptial Song arose from all the thousand thousand spirits 
Over the joyful Earth & Sea, and ascended into the Heavens
For Elemental Gods their thunderous Organs blew; creating
Delicious Viands. Demons of Waves their watry Eccho's woke!
Bright Souls of vegetative life, budding and blossoming 
Page 14
Stretch their immortal hands to smite the gold & silver Wires
And with immortal Voice soft warbling fill all Earth & Heaven.
With doubling Voices & loud Horns wound round sounding
Cavernous dwellers fill'd the enormous Revelry, Responsing!
And Spirits of Flaming fire on high, govern'd the mighty Song. 
And This the Song! sung at The Feast of Los & Enitharmon" 

Those observing the events from the perspective of Beulah, gave a report to the divine presence. Their account focused on Urizen and Luvah, two aspects of the human psyche, who began a plot to gain power over Jerusalem, the emanation of Albion.

Four Zoas, Night 1, Page 21, (E 311) 
"So spoke the Ambassadors from Beulah & with solemn mourning 
They were introducd to the divine presence & they kneeled down
In Conways Vale thus recounting the Wars of Death Eternal 
The Eternal Man wept in the holy tent Our Brother in Eternity Even Albion
Even Albion whom thou lovest wept in pain his family
Slept round on hills & valleys in the regions of his love
But Urizen awoke & Luvah woke & thus conferrd 
Thou Luvah said the Prince of Light behold our sons & daughters 
Reposd on beds. let them sleep on. do thou alone depart
Into thy wished Kingdom where in Majesty & Power
We may erect a throne. deep in the North I place my lot
Thou in the South listen attentive. In silent of this night
I will infold the Eternal tent in clouds opake while thou 
Siezing the chariots of the morning. Go outfleeting ride
Afar into the Zenith high bending thy furious course
Southward with half the tents of men inclosd in clouds
Will lay my scepter on Jerusalem the Emanation
On all her sons & on thy sons O Luvah & on mine 
Till dawn was wont to wake them then my trumpet sounding loud
Ravishd away in night my strong command shall be obeyd
For I have placd my centinels in stations each tenth man
Is bought & sold & in dim night my Word shall be their law" 

So the fall of man can appear as release from constrains as it did to Enitharmon, as an imposition of a new order of governing as it did at the nuptials of Los and Enitharmon, and as distancing of man from his connection to the Infinite, as it did to Unizen and Luvah when they sought to overthrow the established psychic order. There are among the processes which Blake describes in detail as he develops his characters and leads his reader along the path to regeneration.

STARRY HOST

Yale center for British Art
Jerusalem
Plate 54

The wisdom integral to reason was distributed to the stars when Urizen fell. It became incorporated in the Starry Host which followed Urizen through the wilderness. In as much as man follows Urizen through the confusion of corporeality he is the Starry Host. It is interesting that two of the meanings of the word host may be applied to Blake's phrase. The multitude of humanity which concedes control of the mind to rationality are members of the Starry Host. But man must invite and allow Urizen to become his master; he must be a willing host to the dominance of Urizen. Man chooses to become the Starry Host.

Los, 'who is the Vehicular Form of strong Urthona', the source of intuition, imagination and integration, refused to concede. His first reaction was to oppose Urizen using the same fury which Urizen used. However, when in his anger he struck Enitharmon, he began a cascade of degradation which was not easy to reverse.  


Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Plate 26, (E 44)
Song of Liberty
"15. Down rushd beating his wings in vain the jealous king: his
grey brow'd councellors, thunderous warriors, curl'd veterans,
among helms, and shields, and chariots horses, elephants:
banners, castles, slings and rocks,
16. Falling, rushing, ruining! buried in the ruins, on Urthona's
dens.
17. All night beneath the ruins, then their sullen flames faded
emerge round the gloomy king,
18. With thunder and fire: leading his starry hosts thro' the waste wilderness [PL 27] he promulgates his ten commands, glancing his beamy eyelids over the deep in dark dismay,"waste wilderness [PL 27] he promulgates his ten commands,
glancing his beamy eyelids over the deep in dark dismay,"


America, Plate 8, (E 54)
"The terror answerd: I am Orc, wreath'd round the accursed tree:
The times are ended; shadows pass the morning gins to break;
The fiery joy, that Urizen perverted to ten commands,
What night he led the starry hosts thro' the wide wilderness:
That stony law I stamp to dust: and scatter religion abroad
To the four winds as a torn book, & none shall gather the leaves;"


Four Zoas, Night I, Page 12, (E 307)
"Sullen sat Los plotting Revenge. Silent he eye'd the Prince
Of Light. Silent the prince of Light viewd Los. at length a brooded
Smile broke from Urizen for Enitharmon brightend more & more
Sullen he lowerd on Enitharmon but he smild on Los
Saying Thou art the Lord of Luvah into thine hands I give
The prince of Love the murderer his soul is in thine hands
Pity not Vala for she pitied not the Eternal Man
Nor pity thou the cries of Luvah. Lo these starry hosts
They are thy servants if thou wilt obey my awful Law
Los answerd furious art thou one of those who when most complacent
Mean mischief most. If you are such Lo! I am also such
One must be master. try thy Arts I also will try mine
For I percieve Thou hast Abundance which I claim as mine
Urizen startled stood but not Long soon he cried
Obey my voice young Demon I am God from Eternity to Eternity
Thus Urizen spoke collected in himself in awful pride
Art thou a visionary of Jesus the soft delusion of Eternity
Lo I am God the terrible destroyer & not the Saviour
Why should the Divine Vision compell the sons of Eden
to forego each his own delight to war against his Spectre
The Spectre is the Man the rest is only delusion & fancy
So spoke the Prince of Light & sat beside the Seat of Los
Upon the sandy shore rested his chariot of fire
Ten thousand thousand were his hosts of spirits on the wind:
Ten thousand thousand glittering Chariots shining in the sky:
They pour upon the golden shore beside the silent ocean.
Rejoicing in the Victory & the heavens were filld with blood
The Earth spread forth her table wide. the Night a silver cup
Fill'd with the wine of anguish waited at the golden feast
But the bright Sun was not as yet; he filling all the expanse
Slept as a bird in the blue shell that soon shall burst away
Los saw the wound of his blow he saw he pitied he wept
Los now repented that he had smitten Enitharmon he felt love
Arise in all his Veins he threw his arms around her loins
To heal the wound of his smiting
They eat the fleshly bread, they drank the nervous wine"  

LAMENT I

Four Zoas, Night I
Page 18

In the Four Zoas the first psychic division which takes place is between Tharmas and Enion. Blake uses these two characters to symbolize a mental division which is basic in the development of the operation of the human mind. I think of it in terms of the infant first being able to recognize that the mother whom he can touch, see, hear, and smell, and, most importantly, from whom he receives sustenance, is outside of himself. If Tharmas is the sensing being who becomes aware, Enion is the external world from whom the the sensations come.

Thinking about Tharmas and Enion in this way explains why Tharmas is constantly in pursuit of Enion who constantly flees. He seeks to return to that bliss of undifferentiated consciousness.She seeks to preserve the ability to step outside of self-reflection. It also indicates something of the underlying unity of the internal world with the external world: the unity to which Albion must return when he is restored to wholeness.

Sukie Colgrave in her book Uniting Heaven & Earth wrote of the process of separation from the totality and the desire to overcome the divisions which ensued:

"As humanity awoke millennia ago from its instinctive at-oneness with the cosmos, so each individual emerges, at some moment, from his or her own pre-conscious identity with the Mother. This initial loss coincides with the birth of human consciousness. It is followed by a struggle between the desire for freedom and knowledge and the longing for wholeness and peace. The tension between these two impulses propels the restless psyche ever onward in search of a kingdom in which freedom and unity belong together, in which understanding and peace are no longer in conflict." (Page 198)

The character Enion is best known for her laments of which there are four in the Four Zoas. In these she explores the implications of existence in matter as the field in which experience is gained. Her first lament in Night I finds her wandering desolate, acutely aware of the suffering and futility of the varied manifestations of life which have been generated in matter as a consequence of the origin of time and space which give matter definition.

Children early learn to use the question 'Why?' They find it a powerful tool with which to explore their world. With it they force their parents to explore their own assumptions and interpretations about how the world works. The question 'Why?' is a challenge to emphathize, to put oneself into the position occupied by another, to see and feel more than what is a part of our individual perception. If we stop asking that question we will never get to the root of the dual nature of humanity - an eternal spirit confined in a mortal body.

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 17, (E 310)

"Enion blind & age-bent wept upon the desolate wind  

Why does the Raven cry aloud and no eye pities her?
Why fall the Sparrow & the Robin in the foodless winter?
Faint! shivering they sit on leafless bush, or frozen stone 

Wearied with seeking food across the snowy waste; the little     
Heart, cold; and the little tongue consum'd, that once in thoughtless joy
Gave songs of gratitude to waving corn fields round their nest.

Why howl the Lion & the Wolf? why do they roam abroad?         
Deluded by summers heat they sport in enormous love
And cast their young out to the hungry wilds & sandy desarts     
PAGE 18
Why is the Sheep given to the knife? the Lamb plays in the Sun
He starts! he hears the foot of Man! he says, Take thou my wool
But spare my life, but he knows not that winter cometh fast.

The Spider sits in his labourd Web, eager watching for the Fly
Presently comes a famishd Bird & takes away the Spider           
His Web is left all desolate, that his little anxious heart
So careful wove; & spread it out with sighs and weariness.

This was the Lamentation of Enion round the golden Feast
Eternity groand and was troubled at the image of Eternal Death
Without the body of Man an Exudation from his sickning limbs"

 . 

BATTLE TOOK FORM [Title]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page1

Four Zoas, Title Page, (E 300) 
                    "THE FOUR ZOAS

          The torments of Love & Jealousy in 
                The Death and Judgement
               of Albion the Ancient Man

                 by William Blake 1797"

It seems that Blake did not originate the idea that he would write about Four Zoas and then develop his poetry around them. He began publishing his illuminated books in 1789 with the Book of Thel and Songs of Innocence. In about 1790 he began Marriage of Heaven and Hell (which he completed 2 years later.) In the books written between 1793 and 1795 there first appear personifications of contending factions within man. We learn of the activities of Urizen and Los, of Enitharmon and Ahania, of Orc and the Shadowy Female but the word Zoas does not appear.

The characters associated with the Zoas appeared in this order:
Urthona - 1792 - Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Enitharmon 1793 - America
Orc - 1793 - America
Los - 1794 - Europe
Shadowy Female - 1794 - Europe
Los and Urizen first appear as contending forces in the Book of Urizen - 1794
Ahania - 1795 - Book of Ahania
Tharmas - after 1797 - Four Zoas

Sometime during the time that Blake was composing Vala he integrated the entities he had created earlier into an organizing system to which he gave the name Zoas. He added a preliminary Night I to Vala around a new character, Tharmas, and renamed his poem the Four Zoas. The revised title page is the first appearance in Blake's poetry of Four Zoas. Outside of the Four Zoas the first reference is in the following passage from Milton.   

Milton, Plate  PLATE 35 [39], (E 135)
"So spake Ololon in reminiscence astonishd, but they
Could not behold Golgonooza without passing the Polypus
A wondrous journey not passable by Immortal feet, & none         
But the Divine Saviour can pass it without annihilation.
For Golgonooza cannot be seen till having passd the Polypus
It is viewed on all sides round by a Four-fold Vision
Or till you become Mortal & Vegetable in Sexuality
Then you behold its mighty Spires & Domes of ivory & gold        

And Ololon examined all the Couches of the Dead.
Even of Los & Enitharmon & all the Sons of Albion
And his Four Zoas terrified & on the verge of Death
In midst of these was Miltons Couch, & when they saw Eight
Immortal Starry-Ones, guarding the Couch in flaming fires        
They thunderous utterd all a universal groan falling down
Prostrate before the Starry Eight asking with tears forgiveness
Confessing their crime with humiliation and sorrow."

There are six references to Zoas in Milton, thirteen in Jerusalem, for a total of twenty mentions of the term in one form or another.

  George Anthony Rosso, Jr. in Blake's Prophetic Workshop comments on the significance of the Four Zoas in the development of Blake's body of work:

"The Four Zoas is also where Blake works out his mature epic vision, expanding his scope from the Lambeth to the epic prophecies. It is where he becomes the most original and daring of Romantic poets, experimenting with the nature and limits of narrative, reaching some dead ends, but exploring regions untrod in literature. It is the imaginative space which Blake seeks to induce what he calls prophetic or expanded vision, challenging readers to engage in intellectual battle, thereby helping to transform a divided world into a community." (Page 11)

.

INWARD EYE CLOSING [22]

Four Zoas, Night I, Page 21 [22], (E 312) 
"Jerusalem his Emanation is become a ruin  
Her little ones are slain on the top of every street
And she herself le[d] captive & scatterd into the indefinite
Gird on thy sword O thou most mighty in glory & majesty
Destroy these opressors of Jerusalem & those who ruin Shiloh     

So spoke the Messengers of Beulah. Silently removing
The Family Divine drew up the Universal tent
Above High Snowdon & closd the Messengers in clouds around
Till the time of the End. Then they Elected Seven. called the Seven
Eyes of God & the Seven lamps of the Almighty                    
The Seven are one within the other the Seventh is named Jesus

The Lamb of God blessed for ever & he followd the Man
Who wanderd in mount Ephraim seeking a Sepulcher
His inward eyes closing from the Divine vision & all
His children wandering outside from his bosom fleeing away

End of The First Night"

Blake explored the fall of Tharmas and its immediate consequences in Night I of the Four Zoas. He ended on a positive note by indicating that guidance and protection would be provided for Albion as he wandered in the world of mortality.

The suffering brought about by the fall of Tharmas was most obvious in Jerusalem, the spiritual dimension of the Divine Humanity. Although at the Eternal level, she slumbered through the turmoil of Albion's ordeal, in the world of experience she suffered from the inability to be active among her children, and to be recognized as a saving force. Although the Messengers from Beulah would have chosen violence to avenge her, that path was not taken. The Family Divine withdrew from the ensuing calamities but left a remnant of Seven representatives to provide sanctuary for Albion.

We are reminded that Jerusalem in addition to being the portion of Man which is often called his Soul, is also a city within which in found the temple of the children on Israel. The holy Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing God's Justice and Mercy, lay in the innermost portion of the temple providing the spiritual heart of the people.

The mentions of Shiloh and mount Ephraim are further examples of Blake's use of biblical locations to enhance the connection between events within Man, in the Britain (High Snowdon) of his day, and in biblical Israel. 

JERUSALEM SLUMBERS [21]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 21

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 22 [21], (E 313)
"The Daughters of Beulah beheld the Emanation they pitied
They wept before the Inner gates of Enitharmons bosom
And of her fine wrought brain & of her bowels within her loins
Three gates within Glorious & bright open into Beulah 
From Enitharmons inward parts but the bright female terror       
Refusd to open the bright gates she closd and barrd them fast
Lest Los should enter into Beulah thro her beautiful gates

The Emanation stood before the Gates of Enitharmon    
Weeping. the Daughters of Beulah silent in the Porches
Spread her a couch unknown to Enitharmon here reposd             
Jerusalem in slumbers soft lulld into silent rest
Terrific ragd the Eternal Wheels of intellect terrific ragd
The living creatures of the wheels in the Wars of Eternal life
But perverse rolld the wheels of Urizen & Luvah back reversd
Downwards & outwards consuming in the wars of Eternal Death" 

As the fall progressed Albion's emanation Jerusalem descended to Ulro with Albion. She finds herself barred from reentering Beulah as is Los. Enitharmon has substituted her vision of the world under female control for the Vision held by Jerusalem and Los. She blocks the gates of heart, and brain and loins forcing the avenue of return to be diverted through a long detour.

Jerusalem with her vision of the divine order is removed from the field of activity by causing her to sleep as Urizen and Luvah alter the direction in which the mechanism of creation moves. The intellect is induced to direct its efforts toward moving away from the eternal, invisible and toward the temporal, material.

Wikimedia Commons
Jerusalem
Plate 37, detail

INTO UNKNOWN SPACE [20]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 20

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 22 [20], (E 311)
"Luvah replied Dictate to thy Equals. am not I
The Prince of all the hosts of Men nor Equal know in Heaven
If I arise into the Zenith leaving thee to watch
The Emanation & her Sons the Satan & the Anak
Sihon and Og. wilt thou not rebel to my laws remain             
In darkness building thy strong throne & in my ancient night
Daring my power wilt arm my sons against me in the Atlantic 
My deep   My night which thou assuming hast assumed my Crown
I will remain as well as thou & here with hands of blood
Smite this dark sleeper in his tent then try my strength with thee 

While thus he spoke his fires reddend oer the holy tent
Urizen cast deep darkness round him silent brooding death
Eternal death to Luvah. raging Luvah pourd
The Lances of Urizen from chariots. round the holy tent
Discord began & yells & cries shook the wide firmament

Beside his anvil stood Urthona dark. a mass of iron
Glowd furious on the anvil prepard for spades & coulters   All
His sons fled from his side to join the conflict pale he heard
The Eternal voice he stood the sweat chilld on his mighty limbs
He dropd his hammer. dividing from his aking bosom fled          
A portion of his life shrieking upon the wind she fled
And Tharmas took her in pitying Then Enion in jealous fear
Murderd her & hid her in her bosom embalming her for fear
She should arise again to life Embalmd in Enions bosom
Enitharmon remains a corse such thing was never known            
In Eden that one died a death never to be revivd
Urthona stood in terror but not long his spectre fled
To Enion & his body fell. Tharmas beheld him fall
Endlong a raging serpent rolling round the holy tent
The sons of war astonishd at the Glittring monster drove         
Him far into the world of Tharmas into a cavernd rock

But Urizen with darkness overspreading all the armies
Sent round his heralds   secretly commanding to depart
Into the north Sudden with thunders sound his multitudes
Retreat from the fierce conflict all the sons of Urizen at once  
Mustring together in thick clouds leaving the rage of Luvah
To pour its fury on himself & on the Eternal Man

Sudden down fell they all together into an unknown Space
Deep horrible without End. Separated from Beulah far beneath
The Mans exteriors are become indefinite opend to pain           
In a fierce hungring void & none can visit his regions"

This passage reads like a precis of the fall as it occurs throughout Blake's poetry. All four of the Zoas and two of their Emanations are mentioned in this narrative. Luvah refuses to submit to the plan of Urizen and proposes to attack Albion on his own. As Luvah and Urizen enter their rage against each other, Urthona's sons abandon their father to enter the conflagration. Urthona is being dismembered as another portion of his life - Enitharmon - flees to be taken in by Tharmas.

Blake would have seen the fracturing of Urthona as the most tragic of the symptoms of the fall which he observed. Urthona's function as an Eternal Zoa was to hold the vision without which there could be no cohesion among the parts which contributed to the Eternal Man. Urthona had been the light of consciouness of the unified working of the Undivided Eternal dimension. When he lost his sons and his daughter, the outer evidence which supported his inner confidence failed. Urthona lost too his Spectre, and he entered a serpent form forced into the underground. Urthona had occupied the Zenith of man's functioning. Now that position was occupied by Urizen, and Urthona was forced to the Nadir. Henceforth his influence would occupy the subconscious which would seldom be consulted by the reason or the emotions.   

Wikipedia Commons
Visionary Heads
Head of Job

Perhaps Blake modeled Urthona on Job, an individual who whose understanding of God was transformed by enduring suffering. The two began as favored by God to bring blessings to their fellows. However they found that their misconceptions about the workings of the Eternal world led to breakdowns. They were both torn down in order to be rebuilt as suitable vessels to carry the message of completeness.

COUNCIL OF GODS [19]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page19

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 21 [19], (E 310)  
"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

For messengers from Beulah come in tears & darkning clouds
Saying Shiloh is in ruins our brother is sick Albion He 
Whom thou lovest is sick he wanders from his house of Eternity   
The daughters of Beulah terrified have closd the Gate of the Tongue
Luvah & Urizen contend in war around the holy tent

So spoke the Ambassadors from Beulah & with solemn mourning 
They were introducd to the divine presence & they kneeled down
In Conways Vale thus recounting the Wars of Death Eternal  

The Eternal Man wept in the holy tent Our Brother in Eternity
Even Albion whom thou lovest wept in pain his family
Slept round on hills & valleys in the regions of his love
But Urizen awoke & Luvah woke & thus conferrd

Thou Luvah said the Prince of Light behold our sons & daughters  
Reposd on beds. let them sleep on. do thou alone depart
Into thy wished Kingdom where in Majesty & Power
We may erect a throne. deep in the North I place my lot
Thou in the South listen attentive. In silent of this night
I will infold the Eternal tent in clouds opake while thou       
Siezing the chariots of the morning. Go outfleeting ride
Afar into the Zenith high bending thy furious course
Southward with half the tents of men inclosd in clouds
Will lay my scepter on Jerusalem the Emanation
On all her sons & on thy sons O Luvah & on mine  
Till dawn was wont to wake them then my trumpet sounding loud
Ravishd away in night my strong command shall be obeyd
For I have placd my centinels in stations each tenth man
Is bought & sold & in dim night my Word shall be their law"
 

The crisis created by the alteration of consciousness initiated by the instinctual functioning of the mind is not unnoticed by the mind as a whole. The Universal Family identified as Jesus the Christ draw together to confront the threat. In Beulah the sickness had originated; from Beulah come the signals that two other Zoas had become involved in destroying the precarious balance of mental functioning. 

The Eternal Man, the everlasting Word, is the one Man who weeps over the departure of Albion, the Divine Humanity, from his house in Eternity. Measures must be taken to restrict the spread of Eternal Death. Thus was the holy tent drawn up and the gate of the tongue closed.

The fracture which Tharmas and Enion created provided an opening for Urizen and Luvah to vie for control of the mind. Urizen (reason) proposes to move into Urthona's domain - the intuitive imaginative area. He plans to gain control of Albion's emanation Jerusalem, further damaging Albion's ability to recover. He aims to establish his rule of law to replace consensus as the mode of operation. He seeks the cooperation of Luvah (emotions) who will take over the territory abandoned by Urizen. 

The conflict of forces contending for control:

British Museum
Young's Night Thoughts
Sketch for Night IX, page 34

British Museum
Young's Night Thoughts
Watercolor for Night IX, page 34

EDGE OF BEULAH [18]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 18

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 18, (E 310)
"Why is the Sheep given to the knife? the Lamb plays in the Sun
He starts! he hears the foot of Man! he says, Take thou my wool
But spare my life, but he knows not that winter cometh fast..

The Spider sits in his labourd Web, eager watching for the Fly
Presently comes a famishd Bird & takes away the Spider           
His Web is left all desolate, that his little anxious heart
So careful wove; & spread it out with sighs and weariness.

This was the Lamentation of Enion round the golden Feast
Eternity groand and was troubled at the image of Eternal Death
Without the body of Man an Exudation from his sickning limbs     

Now Man was come to the Palm tree & to the Oak of Weeping
Which stand upon the Edge of Beulah & he sunk down
From the Supporting arms of the Eternal Saviour; who disposd
The pale limbs of his Eternal Individuality
Upon The Rock of Ages. Watching over him with Love & Care 
 
End of First Night"

Page 18 is one of two pages which Blake concludes with the words 'End of First Night.' After Page 18 there are four additional pages which are considered to be pages of the manuscript of the First Night. Blake initially seems to have intended to end the First Night with this image of a final separation of Tharmas and Enion as they exit from Beulah into the world of mortality. Enion was able to see the destruction of the complete psyche in a world of nature which on longer reflected the innocence of Eden. Tharmas was able to see the same disintegration in the body which has become subject to the decay of death. Their combined vision of the total man as body and spirit had been a cohesive force which cemented each of the functions of the psyche into a harmonious unity. The chain reaction of the fall reached critical mass when they steped across the border of the edge of Beulah between the Palm tree and the Oak. Eden had been left for Beulah, now Tharmas and Enion abandon Beulah as well.

For a recap of the events which led to the exit from Beulah, read DRIVEN OUTWARD, which comments on Page 5.

Blake's illustration can be seen as the Eternal Saviour reaching down and laying in a manger a divine child. A faint sketch of a kneeling figure receives the child to her care.  

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ENION'S GRIEF [17]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 17

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 17, (E 310) 
"Enion blind & age-bent wept upon the desolate wind 

Why does the Raven cry aloud and no eye pities her?
Why fall the Sparrow & the Robin in the foodless winter?
Faint! shivering they sit on leafless bush, or frozen stone

Wearied with seeking food across the snowy waste; the little     
Heart, cold; and the little tongue consum'd, that once in thoughtless joy
Gave songs of gratitude to waving corn fields round their nest.

Why howl the Lion & the Wolf? why do they roam abroad?
Deluded by summers heat they sport in enormous love
And cast their young out to the hungry wilds & sandy desarts"    

Following are passage from William Blake's Circle of Destiny by Milton Percival which shed light on Enion and the source of her suffering:
Page 295
"The Fall drags Enion into the indefinite of matter - into the Grave, whence she speaks with a comprehensive knowledge of the suffering of nature." 
Page 173
"She feels herself on the way to the dark, blank, abstract matter where she would be but a 'shadow in oblivion.' To prevent that extinction, she weaves a nature that is but a 'shadowy semblance' of eternal nature, but which is nevertheless full of 'mazes of delusive beauty' wherein she can be protected as under the 'shadowy wings.'"
Page 174
"Man's conception of Being is reshaped to accord with his new beliefs. Urthona (man's essential self) is reborn as Time and Space in the persons of Los and Enitharmon. The temporal replaces the eternal. The concepts Time and Space cost Enion her claim to spiritual reality. As the finite and spacial take hold on the mind of man, the Earth-Mother withers into a thing of clay. Descending into matter she goes outward into the strife of the four elements.
...
The inner spirit turned self-righteous, the body pays the price in Enion's blood. Creature is the prey of creature. The curse placed on the earth in Genesis is in effect."
Page 368
"It is not until a dual universe has been achieved that death and decay make their appearance. They come into being with Los' generative world, in which the sexes are separate, in which good and evil struggle with one another, and Tharmas and Enion are known as distinct and antithetical principles. In the world as it is shaped after the Flood, not only are form and matter regarded as distinct, but the one is felt to be living, the other dead. Yet they both contribute their characteristics to the the physical world. Mortality is the logical outcome of their union."

Earlier posts may also help in understanding Enion and her anguish: 
Tharmas as the Zoa of the body in his fallen state is not matter but spirit with no expression in matter. Enion, the emanation of Tharmas becomes matter without association with spirit.

Feeling responsible for the suffering which manifests in Nature she wanders bent and blind and assumes the pain all around her.

Enion separated from Tharmas weaves from the outer and inner ability to perceive, a material instrument of perception; the physical body enclosing the spirit.

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