William Blake's Personal Mythology

Since William Blake did not hold with many of the teachings of the Christian Church, he invented a personal mythology. In this mythology, a unique combination of both The Bible and Greek Mythology, he uses characters such as Urizen, Los, and Orc (in 'The Book of Urizen") as archetypes of human nature. He also utilizes this mythology to explain his belief that "without contraries is no progression." This idea stems from one of Blake's strongest objections to Christianity. He believed that Christianity advocated the repression of natural desires and inhibited earthly joy.

Natural desires and earthly joy were regarded as "evil." However, according to Blake, some of what we call "evil" is actually good. He argued that there should be a synthesis of contraries (as in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell") and those contraries were necessary to human existence in order to progress from innocence to experience. Blake seeks to impress the importance of contraries in the above works and also "The Songs of Innocence" and "The Songs of Experience."

"The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" entertains the notion that existence requires an equal amount of Good and Evil. Blake defines Good as "the passive that obeys Reason" and Evil as "the active springing from Energy." The importance of both Reason and Energy is particularly notable in a section of the work called the Proverbs of Hell. These "proverbs" defend the importance of Energy in existence, such as "The busy bee has no time for sorrow." This dictum explains that since the bee is utilizing Energy, he does not have time to grieve. Blake is in no way denigrating emotional grief.

He is simply observing that a person who is not active has an unhealthy amount of time in which to wallow in sorrow. The inactivity of Reason keeps a person from recovering from grief. Two more related proverbs that assert the importance of Energy are "Expect poison from standing water" and "You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough." Both maxims deal with idea of stagnation in passivity.

Stagnation is both the concept of inactivity and the notion of putridity. Neither one of these ideas is particularly pleasing, but Blake believes that Christianity encourages inactivity or "stagnation," thus allowing life to become stale, static, and eventually, poisonous. The other statement requires a little less analysis, but is equally meaningful. Although it appears to be nothing more than a remark of common sense, the moral is an important one. What Blake is trying to impress upon the reader is that Reason will tell a person to stop before one actually finds out what one's limits are. In order to enjoy life to the fullest, people should find out exactly what is more than enough. Blake disregards the idea of heaven overcoming hell, and instead writes with the hope of convincing others that Good and Evil need to live together in order to form a perfect existence.

"The Book of Urizen" employs even more of Blake's mythology than just the notions of Reason and Energy. This work contains a few of Blake's archetypes, namely Urizen, Los, and Orc. These three archetypes are contained in one person at the beginning of creation. "The Fall" occurs as soon as Urizen separates from the unified whole and attempts to force his beliefs on the world. In Blake's mythology, Urizen exemplifies Reason. He tries to write a book of laws, The Book of brass, and impose his rules upon all creation. In the chaos that ensues at this injustice, Urizen encloses himself in a "dark globe." Then, Los (imagination or Energy) emerges, but, as he is divided from Reason, he is unable to fix anything.

Here, Blake is trying to illustrate the importance of a balance of Reason and Energy (or Good and Evil) in existence. Enitharmon, on whom Los begets Orc, is born out of Los's pity for the world. Orc represents the spirit of revolution and renewal. Los, jealous of Orc, chains his child to a rock "with the chain of Jealousy". However, the cries of the child awaken Urizen who emerges from his cocoon, again wishing to divide the earth. His "soul sickn'd" and again he tries to impose upon creation a set of laws that are referred to as "The Net of Religion." It has the same effect as The Book of brass as society spirals further and further into a fathomless turmoil. Obviously, through the use of his own mythology, Blake advocates the need for humankind to embrace both Reason and Energy. Without Energy, creation falls. Without Reason, creation falls. With Reason and Energy, creation can and will flourish.

Although "The Songs of Innocence" and "The Songs of Experience" do not use Blake's archetypes, nor the terms Reason and Energy, the same general idea of progression through contraries can be noted in these works, also. The "Introduction" to both collections utilizes a type of invocation of the muse. However, this is where the similarities end. In "The Songs of Innocence," the muse is a child on a cloud, who "laughing said to me, pipe a song about a Lamb." The muse figure in this poem is a carefree child wishing to be pleased by the piper. The child also relates to Christ, the Lamb of God.

The invocation of the muse in "The Songs of Experience" introduces a different mood. "Hear the voice of the Bard! / Who Present, Past, & Future sees / ...Calling the lapsed Soul." The first item of importance is that the invocation is a command, not a request. The second distinction is that a person cannot be innocent who has seen the Past, Present, and Future. Finally, a lapsed Soul refers to a soul that has fallen from the truth.

This poem continues with even more dark imagery and leaves the reader with a sense that experience might not be the greatest asset. However, although the "Introduction" from "The Songs of Innocence" ends on a much lighter note, it is important to understand that a person cannot remain innocent all his life. If man were to remain innocent and never experience pain and suffering, would that be preferable? Blake does not believe so. He understands the importance of innocence, but tries to impress upon the reader the fact that we cannot remain innocent all our lives, nor can we return to innocence once we have become experienced. While innocence brings happiness and gaiety, it also brings a certain ignorance that would be detrimental to adult existence.

The poems, "Infant Joy" and "Infant Sorrow" also illustrate this concept. "Infant Joy" describes a child who has no name, but says, "Joy is my name." This name equals reality in an innocent state, because the child knows nothing of the sorrows and trials of life. In contrast, the child in "Infant Sorrow" speaks of "the dangerous world" into which he has leapt. Somehow this child realizes that life is not all "joy" and wishes to climb back into his mother's womb. Once again, neither of these attitudes towards life is favorable by itself. However, if the child from "Infant Joy" realized that there was Evil in the world and the child from "Infant Sorrow" realized that there was Good in the world, both would be better off in the long run.

Throughout his poetry, Blake emphasizes the importance of progression through contraries through the use of his personal mythology. In "Songs of Innocence/Experience," "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," and "The Book of Urizen," he neither decries Evil nor idolizes Reason. By themselves, neither attribute is particularly desirable. Too much Reason leads to inactivity and stagnation and too much Energy will lead to chaos. Instead, both are equally necessary to a peaceful, balanced, and successful existence.