All the Thel Pics
These pictures came from the Digital Collections of the Library of Congress. The url is http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=rbc3&fileName=rbc0001_2003rosen1798Apage.db&recNum=0 Blake's first large poem (not so large) was Thel. It consisted of 6 Plates with twointroductory pictures (called in Erdman's Illuminated Blake Plates i and ii:
Much can be said about all of them
You may view all these plates in The William Blake Archive. Having done that select Thel which will offer you 8 currently available copies. Click on any one, then if you see 'compare' click on it; you may see all 8 copies. They vary in several ways.
**********************************************************************************
Thel's Motto
The Book of Thel is a poem by William Blake, dated 1789 .... It is illustrated by his own plates, and is relatively short and easy to understand, compared to his later prophetic books....it consists of eight plates executed in illuminated printing. Fifteen copies of the original print of 1789-1793 are known. Two copies bearing a watermark of 1815 are more elaborately colored than the others. The silver rod and golden bowl can be interpreted as Blake's rejection of the conventional church (Church of England), in fact of all churches. ----- The eagle knows only the sky and must ask the mole to gain knowledge about the pit; likewise, Thel knows only innocence and eternity and must be endowed mortality if she wants to learn about the ways of the mortal beings on Earth. (Wikipedia) THEL'S Motto, "Does the Eagle know what is in the pit? Or wilt thou go ask the Mole: Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod? Or Love in a golden bowl?" An enigmatic quatrain, and one that opens more questions than it answers. The Eagle, from above, has a theoretical knowledge of the "pit" (i.e., worldly experience) which he sees from afar, but it is the blind mole who, even though he is blind, really experiences life in the pit. Which, therefore, of the two forms of knowledge, theoretical and experienced, is better? The last two lines question whether Wisdom and Love really are, or should be, contained within physical form and moral experience: aren't they best left as untainted spiritual essences, uncorrupted by Experience? The "silver rod" is presumably intended as a phallic reference, whereas the "golden bowl" (the flesh) is not necessarily phallic."
This from William Blake: A Helpfile
In an excellent post on Romanticism the writer offers several meanings for Thel's Motto; here's one of them:
"One reading would be that it asserts a kind of environmentalism, that the mole knows about the pit better than the eagle because it’s the mole’s habitat.".
Read in toto much light is cast on Thel's Motto.
In “The Book of Thel:” An Analysis of Death as a Progenitor of Fear there are many more important ideas re Thel's Motto
In plate ii, the Title page, there appears to be no script associated with it.Using the 'Works compare' various things may be seen in various copies.
All of them show Thel, beside the trunk of a bending tree, looking at an embrace of a naked man and a clothed woman. Erdman tells us they are in two blossoms of the anemone pulsatilla, opened by the wind.
Another anemone bud, unopened, stands at Thel's feet.
The three buds (two opened represent Desire, while the unopened one represents Restraint.
in microcosm that's the story of Thel; she observed Experience, but thought better of it and returned to Har.
There's a figure within the second O; Erdman says it's a shepherd with a crook like Thel's.
There are many other objects that need to be analyzed.
*************************************************************************************
Here is Plate 1: I The daughters of Mne Seraphim led
round their sunny flocks,
All but the youngest; she in paleness
sought the secret air.
To fade away like morning beauty from
her mortal day:
Down by the river of Adona her soft
voice is heard:
And thus her gentle lamentation falls
like morning dew.
O life of this our spring! why fades
the lotus of the water?
Why fade these children of the spring?
born but to smile & fall.
Ah! Thel is like a watry bow. and like
a parting cloud.
Like a reflection in a glass. like
shadows in the water.
Like dreams of infants.
like a smile upon an infants face,
Like the doves voice, like transient day, like music in
the air;
Ah! gentle may I lay me down, and gentle rest my head.
And gentle sleep the sleep of death. and gentle hear
the voice Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.
The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass
Answer'd the lovely maid and said; I am a watry weed,
nd I am very small, and love to dwell in lowly vales;
So weak, the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head.
Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all.
Walks in the valley. and each morn over me spreads his hand
Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lilly flower,
Thou gentle maid of silent valleys. and of modest brooks;
For thou shalt be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
To flourish in eternal vales: then why should Thel complain
******************************************************************Here is Plate 2:
Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a
sigh.
She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her
silver shrine.
Thel answerd. O thou little virgin of the peaceful
valley.
Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless,
the o'ertired. t Thy breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells
thy milky garments, He crops thy flowers. while thou sittest smiling in his face, Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious
taints. Thy wine doth purify the golden honey, thy
perfume,
Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of
grass that springs
Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.
But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.
Queen of the vales the Lilly answerd, ask the tender cloud,
And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky,
And why it scatters its bright beauty thro' the humid air.
Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.
The Cloud descended, and the Lilly bowd her modest head:
And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.
Plate 3 is made up almost entirely with text:
PLATE 3 II. O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee tell to me, Why thou complainest not when in one hour thou fade away: Then we shall seek thee but not find; ah Thel is like to thee. I pass away. yet I complain, and no one hears my voice. The Cloud then shew'd his golden bead & his bright form emerg'd, Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel. O virgin know'st thou not. our steeds drink of the golden springs Where Luvah doth renew his horses: look'st thou on my youth, And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more. Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away, It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy: Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers; And court the fair eyed dew. to take me to her shining tent; The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun, Till we arise link'd in a golden band, and never part; But walk united, bearing food to all our tender flowers Dost thou O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee; For I walk through the vales of Har. and smell the sweetest flowers; But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds, But I feed not the warbling birds. they fly and seek their food; But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away, And all shall say, without a use this shining woman liv'd, Or did she only live. to be at death the food of worms. The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answer'd thus. Then if thou art the food of worms. O virgin of the skies, How great thy use. how great thy blessing; every thing that Lives not alone, nor for itself: fear not and I will call The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice. Come forth worm of the silent valley, to thy pensive queen. The helpless worm arose, and sat upon the Lillys leaf, And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.
PLATE 4 Then Thel astonish'd view'd the
Worm upon its dewy bed.
Art thou a Worm? image of weakness. art
thou but a Worm?
I see thee like an infant wrapped in
the Lillys leaf:
Ah weep not little voice, thou can'st
not speak.
but thou can'st weep;
Is this a Worm? I see thee lay helpless
& naked: weeping,
And none to answer, none to cherish
thee with mothers smiles.
The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice,
& raisd her pitying head;
She bowd over the weeping infant, and
her life exhal'd
In milky fondness, then on Thel she
fix'd her humble eyes.
O beauty of the vales of Har. we live
not for ourselves,
Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so
I am indeed;
My bosom of itself is cold. and of itself is dark,
oil upon my head.
And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.
And says; Thou mother of my children,
I have loved thee.And I have given thee a crown that
none can take away
But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know, I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet
I live and love.
The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her whiteveil,
And said. Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep:
That God would love a Worm I knew, and punish the evil foot
That wilful, bruis'd its helpless form: but that he cherish'd
it
With milk and oil, I never knew; and therefore did I weep,
And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away,
And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.
Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answerd; I heard thy sighs.
And all thy moans flew o'er my roof. but I have call'd them down:
Wilt thou O Queen enter my house. 'tis given thee to enter,
And to return; fear nothing. enter with thy virgin feet.
******************************
Whose speaking here? Why the Clod of Clay! Plate 5 takes up right where Plate 6 ended.Blake spoke of the Clod of Clay later in The Clod and the Pebble. We learn in the Bible that man is made in the image of God, and made of the earth.
The image shows Thel sitting among the flowers with folded arms looking down at two young figures: a woman and an infant. Who might they be? Why the Clod of Clay and the Worm.
(For Blake the Worm was a very significant metaphor. At Gates of Paradise
we read: "I have said to the Worm, Thou art my mother & my sister")
"Thel, with her skirt wide..watches the naked matron and the naked infant with outflung arms...who face each other with nothing to fear---
to apply words which the matron uses to encourage Thel herself."
(Erdman, The Illuminated Blake, page 39)
Plate 6PLATE 6:
The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:
Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;
She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots
Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:
A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.
She wanderd in the land of clouds thro' valleys dark, listning
Dolours & lamentations: waiting oft beside a dewy grave
She stood in silence. listning to the voices of the ground,
Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down.
And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit.
Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?
Or the glistning Eye to the poison of a smile!
Why are Eyelids stord with arrows ready drawn,
Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie?
Or an Eye of gifts & graces, show'ring fruits & coined gold!
Why a Tongue impress'd with honey from every wind?
Why an Ear, a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?
Why a Nostril wide inhaling terror trembling & affright.
Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy!
Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?
The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek.
Fled back unhinderd till she came into the vales of Har
The End (Page 6 of Erdman)
***************************************************************
Notes:
The northern bar: From the beginning of time Eternity and
Time are the primary divisions of kinds of reality. Materalists
have considered Reality to be in Time, while spiritually minded
people consider that the primary Reality resides in Eternity.
Thel has been living in 'Paradise' (called the 'vales of Har'),
but she wants to have a look at the other side. The 'Northern
Bar' opened the 'eternal gates' allowing Thel to 'have a look'
Blake likely had several sources for the 'northern bar', but
none better than one of his favorite English poets. The Faerie
Queene by Edmund Spenser includes these lines:
"It cited was in fruitful soul of old
And girt in with two walls on either side
The one of iron, the other of bright gold
That none might thorough breake, nor over-stride;
And double gates it had which opened wide,
By which both in and out men might pass.
The one faire and fresh, the other old and dride:"
This has been described as the northern and southern bar.
Plate 6 of Thel describes what she saw there and how she reacted.
She saw the 'the land unknown', the 'land of sorrows & of tears'
(commonly known as 'this vale of tears'), 'the land of clouds'.
Well she didn't think much of it.
Blake gave another instance of that (nymphatic) reaction in the
Sea of Time and Space; there you see the northern stairway with
one nymph vigorously climbing the stairs against the stream of
those headed for the 'sea'.
Thel came many years before the Arlington Tempera, but the idea,
the concept had not changed. In Blake's myth those in Eternity
may choose to come down into material life. In fact the story
(like the story of the Bible) concerns the Fall and the Return.
You might say that Thel chose not to fall. The rest of us are
here because we fell.
***************************************************************
Scholars see a close relationship between Thel and the Fable of
Cupid and Psyche. The influence of the Greek myth has been seen
in many of Blake's creations. In particular Irene Chayes of
Silver Springs MD wrote an essay called 'The Presence of Cupid
and Psyche, published in Blake's Visionary Forms Dramatic. She
dealt comprensively with the influence on Blake of the poem.
Among many other subjects she discussed is the relationship evident
betwen Thel and Psyche; both ventured a descent to the world and a return
to Paradise. Psyche fared better than Thel: she returned to be deified by
her lover, while Thel went back only to the lonely vals of Har.
Ideas of life, death, world, heaven, etc. fill Blake's works.
Here's a poem he wrote:
[Dedication to Blake's Illustrations to Blair's Grave, printed 1808]TO THE QUEEN (Erdman 480)The Door of Death is made of Gold, That Mortal Eyes cannot behold; But, when the Mortal Eyes are clos'd, And cold and pale the Limbs repos'd, The Soul awakes; and, wond'ring, sees In her mild Hand the golden Keys: The Grave is Heaven's golden Gate, And rich and poor around it wait; O Shepherdess of England's Fold, Behold this Gate of Pearl and Gold!
No comments:
Post a Comment