A União do Céu e do Inferno

by William Blake, João Ferreira Duarte (Trad. e Edição)

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell was created early in Blake's series of illuminated books, each of which was presented by him as an attractive work of art made entirely by his own hand. Written principally in prose, The Marriage represents Blake's first full-scale attempt to present his philosophic message. In it he expresses his extreme humanist views - Angels and Devils change places, Good becomes Evil, and Heaven becomes Hell.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Philosophy, Fiction, Religion, Art, 18th Century

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1790

About the author

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.

Blake's prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the language". His visual artistry has led one modern critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced." Although he only once travelled any further than a day's walk outside London over the course of his life, his creative vision engendered a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced 'imagination' as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself".

Once considered mad for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is highly regarded today for his expressiveness and creativity, and the philosophical and mystical currents that underlie his work. His work has been characterized as part of the Romantic movement, or even "Pre-Romantic", for its largely having appeared in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the established Church, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions, as well as by such thinkers as Emanuel Swedenborg.

Despite these known influences, the originality and singularity of Blake's work make it difficult to classify. One 19th century scholar characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary", "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors."

Reviews

[Tim Null · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is above my pay grade. It's "unique," and if you're a William Blake fan, you'll love it.

I was going to send it back because I was too stupid to comprehend it. Wife thumbed through the pages and said, "It's unique. Keep it."

Devil seems to be saying that body and soul are inseparable. I guess I'm on Team Devil.

[kaelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, quite frankly, is one of the greatest pieces of literature I've ever read⁠—in fact, extend 'literature' to include philosophy and theology as well. It's mad, complicated, mystical... suffice to say, it's essentially mind-expanding.

Works of genius, I find, fall under two basic categories: those that form the pinnacle of a particular genre; and those that, more generally, push the very limits of human achievement. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is genius in the latter sense.

A facsimile edition of this work is a must: as Blake's words are an extension of his images, and vice versa. (The one put out by Dover has the advantage of being inexpensive, and, crucially, in full colour.)

Also, for further reading: check out Harold Bloom's intriguing (short) essay, "Dialectic in the Marriage of Heaven and Hell."

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some say Heaven is a place of endless light.

“How horribly painful - can’t we ever SLEEP!?” Well, William Blake - sometimes I fully agree with you!

But when we get off the painfully slowpoke rural route of the Lord's Law, and rejoin the fast freeway of scepticism, it's anyone's game.

NOW we only hope to still be able to get some rest from the strict attention we have to pay to the endless heavenly goings-on.

It’s like I once was - on a nonstop bipolar high. It’s just all too much!

And Blake agrees, being a fellow crazy old coot and fellow Aspie/bipolar. So he borrows heavily on the paradoxical imagery of the gnostics when he says he believes Heaven will be a Wedding - the wedding of good and evil.

Sounds like you're on a dog-eat-dog freeway for sure, Willie.

It sounds modernistically surreal, doesn’t it, to imply that even in Heaven there will be no Rest for the Wicked? As if Heaven isn't, as the old timer preachers thought, “up there” and hell is “down there?”

Not a chance, says Blake.

Heaven and hell are right NOW, even, in our supercharged Aspie brains dealing with fast hi-density traffic!

Fast work but never easy.

***
Now, we Aspies ARE always trying to be Christian, very, very hard.

But we’re impeded in that futile attempt by some very, very equally vivid memories of our childhood trauma and all our lurid escapes from that reality on the common freeways of books and imagination.

We now can’t get no satisfaction. Pasteurized, homogenized and lily-white mildsop modern churches seem to refuse to level with us.

It’s now all a shell game.

But that's because we now miss their simple message: the Law is also Love!

And each of those shells hides -

You got it -

Jesus.

Not enough, says Blake. Do we agree? Well, er -
***

As usual, T.S. Eliot comes to our rescue:

“All is always NOW,” he says in his Four Quartets.

Think about that.

For if all is always now -

God is always now.

And He LOVES us in spite of our raging!

He's a full stop to our insanity.

So now Willie Blake and I can forget our rants and raves and go back to our painfully slowpoke rural routes:

And enjoy the ride for a change!

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence.
From these contraries spring what the religious call Good & Evil. Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy.
Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.

Besides William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, I haven't read anything else until I found this magnificent piece of writing first published in 1790. A book replete with humor, creativity and sharp observations that dissect the very essence of the Church as an institution composed of fallible men whose morality acts against human nature. The poet expresses his discontent with a system that facilitates the repression of desires - which are called "evil" but he sees them as "energy" - and imagination, among other elements that constitute the almost crushed spirits of human beings.

Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.

This unique work contains Blake's incisive critiques of Emanuel Swedenborg's Heaven and Hell (1758), which he considers a recapitulation of all superficial opinions, and an analysis of the more sublime, but no further. Swedenborg inspired Blake's Marriage in which the latter also included his philosophical views on different aspects of our lives; they were magnificently portrayed in his "Proverbs of hell", one of my favorite parts.

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.

Blake's poetry and prose are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. However, I almost went blind while trying to read that edition so I enjoyed another one with sober colors - no, not a sacrilege.

I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments; Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.

July 14, 19
* Later on my blog.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be classified among the works that are more quoted and referenced than actually read. Because let's be honest: without a proper preparation this book is a no-go zone. The first time I read it, almost 20 years ago, after just a few pages my head started spinning: what is this actually? What is Blake talking about? And why is this all so strange? I could barely process it. But this time, on the second reading, I was a little better prepared, after reading John Higgs William Blake vs the World. Higgs provides not only (biographical) context but also reading keys to understand Blake (and also explain him). And only then do you notice how original and modern this hyper-stubborn person was and is, also in this book. And this not only refers to his attacks against established and less established ways of looking at reality, such as the religion of the churches or that of the esotericists, on the one-sidedness and terror of rationalism, and especially on the dualism that is so ingrained in our culture. No, the merit of Blake doesn’t only lay in the negative, but especially in the very idiosyncratic way of seeing that Blake wants to instill on us: namely through that of the imagination, according to him the source of all reality. It seems as if he anticipated constructivism by almost two centuries, although that is probably too simplistic. Because, let’s be honest, Blake remains very unruly and inimitable at the same time. Even if you read this (relatively short book) two or three times in a row, there still are passages that you just can't fathom. William Blake continues to challenge us, that's for sure.

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always loved provocative poetry. Not sensationalist I-don’t-even-have-a-good-reason-to-do-this provocative poetry, but rather pondered provocation disguised in insanity. That’s what The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is.

Blake’s conception does not reject religion altogether. Instead, Blake criticizes religious institution and its morality scheme, in which all is black and white. For Blake, the world has multiple shades of gray and there’s no evil or good in either side of the spectrum. In this piece, he confers multiple good attributes to ‘hell’, such as energy, action, the power of creation through subjectivity (the human ability to be a god through every perception, “All deities reside in the human breast”), while ‘heaven’ conveys passivity, reason, restrain.

The ‘Proverbs of Hell’ are particularly interesting to read and think about:

• “A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.”
• “Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.”
• “To create a little flower is the labour of ages.”
• “Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius.”

I recommend reading this as it is a very short read (even though it requires some time to reflect on each little phrase) and a very pleasant one. The liveliest piece of Blake’s I’ve read so far, and one that is easy to connect with.

I shall end this review with a last contribution of Blake’s:
‘Opposition is true Friendship.’

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more of Blake’s work I read (and goodness knows I’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg at this point) the more impressed I am by how progressive his thinking was. Sure, he still had a long way to go by today’s standards but for the time in which he lived? I’m actually quite surprised he wasn’t burnt at the stake…

To the Accuser Who is the God of This World

Truly, My Satan, thou are but a Dunce,
And dost not know the Garment from the Man.
Every Harlot was a Virgin once,
Nor canst thou ever change Kate into Nan.

Tho’ thou art Worship’d by the Names Divine
Of Jesus & Jehovah, thou are still
The Son of Morn in weary Night’s decline,
The lost Traveller’s Dream under the Hill.

My next book: The French Revolution

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Centootto

There was a young seer called Blake
Who seldom made a single mistake
But like all who can see
And all those who are free
He was laughed at and seen as a fake

A sinistra... / A destra...


.

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poetry of William Blake is a bottomless well of exacerbated madness, a dialectical paroxysm carried to the point of exhaustion as a poetic outlet of visions chanted to the world of men, locked in the dry theories of enlightenment reason. If Blake loves freedom, this must completely free the poet from ancient religious dogmas and philosophers' overly materialistic theoretical impulses. For Blake, poetry is the alliance of good and evil, madness and wisdom, gentleness and strength, reason and pure energy, daring mixtures to revolt against the inner self, leading to a supreme complex finality where the fusion of opposites offers the absolute.
Blake's verses are the transcendence of this provocative mystical unity, destructive of old-fashioned or new tasteless values; through his words, the author transgresses at all costs the moribund Puritan conventions, screaming at society to seek desire without restraint, even if the latter is in hell, moreover Blake, to illustrate his words does not hesitate to use numerous aphorisms such as: "the path of excess leads to the palace of wisdom," showing by this bias that hell is the beginning of good.

[Max Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hm... The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, eh? I read C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce before I read this, and I think his preface there sums up my thoughts on the work:

Blake wrote The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. If I have written of their Divorce, this is not because I think myself a fit antagonist for such a genius, nor even because I feel at all sure that I know what he meant.

And yet... I, too, do write of their divorce.

I think that The Marriage is a very engaging and invigorating intellectual work, copiously and beautifully illustrated, and one of the better early interdisciplinary works in the Western canon (mingling, in 1790(!), poetry, prose, and proverbs, in a very Biblical style, though subversively so). And I love Blake's synthesis and acknowledgment of his influences—Swedenborg, Milton, the Bible, and so forth. But his philosophy is, I think, dangerous, just like Ayn Rand's or Aleister Crowley's, and I'll get to why in a minute. Suffice to say that whereas Rand's philosophy is a joke, debunked by Michael Shermer in one chapter of one of his books, and Crowley was clearly just trying to show Victorian society how stilted it was by taking the opposite to the extreme, Blake's is semi-plausible and very respected. The danger lies in extreme individualism, following your "energies" without restraint. In the wrong hands (those attached to simple minds), it can be taken the wrong way, and seen as permitting anything at all.

Here's where stream of consciousness starts. Goody!

As Al Franken pointed out in that little book he wrote for grads—and I'm paraphrasing here—some people shouldn't follow their passions. What if you have a passion for embezzling large sums of money?—and so it is with Blake's "Exuberance is beauty." I understand his meaning, but is a war fought exuberantly any less brutal for it? Should all people follow their passions? Steven Pinker'd be inclined to say no as well, methinks. He points out that some people are just sociopaths. Remember that guy that duped Norman Mailer?—but Judaism has a similar thing, Kaballah (that oft-misunderstood doctrine), wherein their are many truths revealed and those truths are seen as being dangerous, and restricted membership is enforced (well it was in the pre-Madonna days).—could not the idea that both light and darkness come from Hashem be taken out of context, too?—so maybe an exuberant war can be beautiful?—no, wars are ugly affairs. I stand on my own legs here. Uh...

Maybe the shitty thing is that, deep down, not believing in Hell isn't liberating, it's disappointing. Sure, you won't be burning in the afterlife, but neither will Michael Vicks... or Hitler. Shouldn't there be a Hell for the bad ones among us? There certainly is evil, and most of us have seen it. Isn't it crushingly disappointing that "All religions have made the error... that God will punish Man for following his energies"?(—paraphrased again.)

And where does he get off thinking Jesus violated any of the Ten Commandments? A child could disarm Blake's Devil here, without consulting any texts. Jesus did not mock the Sabbath, any more than King David did by eating the showbread while on the run, by healing the sick thereon. The Baal Shem Tov has a nice parable illustrating that too many restrictions choke the soul, and Jesus must've concurred:

"Listen closely," said the Besht, "I was once driving a coach with three horses—one brown, one black, and one white—and they were not able to neigh. A gentile peasant called out to me from his coach, 'Slacken the reins!' I slackened the reins, and once again the horses were able to neigh. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Blake's Devil's assertion that Jesus "murder'd those who were murder'd because of him" is just absurd—and "turning away the law from the woman taken in adultery" didn't condone her adultery, merely pointed out the hypocrisy of those who would punish her. He did not steal any labours to support himself; he did not bear false witness by omitting a witness before Pilate, he simply omitted making a witness at all. There's a better argument for him having coveted a normal life, but Blake doesn't mention this—his argument for Jesus having coveted is nonsense. Even if he were right on all six accounts, that's still only six out of ten!

At the Proverbs, though, I lose my ability to comprehend. I love some and hate some. The ones I love the most are:

The most sublime act is to set another before you.
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.
Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.
Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps.
The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
One thought fills immensity.

But others are just perplexing. We are told that "The eagle never lost so much time. as when he submitted to learn of the crow," but then that "When thou seest an Eagle, thou seest a portion of Genius. lift up thy head!"—I can hardly disagree, but I thought the crow was the smart one here? Didn't he just teach the eagle for hours and hours?

Others are just dangerous. "Every thing possible to be believd is an image of truth" recapitulates—sorry, predicts—the foolhardy ontological argument so readily debunked by Richard Dawkins; and "Where man is not nature is barren" hurts my soul so badly; it's so antithetical to everything I believe. Man is but a cog in God's nature; we have been demoted and demoted and demoted, as Carl Sagan shows in the "The Great Demotions" chapter of his book Pale Blue Dot . Ask me, man's presence makes nature barren.

Blake's greatest strength here is pointing out Milton's Satan is an engaging and sympathetic character, whereas his God and Messiah are abstractions, boring, revolting even. (Same as Dante's Hell vs. his purgatory and Heaven, IMO.) It's so true!

Anyway, as you can see, I can think and have thought about this book a lot! I leave you with my favorite passage:

The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged & numerous senses could perceive. And particularly they studied the genius of each city & country, placing it under its mental deity. Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of & enslav'd the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the mental deities from their objects; thus began Priesthood. Choosing forms of worship from poetic tales. And at length they pronounced that the gods had orderd such things. Thus men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," eh?

[Scarlet Cameo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pensar en William es pensar en obras con un trasfondo religioso. Este es un poema que la primera vez que lo escuche (mi primer acercamiento a él fue a modo de audio) pensé que era un ensayo,no fue hasta que vi las palabras en papel que note que era un poema, que cada cambio de voz representaba una estrofa, y eso fue una de las cosas que más me gusto respecto a este poema, por que no se limita a representar una metáfora, sino que la desarrolla completamente.

Creo que para este punto de nuestra vida todos hemos escuchado “para que haya bien, debe existir el mal” y cosas similares, pues aquí se aborda esta perspectiva diciendo para que Dios exista, el Diablo debe existir, a este respecto Blake le suma la adopción de una misma leyenda para ambos bandos y reconecta alma y cuerpo, en vez de continuar separándolos como lo han hecho todas las religiones del mundo, así mismo defendiendo deseo y trabajo, gozo y sabiduría, prohibición y descarrilamiento, todo como parte de una cosmovisión unificadora bajo la doctrina gnóstica.

Definitivamente Blake no es alguien a quien puedas tomarte a la ligera, a pesar de que escribe de manera bastante entendible los elementos de filosofía y romanticismo que maneja exigen que sea leído más de una vez, no porque sea difícil entenderlo sino que sus palabras piden ser analizadas.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Blake. He always manages to touch something in my heart. There's a reason the only poem I know by heart is one of his.
And whether it's with words, or with paint (The Night of Enitharmon's Joy is a personal favourite), or with his etchings (another personal favourite: 'Europe supported'. At first, it looks like a picture with 3 pretty, naked girls, then you realise it is harsh social commentary, that still rings true today), he always manages to make you think.


The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is just brilliant. It's one of those books you can read a thousand times, and still discover something more, something deeper each time.
I thus implore you to read it. ;)

Some quotes to live by (all from the 'Proverbs from Hell. I just selected a few that spoke to me today. There not the most well-known, just the ones I liked best today. Ask me tomorrow and I might select some others.)

- He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.
- No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
- The most sublime act is to set another before you.
- Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.

And the next quote summs up how Blake sees religion. My own view on it has always been similar, even before reading Blake.

"Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of and enslaved the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the mental deities from their objects. Thus began Priesthood. Choosing forms of worship from poetic tales. And at length they pronounced that the Gods had ordered such things. Thus men forgot that all deities reside in the human breast."

[Yules · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a strange and powerful book. Part revelation, part nightmare, part rantings against Swedenborg that seem oddly personal.

Blake answers the Bible’s Book of Proverbs with his Proverbs of Hell. Deploring how religion privileges Reason over emotions and desires, Blake takes Satan’s perspective on the Fall: “It indeed appeared to Reason as if desire was cast out, but the Devil’s account is, that the Messiah fell, and formed a heaven of what he stole from the abyss.” So the Devil is the true Messiah (as the Devil must surely have thought of himself). Blake believes that Milton (whose Satan reads like a deeply sympathetic figure, at least through our modern eyes) wrote more believably about Satan than about God and the Angels because “he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.”

But siding with the Devil doesn’t mean that Blake worships evil or rebels against God. Blake was a Christian – though it would take me a very long time to make sense of his version of Christianity. What kind of Christian, for instance, believes that “All deities reside in the human breast” or that “The worship of God is, honouring His gifts in other men each according to his genius [...] for there is no other God”?? What kind of Christian is so sacrilegious as to snub Angels? His views seem totally out there with respect to any Christian doctrine I know of. Basically, Blake is weird, his worldview a little Platonic, a little Niezschean, a little Romanticist (but also not), hallucinatory and mystical, and completely upside down. I highly recommend!

[Theo Logos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exuberance is beauty

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell isn’t so much a volume of poetry as it is the raging testament of a Mad Prophet. Indeed, only the opening poem, Rintrah roars, is, strictly speaking, poetry. The rest resembles more the poetic prose of scripture than anything else.

Blake here took on the mantle of an Old Testament prophet (he referenced both Isiah and Ezekiel several times) in order to refute the manichaean doctrine of the eccentric theologian, Swedenborg. Blake harshly rejects Swedenborg’s duality, instead insisting that the material world and physical desire are equally part of the divine order. Blake expressed this most elegantly in his

Proverbs of Hell

Those who restrain desire do so because
theirs is weak enough to be restrained.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom

Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by
Incapacity.

He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence.

Prisons are built with stones of law, brothels
with bricks of religion.

The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of woman is the work of God.
Excess of sorrow laughs, excess of joy weeps.

Blake does not present a cogent, theological position in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Instead, he gives us a mystical, poetic philosophy for the dynamic creative life. His clarion call is for the dynamic energy of the creative self first to awaken:

If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appear to man as it is,
infinite.

Then to reject and throw off conventional rules and morality:

One law for the lion and ox is Oppression.

And finally to continuously dwell in that reality:

Let the Priests of the Raven of Dawn, no
longer in deadly black, with hoarse note
curse the Sons of Joy…
For everything that lives is holy.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My belief is that William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is the greatest poem by one of the greatest poets in the English language. I have read it several times and find -- each time -- that it adds something new to the mix.

This time, I find that Blake has something to say about living through bad times when one feels disenfranchised and surrounded by yahoos. He puts most of his thoughts in the mouth of the Devil, and he does not portray Angels altogether favorably.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a profound text, which is often frustratingly intangible. I really like William Blake - he's as trippy as anything, and is definitely a first rate poet. This particular volume contains very little in the way of poetry, and a lot in the way of theological discussion, as Blake posits the very radical idea that Christian morality need not be necessarily confined to classical dichotomies of Good vs Evil and Heaven vs Hell. Blake also rejects the strictly logical and rational, in favour of radical veneration and exaltation of the poetical.

This is certainly interesting and brain-challenging reading, but as is often the central problem of reading Blake: it is very difficult to pin down exactly what he thought. Blake, by most modern definitions, was insane. His writings do not amount to a complete philosophical or theological system. There is certainly an argument to be made that even individual works such as this one are not internally consistent. Perhaps a reliance on a highly poetical mode of expression is partly the reason for this. Blake is always beautiful but he is rarely, if ever, clear.

Another slightly challenging about Blake, is the frequency with which he seems to position himself as a prophetic figure himself. There is little doubt that Blake saw himself in this way. Where Blake records a discussion that he had with Isaiah, this is written:

Isaiah answered: ‘I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception; but my senses discovered the infinite in everything, and as I was then persuaded, and remain confirmed, that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote.’

This is followed by this:

... we of Israel taught that the Poetic Genius (as you now call it) was the first principle and all the others merely derivative, which was the cause of our despising the Priests and Philosophers of other countries, ...

In these it is easy to see Blake positioning both poetry and direct divine inspiration as the appopriate avenues for 'true' spirituality to be revealed. Both of those descriptions from the mouth of Isaiah can very easily be read in light of Blake's personal desire to be seen as a prophet.

And all this talk of being a prophet is not without reasonable belief that one could become one. America in particular had a lot of Protestant prophets around this time, and would have even more in the coming nineteenth century. Blake was writing in a period in which many people were looking inwards for spiritual truth. The Catholic church had been swept away a few generations previously, and the nominally Calvinist insitution which rose in its place hardly seemed better to many Englishmen of the day. If nothing else, this new church often looked rather a lot like the old Catholic one in many of its practices. To look for spiritual truth within the soul only seemed rational, and Blake was just one of many people doing the same thing. He was also much less successful than many of the figures which have otherwise been remembered. If Blake were not such a brilliant poet, I doubt that he would be remembered as a theologian.

The greatest challenge in Blake is that he is so unclear and inconsistent. Although definitely capable of writing beautiful poetry and prose, Blake never really achieved the clarity of expression necessary to express theological and philosophical ideas consistently. One can argue all day about whether this was because they were inconsistent in his own mind or because of a lack of discipline or skill as a technical writer (I would argue for the former), but I don't think that this is the most important question. If anyone is able to map a complete theological system in Blake's work I would be very interested to talk to them, but I myself remain skeptical that such a thing is even possible.

[Nikoleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Εάν ο τρελός επέμενε στην τρέλα του θα γινόταν σοφός."
(Οι γάμοι του ουρανού και της κόλασης by William Blake )

[Aslı Can]

Cinsel Kimlikler'de Blake ile ilgili bölüme gelince Blake'i tanımak adına kitaplarını okumaya karar verdim. Adından da anlaşılacağı üzere iyinin de kötünün de insan doğasına ait olduğu ve uzlaşamayacakları kanısında Blake. Birbiriyle biraz çelişkili bulduğum aforizmalar oldu ama bunu Blake'in kendisine söylesem, olabilir, doğaldır dermiş gibi hissediyorum. Bilerek yazmış bile olabilir, kim bilir.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blake was one of the greatest artistic geniuses, and this book is the clearest expression of his ideas outside of his sublime but gnomic prophetic books. This work on the other hand is brief and accessible, and is as good an introduction to Blake's visionary genius as one is likely to find.

[Satyajeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If the doors of perception were cleansed,
every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite..."

[Οδυσσέας Μουζίλης · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://pepperlines.blogspot.gr/2017/...

[Asha Cox]

This book defies all attempts at analysis or value judgment.

The book just is, and my comprehension of it is not.

I understand Blake thinks Milton was on “Team Satan”, I understand that Blake coined the term “Doors of Perception” which Aldous Huxley later used for his memoir; I even understand that this book is the thesis which prompted Lewis to write “The Great Divorce”, but the rest baffles me. The meaning eludes me. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I’m all ears.

[Catalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence".

I believe Blake wants to prove the duality of human nature and the immoral purpose of religion to "destroy existence" by trying to "reconcile the two".
You'll find well known arguments by now, but revolutionary and highly controversial for the time this was published, like:
- the body is not distinct from the soul;
- religion is a human product used to "enslave the vulgar";
- the need of a creator to explain infinity - "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite";
- there is no virtue without sin: "Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules."

Maybe not an easy and clear read, therefore I suggest 2 reads, the second read will clear the doors of your perception, to use Blake's words :D. Impressive how well he argues his theory in just 40 something pages. Not only that, but he put forward such 'outrageous' ideas for the end of 1700s, his enlightenment is brilliant. My absolute favorite part is 'Proverbs of hell'. And if you want a taste:
*Shame is Pride's cloak.
*Prisons are built with stones of law, brothels with bricks of religion.
*What is now proved was once only imagined.
*You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

While I think this short piece of literature is brilliant and if I'd was to judge it time wise I'd definitely give it 5*, I cannot negate the fact is nothing new to me and also lacks in form, so consequential I cannot give it more than 4*, but definitely a MUST READ!

[Brianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for High Schools. So many important lessons to be taken away from this book, not only concerning religion, but life in general. Blake is truly philosophical in his writings, and his ideas are especially important in today's world.

[Phillip Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What on earth is bro cooking

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out BlakeArchive.org for high quality images of all 27 plates (pages) in 9 different versions.

Since both Clark Emery and i "do not feel competent to discuss the plates," we shall "instead, summarize the interpretations of Damon and Max Plowman."


[The title plate] illustrates the last episode, ie, plates 20-22.
[top] The forests of error, where tiny human figures walk and lament.
[bottom] The embrace of the Angel and the Devil in "the cavern," or within the outer shell of the earth. (Damon)


The Joys of Innocence.
A youth in the Tree of Life hands down to a girl the grapes of ecstasy. (Damon)


[top] The liberated soul bathes in Hell's flames. (Damon)
[top] The soul bathes in flames of energy. (Plowman)
[bottom] Enitharmon gives birth to Orc, the Spirit of Revolt. (Damon)
[bottom] As a result [of the soul bathing in flames of energy above] the babe of Inspiration is born. (Plowman)


A good Angel (Freedom, the true Innocence) struggles for a soul with a bad Angel ("pale Religious lechery") who hovers over the Sea of Time and Space. (Damon)
The Soul (of Plate 3) bears Inspiration over the Sea of Time and Space but is threatened by the dark angel of the Body. (Plowman)


The fall of Orc. (Damon)
The fall of Lucifer. (Plowman)


The Devil (or Orc, now on earth) dictating his proverbs. (Damon)
The Devil teaching Experience (on his right); Innocence tries in vain to see the writings. (Plowman)


[top] The spiritual forms of nature: the sun as a god; a stream as a girl; a plant as a baby. (Damon)
[top] Inspiration, within the cave of the mind, is nourished by the Earth while the Poetic Genius (Apollo) exults. (Plowman)
[bottom] Orc flees from Urizen. (Damon)
[bottom] Inspiration flees the tyrant. (Plowman)


The Imaginative portion of man tries to rouse the material portion. (Damon)
The soul revives the body. (Plowman)


Genius uplifts Nature (or the controlling Priesthood). (Damon)
Genius rises in aspiration, bearing the unaspiring life of Instinct. (Plowman)


The five senses crouched in darkness. (Damon)
The Giants imprisoned in the dungeons of the five senses. (Plowman)


The apparition of Leviathan (the World) in the Sea of Time and Space: above, in the root of the oak, is Blake. (Damon)
Materialism triumphs in the Sea of Time and Space. (Plowman)


The newly resurrected man, the cavern (skull) beneath his feet. (Damon)
The newborn soul rising in the sunrise of Eternity. (Plowman)


Man (as Nebuchadnezzar) brutalized until he tries to live altogether by the things of the "vegetable" world. (Damon)
Man in the state of nature. (Plowman)


S. Foster Damon, William Blake: His Philosophy and Symbols (1947).
Max Plowman, [presumably] Introduction to the Study of Blake (1927).

[ɱιʅʅιҽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastatingly beautiful.
Musings on wrath, wisdom, exuberance, rebellion,
desire.
Condemns idolization in religious institutions, about loving God beyond the curtain of evil. To only feel God when things are good and easy and obvious is to idolize those things.
Condemns the condemnation of the self and of nature.
“
Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.
“
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.
“
Shame is Prides cloke.
“
Eternity is in love with the productions
“
…

I am glad to have finally read fully, as I’ve quoted snippets in conversation many times, and now I will get to reference it even more :-) poetry that deserves to be memorized and recited.

[happianooshik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Deep visionary talent and symbolism, theological courage, anticleric mysticism, honest dialectics of good and evil.

One example of books that is justifiably small in text, because each sentence has its own significant weight.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity, too great for the eye of man.”

"Prisons are built withe stones of Law. Brothels with bricks of Religion."

This edition includes a plain-text version of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, reproductions of the plates from one of Blake's hand-illuminated versions, and analysis of the text and illustrations. 3.5 stars.

[Rima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful crafted plates and put together into this text. Blake's desire to rearrange the devil's relationship with God and to abolish the concept of a heaven and hell, a good and bad, is well executed but I don't know if he means for us to take him seriously. Or rather, can we take him seriously?

This is definitely a text that you need to experience in the format of his plates which he so painstakingly painted in his home.