"Now my lot in the Heavens is this;
Milton lovd me in childhood and shewd me his face
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet,
but Shakespeare in riper years gave me his hand
Paracelsus and Behmen appeard to me."
Of all the sources of Blake's inspiration Boehme (whom he spelled Behmen) was the one whose style (and values perhaps) most resembled his own. It would pay great dividends for any Blake student to give close attention to his work. There's a multitude of close correspondence between the poetry and thought of the two Visionaries.
About 30 years older than Milton Jacob Boehme had a number of
English followers; the Behmenites were said to be absorbed into
the Society of Friends.
Many of Blake's visions resemble those of the German shoe maker.
Blake had no children; Boehme six. Blake's poetry was ignored for
the most part; Boehme's writing led to persecution. Sir Isaac
Newton thought that his theory of gravitation was inspired by
something Boehme.
Blake read the English translation of Rev. William Law, four
voumes between 1764 and 1781 (when Blake was 24); and in Plate 22
of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell we read:
"Any man of mechanical talents may from the writings of
Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volume of equal
value with Swedenborg's..."
"What influenced Blake most in [Behmen's writings] was Behmen's
aanalysis of the psyche and the interaction of it's parts. There
....are three worlds: the Dark Fire-World, (Hell or the
Subconscious). Above is the Light World (Heaven) (Read Damon page
40 for the rest of this quote.)
Going on "Heaven and Hell are essential to each other; they exist
simultaneously in God....The third World is the Outer World of
Nature. (Damon of pages 39-41 has a comprehensive and excellent
write up on Boehme.)
Blake and Boehme
In a letter to a friend and supporter, John Flaxman Blake had this to say:
"Now my lot in the Heavens is this; Milton lovd me in childhood &
shewd me his face
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, but Shakespeare in riper years
gave me his hand
Paracelsus & Behmen appeard to me."
shewd me his face
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, but Shakespeare in riper years
gave me his hand
Paracelsus & Behmen appeard to me."
Behmen) was the one whose style (and values perhaps) most resembled
his own. It would pay great dividends for any Blake student to
give close attention to his work. There's a multitude of close
correspondence between the poetry and thought of the two
Visionaries.
About 30 years older than Milton Jacob Boehme had a number of
English followers; the Behmenites were said to be absorbed into
the Society of Friends.
Many of Blake's visions resemble those of the German shoe maker.
Blake had no children; Boehme six. Blake's poetry was ignored for
the most part; Boehme's writing led to persecution. Sir Isaac
Newton thought that his theory of gravitation was inspired by
something Boehme.
Blake read the English translation of Rev. William Law, four
voumes between 1764 and 1781 (when Blake was 24); and in Plate 22
of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell we read:
"Any man of mechanical talents may from the writings of
Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volume of equal
value with Swedenborg's..."
"What influenced Blake most in [Behmen's writings] was Behmen's
aanalysis of the psyche and the interaction of it's parts. There
....are three worlds: the Dark Fire-World, (Hell or the
Subconscious). Above is the Light World (Heaven) (Read Damon page
40 for the rest of this quote.)
Going on "Heaven and Hell are essential to each other; they exist
simultaneously in God....The third World is the Outer World of
Nature. (Damon of pages 39-41 has a comprehensive and excellent
write up on Boehme.)
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