Blog Post 4

Creating my own topic, which is: “My translation and interpretation of one of William Blake’s, ‘Proverbs of Hell’.”

The Proverb I chose is:

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.
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 fox condemns the trap, not himself.
Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.
Let man wear the fell of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep.
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.
The selfish smiling fool, & the sullen frowning fool, shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod.
What is now proved was once, only imagin’d.
The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.
The cistern contains; the fountain overflows.
One thought, fills immensity.
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth.
The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow.

“Plate 8.” (gailgastfield, n.d.).

My Rendition

Fettered by one of my Brethren, Selling what is mine but is not mine.
That which wears its beauty yet is humble, is Divine intention.
What is provided to satisfy, without being begged for, is Divine intention.
The furious power one possesses, yet wields appropriately, reflects Divine intention.
What humanly body society deems unseemly to display, to speak of, is still a piece of art.
An abundance of despair is ludicrous; and yet, one can laugh ’til one cries.
The warlike nature of wildlife, the uncontrollable fury of Mother Nature, and humanity’s tendency towards self-destruction, are splashed over many pages of history books –
And yet, comprehension dawns not on the sphere of humanity.
Hold contempt not for yourself, but for those who lead you to your Fall.
Let yourself enjoy your time. (But remember, there may be dark consequences if you “let yourself go.”)
Men dress themselves in a suit of bravery,
Women drape themselves with the silks of innocence,
Peace is found in homes with warm hearths, Liars trap themselves in their webs of lies… One human needs another.
Those who are empty fountains, continually puffing out air, shall be thought as watering thirsts for knowledge, that they may puff away, ineffective.
What was once left a thought (because ’twas horrid), is now a reality.
The humble, because meek, grovel; the territorial, because daring, lunge for the prize.
What serves to contain can only hold; but find an opening, and all flows out.
Envelop all of Space with just a single Profound Thought.
Dare to voice your thoughts with passion, and command those who dare not.
A possibility conceived by the mind may be achieved by the hands.
May your aim be true – but do not while away time aiming.

“Female Archer with Horse.” (Archery Toronto, 2013.)

My Interpretation

This particular Proverb of Blake’s was the one I found most intriguing, because although it is meant to be a Proverb of Hell, I actually identified a few aspects of humanity in it. This led me to see why Blake thought humans could imprison themselves by themselves (either mentally, physically, and so on).

Evidently, the first line planted this idea (that is, self-imprisonment). While the Hellish connotations of being locked away is conveyed, I also saw that yes, laws are necessary, but they also lead to confinement of the human will. I tried to capture this sense of backfiring of good intentions in the frustrating connotation of “Fettered”, combined with the restlessness of the seemingly contradictory, “what is mine but is not mine”.

The next main idea I came to in Blake’s “Proverb” was the idea that although something might seem sinful, if it was created by God, then it might not necessarily be sinful. Pride, lust, wrath, temptation… I explored these themes in my rendition, putting my spin on Blake’s “Proverbs”, by expressing the idea that if the Divine Being (whomsoever He or She is) created something so beautiful that it should have the right to be proud of, then as long as it does not throw itself into others’ sights with the intention of “showing off”, then there is no harm done. This concept that: “What is there was meant to be there”, continues over the next couple of lines.

However, I thought I’d add in a contemporary issue, that being: “body shaming”. Now, I will not only say this in relation to females, but males too. There is nothing “wrong” with how a person is made. To anyone out there who reads this, “You” are YOU, which includes everything that YOU have naturally: from your mind to your body.

I believe the next couple of lines are self-explanatory: you can be overwhelmed by so much despair that it seems depressingly funny (in a cynical way). And yet, you can find something so hilarious that you cry.

The next few lines revolve around the idea I brought up in the tutorial, which is the idea of history repeating itself. I went further into it here, saying that “comprehension dawns not on the sphere of humanity”, meaning that humans rarely learn from their mistakes.

While in Blake’s “Proverbs”, I think the next few lines encourage one to be selfish and indulgent, I changed them into warnings in my rendition. Again, being influenced by contemporary issues rather than those of Blake’s time, I wanted to change those lines, and use them to instead communicate the idea that a person can enjoy themself, but be careful whilst doing so.

The next few lines mainly deal with vanity (that is how I interpreted it), which is why I ended with the simple fact that one “human needs another”, so to keep one another in check. There is only so much you can do by yourself.

In Blake’s “Proverbs”, I think what comes next is pretty nasty, as I saw it to mean that if people cannot say something intelligent, they should be given empty compliments, so that, being gratified and given the impression that they are intelligent, they will fall silent. I tried to convey this euphemistically through the metaphor of a fountain just puffing out air instead of water…

The next profound line is: “The cistern contains; the fountain overflows.” I read it as a metaphor for the encouragement of people to express their opinions, instead of holding them in. I think Blake has quite a beautiful way of saying this.

“One thought, fills immensity”, a simple line that captures its meaning perfectly. I like how it embodies the purpose of poems too: how a piece of work can contain so many dimensions and complexities, in so few lines. It also brings to mind the feeling that a human is just such a small feature of the greater universe.

The last three lines are pure joy to read and interpret! I forgot that I was reading (supposedly) “Proverbs of Hell”, because they seem like positive motivational lines! Basically, I interpreted them as: take the opportunity when it presents itself, because opportunities hardly repeat themselves.

The image I have chosen to accompany my rendition is one of a female archer, with a background which consists of Nature and a horse. This is because while the female has a feminine physique, and is clad in “pure” white, she possesses masculine elements in wielding an arrow (which also links to the final line of both Blake’s and my own poem). Moreover, the dark colours reflects the negative connotation of “Hell”, yet there it still evokes an uplifting mood (in me, at least).

… I haven’t had time to enjoy analysing a poem in so long. Thank you, Michael!

Works Cited
Archery Toronto. “Female Archer with Horse.” Image. Blogger. Blog, 2013. Web. 21 Aug 2015.
gailgastfield. “Plate 8.” Image. gailgastfield. Website, n.d. Web. 21 Aug 2015.
Johnson, Mary Lynn, and John, E. Grant. Blake’s Poetry and Designs: Illuminated Works, Other Writings, Criticism. Second Edition. New York: Norton, 2008.