Jerusalem by William Blake

A discussion of some salient lines and ideas from Blake’s challenging prophetic work with a few pages of his illuminations.
Recommended if you like:
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Theaetetus by Plato, my discussion: • Theaetetus by Plato: “...
From Hell by Alan Moore
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
Milton by William Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
Songs of Innocence & Experience by William Blake
The Theory of Poetry by Edgar Allan Poe
Faust Pt. One by Goethe
The Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
Candide by Voltaire
Books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation
#booktube
#poetrytube

[@BookishTexan]

Merry Christmas to you and your family

[@dannyb993]

Neville Goddard did good at explaining what Blake was talking about too. You did a great job and I loved the conversation. You clearly have a good understanding.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Thanks for the kind words, Danny. Is Jerusalem your favorite work by Blake? I hope your week is off to a nice start. Cheers, Jack

[@acruelreadersthesis5868]

I’m about halfway through my reading of Jerusalem (I know, I know, what is he doing watching a review video before he’s even finished the book? Well, sue me…), and I may be plowing through it just a bit too quickly. But that said, I have done a deep dive into Blake’s work last year and this year, so I feel like I do have a grasp on his mythology and a lot of the ideas he articulated. I’ve also listened to a lot of podcast episodes about him, some KZbin videos, and I’ve tried to make strategic use of Wikipedia. On top of all that, I have endnotes (including plot summaries) and a big glossary in my Penguin Classics edition to help me along. I’d agree with what you said paraphrasing Poe-some moments of tremendous rhetorical power, and a good amount of, well, just kind of prose chopped into lines, let’s say (🤓). That said, I’m enjoying the heck out of Jerusalem and I think Blake will take a spot as one of my favorite poets. Glad you brought up Ezekiel-I’ll need to reread that one. Been a while. The major OT prophets have never been my forte when it comes to the Bible!

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

I’m glad your enjoying Jerusalem! For some reason, I enjoyed Blake’s long poem Milton more when I first read them 15 years ago, but Jerusalem was really astounding on rereading. The Four Zoas is probably the most specific mythology Blake constructed, but I don’t think it’s as rewarding to read as those other two. It’s almost impossible to overstate the detailed reading (approaching memorization) that Blake did of the Hebrew prophets and John’s Apocalypse. It’s incredible! Hope you’re well, Lukas. Cheers, Jack

[@alanshadastrokeanddiedinho2897]

Everytime someone mentions Blake's Jerusalem, the tune runs through my head. I wasn't aware that the poem had connections with parts of the Holy Scriptures. Thank you for illumination that part. .The French Enlightenment was one of the many attempts to build a spiritually rich culture outside of religious prejudices and without any unnecessary hypothesis metaphysics and the soul. Of course you probably already aware of the Enlightenment period of which I have come across in my reading on a consistent basis. What do you think of Augustine's; City of God, as having any connection to Blake's Jerusalem?

[@JosephFrancisBurton]

Funny, during the discussion I was reminded of City of God also.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Thanks, Alan! I have a similar experience with the “Jerusalem” hymn, sing it with my kids sometimes! I have some grounding in the Enlightenment but also find a few of the major thinkers to be antithetical to me thinking both philosophically and aesthetically, particularly Voltaire, so it’s often an effort to do a sustained reading. I have never completed Augustine’s City of God, reading maybe the first half a few times. There are some connections, so thanks for noting that. One day I will finish that massive work and probably be able to draw many more. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and are having a nice weekend, Alan. Cheers, Jack

[@johncrwarner]

I suspect being born in Britain and having encountered Blake in culturally acceptable nuggets like singing "And Did Those Feet..." which is called Jerusalem but is from Milton, I think. And people mentioning lines helps when you encounter the less well known (and downright weird but poetic mythology he creates) I always think of "Educating Rita" by Willy Russell as Rita, a hairdresser, is doing a evening degree course in English literature and goes to a Summer School. When she comes back Frank, her tutor, starts to introduce Blake and Rita says she had a lecturer at the Summer School who was a Blake nut even in the cafeteria it was Blake and Chips. She can quote sections and it stumps Frank.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Thanks for sharing about “Educating Rita”, John. I had never heard of it, but that sounds very enjoyable. Do you have a favorite performance of the “Jerusalem” lyric from Milton? I love the deep vocal by Paul Robeson, but I also smile when I hear the all stops our tear by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. I agree that this particular work by Blake, along with Milton and Four Zoas, requires some foregrounding in his singular mythology. I hope you’re having a great weekend. Cheers, Jack

[@wordscaninspire114]

A most enjoyable discussion to listen too (admittedly I didn't understand much because it's not an area I'm familiar with)

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Thanks! I hope you had a nice holiday. Blake’s lyrics aren’t nearly as intense, but this was quit demanding for my reading. Cheers, Jack

[@JosephFrancisBurton]

Thank you for this outstanding discussion. I agree that reading into Blakes’ mythos is much like trying to read into the lovecraft mythos - it is a mythology onto itself. Very interesting, do you really think that Blake was taking a jab at Newton there? 😂. Blake certainly did not know about the contents of the Gospel of Thomas. But he certainly knew and understood lots of gnostic mythology that would’ve been available through things like the Acts of Peter, or Irenaus’ Against Heresies.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Thanks for the kind words! I had not thought of Lovecraft, but what an excellent parallel! I think it’s interesting that Blake names certain writers he finds worthy of to contest in his works, almost a sort of respect despite disagreement, yet he doesn’t name so many of the English poets from the last 150 years, as if they are not really in the same realm of thought. It’s interesting that some ideas from gnostic thought lasted through the centuries and then more of the frame was filled in with Nag Hammadi more recently. Hope you are having a nice weekend! Cheers, Jack

[@hesterdunlop7948]

Right Jack ...you are going to have to stop doing this ....how many more times can you set me off on a fabulous , absorbing literary enquiry into thinkers and authors called William about whom I know less than I should and whose work can stun me into wonder ..I'm late to the Shakespeare party , am enjoying Faulkner and now this !!! Just don't start on Wordsworth ...I don't think I can take it ....seriously you are a star ... love your channel ..I have already learned he is buried in an unmarked grave in Bunhill Fields , I used to play in that graveyard as a child ....have to know more ...

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

What a cool detail about Brunhill Fields! I’m reading a western right now that is set in southern AZ around some places I’ve hiked, and the reading is more fascinating because of that. Thanks for all your kind words, as always. I’ve spent close to 15 years now reading Shakespeare and Faulkner with Blake much more intermittently. You don’t have to worry about Wordsworth from me! I find him to be the English High Romantic I enjoy least. I hope you’re having a nice weekend! Cheers, Jack

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

Awesome exploration, Jack! I love Blake and you are right about needing to get his mythology to understand his works. The specter of mankind is the egoic sense. You see it in Los' dealing with his specter (judgment, pride) early on and Albion becoming idolatrous to his specter about the halfway point. I can't wait to read Alan Moore's Jerusalem in 2021! Another author greatly influenced by Blake is James Joyce.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

That’s a nice point on the spectre, Noah, sort of prefigured aspects of Freud. I hope you enjoy Alan Moore. I h e to take a couple years between reading any of his works! Cheers, Jack