Jerusalem, subtitled The Emanation of the Giant Albion, was the last, longest, and greatest in scope of the prophetic books

William Blake's prophetic books

The prophetic books of the English poet and artist William Blake are a series of difficult and obscure poetic works. While Blake worked as a commercial illustrator, these books were ones that he produced, with his own engravings, as an extended and largely private project...

 written and illustrated by the poet, artist, and engraver William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

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Confusingly, the lyric to Blake's famous hymn, Jerusalem, is not connected to this poem. It is in fact the preface from another of his "prophetic books", Milton: a Poem

Milton: a Poem

Milton a Poem is an epic poem by William Blake, written and illustrated between 1804 and 1810. Its hero is John Milton, who returns from Heaven and unites with Blake to explore the relationship between living writers and their predecessors, and to undergo a mystical journey to correct his own...

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Production technique

The poem, which was produced between 1804 and 1820, consists of 100 etched and illustrated plates. This would be Blake's longest single work. The illustrated plates were made using Blake's self-devised technique of "illuminated printing". This required each copy to be individually coloured and produced plate by plate. Blake was not averse to changing the text of some plates between printings or changing the colouring, as a result of which no two original copies of the poem are the same. The sole extant colour edition of this work is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art

Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...

 in New Haven, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

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Summary of the poem

Jerusalem tells the story of the fall of Albion, Blake's embodiment of man, Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, or the western world

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 as a whole.

The poetic narrative takes the form of a "drama of the psyche

Psyche (psychology)

The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...

", couched in the dense symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

ism of Blake's self-constructed mythology

William Blake's mythology

The prophetic books of the English poet and artist William Blake contain a rich invented mythology , in which Blake worked to encode his revolutionary spiritual and political ideas into a prophecy for a new age. This desire to recreate the cosmos is the heart of his work and his psychology...

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Because it includes a cast of billions, Jerusalem can seem confusing. The poem does not have a linear plot. Characters morph in and out of each other. A character can be a person and a place. Jerusalem, the Emanation of Albion, is a woman and a city. Albion, "the Universal Humanity," is a man and a land (Britain). He contains twelve sons who co-inhere with the twelve tribes of Israel, as well as Four Zoas. Every Zoa (embodying a life principle) has an Emanation (a feminine figure through which the human can become divine). The Zoas and Emanations include:

• Tharmas
  Tharmas
  In the mythological writings of William Blake, Tharmas is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. He represents sensation, and his female counterpart is Enion, who represents sexual urges. He is connected to the God the Father aspect of the...
  
  , the primal man, linked with Enion, an earth mother.
• Urthona
  Urthona
  In the mythological writings of William Blake, Urthona is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. Specifically, he is the Zoa of inspiration and creativity, and he is a blacksmith god. His female counterpart is Enitharmon...
  
  , the spirit of inspiration, embodied in Los, the prophetic artist, who forges a city of art in his furnaces. Enitharmon
  Enitharmon
  Enitharmon is a major female character in William Blake's mythology, playing a main part in some of his prophetic books. She is, but not directly, an aspect of the male Urthona, one of the Four Zoas. She is in fact the Emanation of Los, also male. There is a complex verbal nexus attached. The Zoa...
  
  , his Emanation, weaves beams of beauty.
• Luvah
  Luvah
  In the mythological writings of William Blake, Luvah is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. He represents love, passion, and rebellious energy. His Emanation is Vala; his fallen form is Orc. Throughout Blake's mythological system, he is...
  
  , the "feeling-function" Zoa is Albion's spectre, whose counterpart, Vala, is Jerusalem's shadow. Vala eroticises war.
• Urizen
  Urizen
  In the complex mythology of William Blake, Urizen is the embodiment of conventional reason and law. He is usually depicted as a bearded old man; he sometimes bears architect's tools, to create and constrain the universe; or nets, with which he ensnares people in webs of law and conventional culture...
  
  embodies Reason. Gracious Ahania is his Emanation.

Chapter One: To the Public

Jerusalems first chapter tells the story of Albion's fall into Selfhood. Its overture sets the scene for Los's journey into Albion's interior and humanity's transfiguration in forgiveness of sins. In the first scene Albion banishes Jerusalem and Jesus, blighting nature, culture, and his internal life. Then Los contends with his Spectre, forcing him to work for Albion's restoration. Jerusalem mourns, animating shadowy Vala as Los builds Golgonooza, a city that can open into Edenic Eternity. Urizenic rationality assaults Jerusalem and enshrouds the life of the mind. Los battles against this, mapping Britain onto Israel, but his shadowy Spectre infects him with wrath and shame, stalking Albion's daughters and empowering Albion's warrior sons who banish Jerusalem. Vala tries to seduce Jerusalem. Albion curses them both, and finds himself enmeshed in Vala's deadly veil. He refuses divine forgiveness.

Chapter Two: To the Jews

Blake's Jews co-inhere with bellicose British Druids. In this chapter Los and a host of angelic Eternals attempt to rescue Albion. Los's Spectre and Emanation appear as refugees, fleeing from Albion to tell their version of his fall. Los journeys into Albion's interior where bloodthirsty Vala is worshipped. Then Los sensually constricts Reuben (Albion's son) in an attempt to control his lusts as Jesus imaginatively creates states through which humanity can find forgiveness. Angelmorphic Eternals (cathedral cities) seek to help Albion, but they too get blighted by Selfhood. Los rouses them, but Albion chooses to remain trapped. Vala tramples Jerusalem but wise Erin (Ireland) separates the poem's heroine from Albion in whose body she is infected with bellicose Moral Law.

Chapter Three: To the Deists

Blake's Deists create more violence than the Christianity they critique. When the chapter begins Albion's rational Moral Law infects Los, Albion falls yet again, and Vala's bellicose erotics encompass humanity. Urizen builds what he thinks is a redemptive Druid temple and Jerusalem works in Satanic mills where, infected by industrial chaos and Albion's morality, she can barely perceive Jesus and divine forgiveness. Vala melds with the rational beast, spreading war throughout the world, and her daughters enjoy human sacrifice. The peace of "heavenly Canaan" still hovers above Ulro's chaos, but Los fallibly builds Golgonooza which becomes the structure of "Religion Hid in War." The harlot-dragon reigns.

Chapter Four: To the Christians

Now universal humanity awakens to forgiveness. Jerusalem finally melds love with wrath, confronting shadowy Vala whose daughters weave death. As Los sings, Jerusalem appears tri-locational, emanating angelmorphic and descending as a city and a woman. Sexual contentions obstruct Los' work and Vala thrusts her wrath cup upon Jerusalem who is devoured by the dragon to rise again. Los keeps building, freeing himself from gender disputes. Time ends. The Breath Divine breathes. Albion awakens, and sees that Los is Christ and Christ is Los. He throws himself into Los's fires which become fountains of living water. Fragmented Zoas reunite in wars of love, in the Song of Jerusalem. All living things become a great Divine Body.

External links

• Jerusalem scanned edition at BlakeArchive.org