ErqlJooa %**/tful#/'hn

Dr.'ftr/b
OJ<arct
Reporton Readings:
JJ' ?Trzsvb

1: Is Blakesaylngtwo differentthingswhenhe says,"If the doorsof perceptionwere

cleansedeverything would appearto man asit is, Infinite" (platel4), andwhenhe says,
"Thus men forgot that All deitiesresidein thehumanbreast"(plate11)? Is Blake
primarily interestedin knowingwhat things areas theyreally are , which he seemsto
defineascontainingthe infinite (plate 12)or is he interestedin what thingscouldbe
madeto be like, by the deitiesof our own imagination?Blaketellsus of "Giantswho
formedthis world into its sensualexistenceand[who] now seemto live in chains." The
"chains" aremadeby the "cunningof weakandtameminds"(plate16). Yet Blakehas
removedmountains"(plate
Isaiahtell us that"in agesof imaginationthis firm perswasion
12; emphasismine). Why mountains?-isthis the natureof the chainsmadeby the
cunningof weak andtameminds? A mountainwould seemto be a thing which one
^ \
{fUf."*) 'lnfinite"
might find impossibleto "take in" andyet denyits fi 1sensuousimpact. If the
(
-
5v is expansive,undeniable,uncontainable,energy,is a mountainan apt symbolofthe
infinite? If it is, then is Blake implying that evenif our senseswere cleansedso we could
not be blinded to nature'sfulI sensuouscharacter,so we would be like "the ancientPoets
Who animatedall sensibleobjectswith Godsor Geniuses,calling themby the namesand
adomingthem with the propertiesofwoods, rivers, mountains,lakes,cities, nations,and
whatevertheir enlargedandnumeroussensescould percievfj' Olate I 1; ernphasismine),
that we could move or rqrlace eventhis "larger" understanifingof things in the world,
with somethinggreater?Is Blake telling us what we would perceivewith enlargedand
numeroussenses?He seemsto. Doesthis leavethe act of animatinginto a kind of
passive,automaticactivity, that follows oncewe haveaccuratelypercievedthe true
t natureof things? It seernsto-yet this seetnsto offer us a limited conceptionof
,\ . I *a
i-"ei*,io* whereit serves'lnerely''to recogrize'?latonic" forms/tre "one thougltt
:.?. _ l\
{ ( ,, tsN [that] fills immensity''(plate l0) is God's thoughtor our own. If it is God's, then our
'{\^ea
purposeshouldbe to assignappropriatenamesto objects,like a'lnountain", that take
into considerationtheir God-givensensualproperties.Ifis our own thought,might we
t\4)
.'_ \ ^r
i-u8rt" it asmoving mountains?Doesit matterhow many senseswe have,andhow
*rr \' (' ^V
t"' cleanthey are,ifwe havean energeticimagination?
't d '{'"
\'
,\",\ .. \
e* .- fvAr'-
\J
^e" \..t \
u 1.-l'
 'lYanityolflumanWishes"wastakenin light
#2: I amcuriousto knowhowJohnson's
Fabteof theBrr(:f,{;d!:,K{-x?ti"ututing
of Mandeville's thatthebusyhive--a
metaphor which seemsto be apt for Johnson's survey of mankind. Johnson,like
Mandeville, observes"How rarely reasonguides the stubborn choice" (line I 1), but
Mandeville believes that, contra Johnson, that taken 'fuith [an] extensiveview," (line 1)
there is a kind of order formed out of the chaos: it builds a wealthy, successfulstate.
/
Hume argued something similar, where luxury seizedto be something (someoneactually-
-a insatiable woman) which ruined statesand insteadprovided the funding to sustain an

armed force more protective of a nation, than a Spartannation of men-at-arms.

#3: I agreewith your own experiencethat I will need to re-readmany of these longer
poems before I can fairly say that I have read them: theseare very "thick" imaginative
worlds. Yet, after my first reading of "Vanity" my first, and continuing feeling, isto end
the journey--Napofelnf Johnsonis akin to Blake's Swedenborgangel in that he seemto
want to end our own journey; he clearly doesnot believe that "the road of excels leads to
the palaceof wisdom" (pluf 7). Or doeshe? He could only tell us of the consequences
of desiresafter some acquaitancewith them. Is is that he "observes" and not
desire?eerh$swhatJohnson
"experience" woulddttJfi:f\is Blake'sproverbof
Hell: geluno desires
but actsnotbreedspestil httffy t[rd, ,horrldI explore
"n"t.
Johnson'sexpansivecreation.I guessit dependson whetherI agreewith Blakethat
"The eagleneverlost somuchtime, aswhenhe submittedto learnof the crow" (plate
10). And if, evenif it agreewith this, I mustdecideif Johnsonmorea crow thanan
in between.
eagle--orsomewhere