From: blake-d-request@albion.com Sent: Sunday, October 27, 1996 1:15 PM To: blake-d@albion.com Subject: blake-d Digest V1996 #118 ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blake-d Digest Volume 1996 : Issue 118 Today's Topics: Re: Blake's apparent misogyny. Song is in the air! RCPT: Blake hostile to women? No. Re: Blake's apparent misogyny Blake Chess Set Blake Chess Set Unconventional idea? blake's apparent misogyny Introduction Re: Song is in the air! Re: Unconventional idea? Re: Introduction Re: Introduction Re:Tom's reply of 25 October Re: Unconventional idea? Re: Blake Chess Set Re: Re:Tom's reply of 25 October Re: Re: Avery Gaskins on Tom's reply of 25 October Unconventional idea - continued Blur Re: purported Blakean hostility toward women Blake sighting: Emily Hubley's "Blake Ball" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 03:35:55 -0300 (ADT) From: Karen Ward To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Blake's apparent misogyny. Message-Id: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Wed, 23 Oct 1996, Nikhil Madan wrote: > > While a few contributors to this group have pointed out that > Blake had to make use of cultural archetypes in order to > communicate effectively about gender equality, I wonder if this is really > the case. Doing so would surely place Blake as a product of his age (i.e. > sexist). Isn't it the great visionaries who refuse to bow to societal > convention, and instead make everyone else conform to their ideals? By > making use of cultural archetypes, Blake shows himself to toe the > party-line, on this issue at least. > I agree with this, with some reservations. Blake draws our attention to 'mind-forgd manacles', which I read as something like ideology, and he's not immune from it. His representation of women seems to fall into this category. It's upsetting to read Blake as (shock!) an eighteenth-century guy, but there it is. But there are problems with being as general as I've just been (or trying to be general with Blake at all). I mean, I see (& read) most of _Visions_ as liberationist, a response to Wollstencraft, an indictment of colonialist and slavery, but I'm distressed by Oothoon's closing speech, when she offers Theotormon a bunch of other women to make him happy. And in _Milton_: what about Ololon? Ideas about the feminine in Storch's book are perhaps helpful here, as are Volger's in "Re:Naming MIL/TON". But it's incredibly complex and wildly contradictory, although I'd love to discuss it. Karen Ward P.S. By the way, I haven't introduced myself. I'm a masters' student in English at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At present, I'm not dealing with Blake in classes or in my ap-parent (I like that) thesis, but that may change. I've been feeling a bit Blake-depleted lately; it may just be withdrawl symptoms. In my last year as an undergraduate, I took a seminar course on Blake's prophetic works and became, most likely, hooked. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 13:16:33 +0100 From: dpvintin@acpub.duke.edu (David Vintinner) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Song is in the air! Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The liturgical bounder from North Carolina lives and breathes! Song is in the air, and Golgonooza is being built - semiquaver by semiquaver! So here, through the backdoor to Eden, is another hymn - no pastiche this time - drawn loosely from Job 38 and 39. Now before there's any ruffled feathers and dented angels, I should say that within your hallowed hall, there lurks one amongst your number (who shall remain nameless, but eternally thanked for private help regarding my last 'creation') who thought some of you's might enjoy this song too. It's on a rollicking good Blake theme, but for all that, there's none of the hell-on-earth feel of the Job that Blake paints. It's not intended to be a hymn about Job though, nor a comment on Blake this time...just uses the biblical text as a departure point for a good solid romp of a hymn. Who was it said 'hymns are great fun'? Anyway, for the gradual building of Golgonooza, and for the good of the soul of the Blake list... the Name (Tune: St Patrick's Breastplate) Who summons dawn to greet each hill, Bidding the moon to skirt the earth? Who breaks each wave upon the strand, And bids the womb to stretch at birth? Who weaves the play of light and dark, And walks alone the ocean's depth? Who spins the world and spans all time, And teaches life to trust in death? Is there a father of the dew, Bathing each forest in his gleam? Midwife, and mother of the frost, Whose breast supplies each frozen stream? Who tells the lightning when to leap, And gives the note that thunder sounds? Who holds the rains within her hand, Yet stoops to kiss all arid ground? Come tell me now, whose are the stars, Shaping the shining Bear in pace? Who gives the Hunter hunting ground, Or the Seven Sisters breathing space? Come tell me now, who stirs the horse To ride the wind with flashing mane? Who stripes the earth with furling wheat And scatters grace to seed the grain? Who tends the crying of the deer, Shielding its young from fierce attack? Who sets the desert donkey free, Yet paints a cross upon its back? Who wings in flight the migrant hawk, And sheds a tear for eagle's prey? Who sharpens nature's tooth and claw To stain life red in frenzied fray? Who shall we name that risks each thing, Knowing all things, yet known the least? Who stirs in wonderment every child, Each puzzled prophet and windswept priest? Now hear the stormbound answer quake, And watch the dust around us shake! Behold, I Am, beyond compare, Whose Name in truth none dare declare! c.1996 Giles-David (liturgist and improper Blake scholar) ............................................................................... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 16:43:18 +0000 From: "bambi@usa1.com" To: blake@albion.com Subject: RCPT: Blake hostile to women? No. Message-Id: <9610252044.AA07040@uu6.psi.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Confirmation of reading: your message - Date: 23 Oct 96 13:34 To: blake@albion.com Subject: Blake hostile to women? No. Was read at 16:43, 25 Oct 96. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 21:17:45 -0500 From: tomdill@wc.stephens.edu (TOM DILLINGHAM) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Blake's apparent misogyny Message-Id: <96102521174520@wc.stephens.edu> With all due respect to Lance, I would like to point out a troublesome tendency to use the passive voice (as in "the prophetic works are presumed to be . . . not tied to the whims of culture") and the unearned and non specific "we" (as in "We presume the same about Blake"); in both cases, these statements generalize (and indicated a more pervasive generalization common to this posting and an earlier one) that I find unwarranted. Say "I think" if that is what you think, and take responsibility for what you say in stead of suggesting that you can pontificate ex cathedra about what people in general think about Blake. In fact, reading any of Blake as though he "transcends" his time and place and profession and class is to move in the direction of all those filmy spirits we keep hearing about, avoiding and violating what Blake makes abundantly clear about himself throughout he writing--that he is profoundly involved in his time and place (as indeed is *any real prophet* who is not just dabbling in spirit-rapping and "new age" sophistry and channeling fraudulence, and as indeed is *any real artist* who is not merely dabbling in idle reconstruction of past artifacts for the carriage trade) and earns his artistic greatness through long and arduous labor (metaphorically at the forge, or in the printing house of hell, in fact in front of a copper plate with a burin and at the press) sometimes rewarded with the flashes of imaginative insight that reveals not a ghostly world outside reality but a deeper understanding of that reality, not a fantasy world of innocence before physical existence but the eternal tension of contraries that are *never balanced* but always in conflict as they must be unless all existence is to cease. Enthusiasm for Blake is a grand and sometimes inevitable thing, but one's own vaporings sometimes masquerade as Blakean enthusiasm and then one must hope very hard that one really is his equal as an artist to justify the substitution of one's own for his creations. Tom Dillingham ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 23:10:43, -0500 From: LVDP51A@prodigy.com ( PAUL SCANLON) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Blake Chess Set Message-Id: <199610260310.XAA03576@mime4.prodigy.com> Brandon, I would have to agree with Elisa's recommendations. It sounds like even if you kept the same number of pieces and improvised on their movements you could practically write volumes on the criteria of choosing characters and their movements. -- If I could suggest one additional character from Blake's etchings: perhaps Laocoon and Job as the bishops (even though Job would probably move only in circles of protection and Laocoon could only move so far). Keep us updated! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 00:04:32, -0500 From: LNAQ30A@prodigy.com (MR BRANDON M KAIN) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Blake Chess Set Message-Id: <199610260404.AAA24950@mime4.prodigy.com> Thank you for your recommendations. I was thinking about what your idea that one could re-interpret the traditional piece capabilites to correspond with their personalities. This is an interesting and radical concept. I remember reading about an early chess player who stated that the game could be made to play more quickly if one was to create two additional pieces, the first being a character with the same capabilities as a knight and a queen, and the second having the powers of a knight and a bishop. I don't have a clue as to how this could work, but I do believe that it would provide fodder for an interesting experiment. I must confess, however, that I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to chess; I had a hard time deciding to adopt Blake figures over staunton ones for my set. If you could come up with a theory as to how one might change the game to suit Blake's philosophy, while still preserving chess' potential for infinite variation, it would result in something quite remarkable. Any ideas as to how this could be done, as well as additional recommendations for pieces (and where to find editions that have good representations of them) would be most welcome. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 13:22:51 +0100 From: Jen Shepherd To: blake@albion.com Subject: Unconventional idea? Message-Id: <3272029B.26C9@bigfoot.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello again! I haven't spoken for a while, I've just been listening in really. Welcome to those new members (although I'm still quite new here myself). I was talking with some friends the other day, about the Songs of Innocence and Experience, and we had the Smashing Pumpkins album on in the background. This is a two part album, the first is entitled 'Dawn to Dusk' and the second is 'Twilight to Starlight' - and it struck me that there were similarities (to some extent) between the album and Blake's Songs. Anyway, I don't know how open you will be to this idea, or even if any of you have heard the album, so I won't go into detail unless some positive interest is shown. On the subject (not mentioned so long ago) of bands recording Blake's songs - the British band 'Blur' once recorded a version of "A Poison Tree". (I think perhaps with the mention of these two bands, I'm showing my age!) Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 96 12:45:23 CDT From: lance massey To: blake@albion.com Subject: blake's apparent misogyny Message-Id: <9610261752.AA28638@uu6.psi.com> Tom Dillingham does indeed give me the respect that is due me in his response, which points out a tendency of mine that has gotten me in trouble in the past-- to generalize and to use the collective voice. As a master's student I do not always have the wisdom to keep quiet when I'm overmatched. So much for cutting my critical teeth. Lance. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 14:15:49 -0400 From: JOHN <106165.613@compuserve.com> To: BLAKE Subject: Introduction Message-Id: <199610261416_MC1-B58-5220@compuserve.com> Hello all, just a note to say a bit about me: No great intellectual quest here, I am just one of a large band of people who appreciates Blake's work. That is appreciation with no frills, I dont pretend to "understand" much of it, always assuming that it was ever intended to be "understood". I wish I knew just a few of the obscure references made in some of the poems so I could enjoy the more hidden jokes and comments I know are there. Without the benefit of a university education I have never had the time to study the works in detail but, much to the amusement of some of my colleages I have been known to drag out my dog eared 'complete works' during a lunch hour etc. The artistic stuff is a joy to me, though Im sure it was never meant to be separated from the words, and I can be seen lurking in the halls of the Tate gallery whenever something is on show. Pity they only show bits and pieces, I know they have huge collection. Is that enough?? ATB John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 17:42:17 -0400 From: TomD3456@aol.com To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Song is in the air! Message-Id: <961026174217_132963124@emout13.mail.aol.com> David- I like this hymn much better than the last. The sounds are fine, the sense usually also there. Only one section really seemed a bit strained: Come tell me now, whose are the stars, Shaping the shining Bear in pace? Who gives the Hunter hunting ground, Or the Seven Sisters breathing space? I can't easily understand what this means. Is "in pace" a typo for "in place"? -- "in space"? -- Ahh! "Shaping the shining Bear in space": I'll bet that's what you meant. If not, I think you should consider it. But then you may have to rework the Seven Sisters' breathing space, unless you can accept a "space-space" rhyme. Hmm... Well, I'm not too convinced about the inevitability of "breathing space" as an attribute of the Pleiades either, so I guess I'd give that more thought anyway. Just my 2 cents. --Tom Devine ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 19:20:30 -0300 (ADT) From: Karen Ward To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Unconventional idea? Message-Id: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sat, 26 Oct 1996, Jen Shepherd wrote: > Anyway, I don't know how open you will be to this idea, or even if any > of you have heard the album, so I won't go into detail unless some > positive interest is shown. > > On the subject (not mentioned so long ago) of bands recording Blake's > songs - the British band 'Blur' once recorded a version of "A Poison > Tree". (I think perhaps with the mention of these two bands, I'm showing > my age!) Billy Bragg also has a track called 'Blake's Jerusalem', which includes the hymn and some other Blake-inspired things. I don't own the Pumpkins' _Mellon Collie_ album (yet), but I'd like to hear more about this. Karen Ward ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 15:54:41 -0700 From: reillys@ix.netcom.com (susan p. reilly) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Introduction Message-Id: <199610262254.PAA28608@dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com> Hi, John, Welcome to the Blake list. I liked your introduction very much. I'm sure if you jotted down some of the references that are puzzling you, the collective annotated editions of others at albion.com could be plumbed for obscure allusions and what-not. So fire away! It sounds like fun. Susan ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 15:57:38 -0700 From: reillys@ix.netcom.com (susan p. reilly) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Introduction Message-Id: <199610262257.PAA15019@dfw-ix2.ix.netcom.com> P.S. You mentioned the Tate Gallery. Where you writing from? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 16:15:18 -0700 From: reillys@ix.netcom.com (susan p. reilly) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re:Tom's reply of 25 October Message-Id: <199610262315.QAA19943@dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com> Great stuff in your message about the nature of the artist. In spite of the (relatively) recent Marxist and New-Historical rethinking of the enabling circumstance which makes possible the production of art, there is something about Blake the renegade, the outsider, going it alone, without benefit of formal education, largely ignored and even scorned, that is truly marvelous for the "struggle-for-art" it represents... S. Reilly ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1996 23:58:44 -0400 From: AGater1038@aol.com To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Unconventional idea? Message-Id: <961026235843_341386782@emout09.mail.aol.com> Jen, What songs of the Smashing Pumpkins would you be refering to? I would like to listen to them. Also was the song by Blur called "A Poison Tree" or did it have a different title? - Anita ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 01:10:02 -0400 From: AGater1038@aol.com To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Blake Chess Set Message-Id: <961027011002_1746274597@emout14.mail.aol.com> Brandon, Some inexpensive facsimile representations of Blake's works from Dover Publications, Inc. are as follows: 'Blake's "America: A Prophecy" and "Europe: A Prophecy" / Facsimile Reproductions of Two Illuminated Books With 35 Plates in Full Color.' (48pp.) Dover 0-486-24548-9 $7.95. 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell / In Full Color.' (43pp.) Dover 0-486-28122-1 $4.95 'Songs of Innocence' (64pp.) Dover 0-486-22764-2 $4.95 'Songs of Experience: Facsimile Reproduction with 26 Plates in Full Color.' (48pp.) Dover 0-486-24636-1 $4.95 Also - You can get a free catalogue (specify area of interest - ie. literature/fine art) from Dover Publications at the following address: Dept. 23, Dover Publications, Inc. 31 East 2nd Street Mineola, NY 11501 In my opinion, the greatest representation of Urizen is the fronticepiece for Europe. I also like the representation of Urizen on plate 8 of America, although here he is not as grandly depicted as in Europe. However, an interesting pose for Urizen to take as a chess piece would be as he is depicted on plate 22 of Urizen "The Immortal endur'd his chains,/Tho' bound in a deadly sleep." Just an idea. . . - Anita ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 09:52:23 -0500 (EST) From: "Avery F. Gaskins" To: Subject: Re: Re:Tom's reply of 25 October Message-Id: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: Text/plain; charset=US-ASCII My former mentor, Russell Noyes at Indiana University, used to give an illus- trated talk to the general public as well as to academics in which he fit Blake into the general company of visionaries. He addressed both poets and artists and his illustations ranged from the middle ages to C20. Unfortunately, I did not take notes and I don't think the text and slides have been preserved. His major thesis was that visionaries display similar ways of giving shape to their visions that transcend cultural conditioning. I can't remember what he said about the poets, but do remember much of what he said about artists. Many of his illustrations were from folk artists as well as formally trained ones. Some of the points of similarities for artists were these: 1. A fondness for the colors purple and red, even when painting landscapes; 2. A fondness for distorting familiar shapes; and 3. a fondness for decorating the paintings with symbols from the zodiac and astral bodies. Just recently, I viewed the paint- ings of an Appalachian folk artist who calls herself a visionary. The aspects were all there. One painting was a hayfield. The open spaces and haystacks were in varying shades of purple, and the background sky was a light red. The shapes were all distorted and at varying spots in the sky were the sun, half-moon, and her particular sign. There may have been others; I can't recall. I have looked at many other similar paintings, so this is not an isolated experience. I hope I have not angered the New Historicists, but I'm convinced the theory is a correct one. Avery Gaskins ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 09:20:55 -0800 From: reillys@ix.netcom.com (susan p. reilly) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: Re: Avery Gaskins on Tom's reply of 25 October Message-Id: <199610271720.JAA05992@dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com> Thanks, Avery, for the interesting bit on visionary poetics and art. I took a quick excursion through OCLC and an on-line database of journal publications and didn't see anything on the subject by Noyes, or anyone else for that matter. His observations do seem to support the argument that there may extra-cultural forces at work which transcend the influence of civilization --a kind of Ur-vision that proliferates in diverse times and places even among those who presumably have little or no access to the Tradition. I admit that I am always skeptical of such claims. The influence of civilization--Eastern, Western, or otherwise--has ways of penetrating the consciousness by relatively unquantifiable means--self-education, of course, the permutations into other cultures and the culture-at-large, and the rise in literacy and the upswing in availabilty of printed matter, both of which exploded in the Age of Romanticism. One wonders how much "outside" any tradition it is ultimately possible to be. Apply that to modern circumstance with its absolute bombardment of the media to nearly every corner, and the question grows very complex indeed. On the other hand, apply the same set of criteria to the Middle Ages, and the caveat may no longer be valid. But then, who was Noyes naming among his medieval visionaries?? Perhaps they did indeed have access to some of the self-same material which keeps popping up again and again through the ages---the beastiary, for example. Just thinking aloud, and yes, I do remember that it was I who initially ran the mystique-of-the-artist flag up the pole! At any rate, good thoughts for a Sunday morning, and thanks for raising a subject that I hope will stimulate some dabate and good "talk." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 16:52:32 +0000 From: Jen Shepherd To: blake@albion.com Subject: Unconventional idea - continued Message-Id: <32739350.53C5@bigfoot.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thanks to those who replied! My idea is not yet a complete one, which is why I thought I=92d discuss them with as many people as possible. Because of this, it=92s still full of holes - feel free to =91pick=92 at them, it=92s what I was hoping for,= but please let it be in a constructive way! Firstly, the transition through different periods of the day, i.e. "Dawn to Dusk" and "Twilight to Starlight". This makes me think of the day representing the whole life of an individual, with the morning representing early (Innocent) childhood, and the night-time representing the older age of Experience. It may, alternatively, represent the entire time of mankind as a whole, on this Earth, i.e. morning - Eden; evening - a kind of judgement day. There are numerous examples of the day representing a life, in =91Songs=92. For example, in =91Ah! Sunflower=92 the aspiring sunflower is one "who countest the steps of the Sun", and in "The Ecchoing Green" this representation is also used. Although they appear, to me, to have a similar theme, they also have some differing aspects within that theme. For example, =91Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness=92 (Smashing Pumpkins) as the name would suggest= , shows a more pessimistic view than that of Blake, who allows for some hope - i.e. =91Introduction=92 (Exp) warns of what could be, but also giv= es the chance to change away from the present course - though only "till the break of day". =91Mellon Collie=92 suggests to me that innocence is not always a good thing, as innocence to me includes ignorance, which despite the saying isn=92t always bliss. To quote from =91Dawn to Dusk=92 - "despite all my = rage, I am still just a rat in cage" - an image of being trapped by one=92s own lack of knowledge, like being the subject of some cruel experiment (such as lab rats can be used for) where you learn through the pain of experience. To keep experiencing the pain of failure with no reward for success (or perhaps no success in the first place) is likely to cause a rage - of resentment perhaps, or maybe a drive to try again through desperate violent means. The fact that we have an awareness of something out there to be learnt (and therefore we aren=92t truly innocent) means that we cannot be conten= t and happy with what we have - kind of like seeing the apple in Eden, and becoming obsessed with plots to get it for ourselves. In this way, true innocence doesn=92t last long; at a very early age we begin to lose it - perhaps a reference to the increasing material desires of humans, which even include those of children - a contrast to the symbolic children of innocence in Blake=92s =91Songs=92. To quote =91= Mellon Collie=92 once more - "I=92ve known my loss, before I=92ve even learnt to speak". Blake shows a more balanced and harmonious view of both the painful and the rewarding sides of experience, which appears as a more optimistic view. Blake=92s =91Introduction=92 (Exp) may be taken as a call for rebellion i= n some way - as far as changing the present course goes. =91Twilight to Starlight=92 on the other hand, sometimes gets to the stage of apathy, as if we have given up due to the futility of our "rage". This acceptance suggests that it has been decided that there is no point to rebellion as it has already happened, which is a contrast to the looking toward the future of the Prophet. This may be a reflection of the growing apathetic attitude amongst some people today; in this way, it too may be considered a warning, that time is running out and still little is being done. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 16:55:15 +0000 From: Jen Shepherd To: blake@albion.com Subject: Blur Message-Id: <327393F3.451D@bigfoot.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Anita I'm not sure about the actual title, there is an added chorus in Blur's version which mentions magpies - so it may be called 'Magpies'! Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 12:51:40 -0500 From: TomD3456@aol.com To: blake@albion.com Subject: Re: purported Blakean hostility toward women Message-Id: <961027125140_1213988114@emout20.mail.aol.com> Avery's recent remark on Blake's post-Apocalyptic world leads me to ask, Where does Blake describe the "post-Apocalyptic" world as all-male? Indeed, where does he describe it? Here are some lines from Jerusalem: Los says, "Sexes must vanish & cease/ To be when Albion arises from his dread repose" (J 92:13). A bit earlier, Jerusalem tells Vala, "Humanity is far above/ Sexual organization: & the Visions of the Night of Beulah/ Where Sexes wander in dreams of bliss among the Emanations..." (J 79:73). So that would seem to mean that there is neither male nor female after the Apocalypse (= in Eden? =in Eternity?), but Human Forms Divine. That seems to confirm that Blake's view of human souls is egalitarian: whether male or female, they are essentially Human. Blake's illustrations, however, show both males and females, even in presumably "post-Apocalyptic" scenes: On plate 99, Jerusalem and Albion embrace in flames -- a male and a female. On the next plate, Los is shown along with Enitharmon and the Spectre of Urthona (at least that's who Erdman thinks they are) -- two males and a female. So what does that tell us? Perhaps only that there is never an imaginable "post-Apocalyptic world," only moments of inspiration, at least during this earthly life. This all brings up the question, What is the nature of Blake's mythic characters? I'll try to float some ideas about that in a separate post. For now, I'll just say that I think we should beware of the equation Emanation=Female. The phrase, "Where Sexes wander in dreams of bliss among the Emanations..." (J 79:73), suggests that the Emanations are something different from the Sexes. And then there is "Shiloh, the Masculine Emanation among the Flowers of Beulah" (J 49:45). --Tom Devine ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 14:12:35 -0600 From: jmichael@seraph1.sewanee.edu (J. Michael) To: blake@albion.com Subject: Blake sighting: Emily Hubley's "Blake Ball" Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" A colleague of mine who teaches film suggested I see "Blake Ball," a short animated film by Emily Hubley made in 1988. (It's on a tape called _The Hubley Collection, vol. 1_.) The blurb says that it explores Blake's writing and art "through the medium of baseball," but it's actually more complex than that. The governing metaphor is baseball: she apparently got the idea from comparing the nine Nights to the nine innings. I don't know how useful I find the analogy, because I don't think of Blake's myth as being comparable to a game of that sort, unless it's the conflict between Energy and Reason, but even there, it's not a matter of one side "winning." But then again, I'm not one of baseball's true believers. Anyway, she does some very interesting things with Blake's myth, incorporating elements from other works such as the _Marriage_ and _America_ as well as the full-length prophecies. (In one scene, a tiger of wrath pitches the ball to a horse of instruction.) Her childlike drawings often imitate specific images of Blake's, but she also illustrates scenes that he only describes verbally. I found it quite enjoyable and thought-provoking, but I wonder if it would be accessible to people who didn't already know Blake's work. Has anyone else here seen it? Jennifer Michael -------------------------------- End of blake-d Digest V1996 Issue #118 **************************************