Page:The prophetic books of William Blake, Milton.djvu/68

 In Self annihilation giving thy life to thy enemies.

Are those who contemn Religion & seek to annihilate it

Become in their Femin[in]e portions the causes & promoters

Of these Religions, how is this thing: this Newtonian Phantasm,

This Voltaire & Rousseau: this Hume & Gibbon & Bolingbroke:

This Natural Religion; this impossible absurdity?

Is Ololon the cause of this? O where shall I hide my face?

These tears fall for the little ones, the Children of Jerusalem,

Lest they be annihilated in thy annihilation.

No sooner she had spoke but Rahab Babylon appear'd

Eastward upon the Paved work across Europe & Asia,

Glorious as the midday Sun in Satan's bosom glowing:

A Female hidden in a Male, Religion hidden in War,

Nam'd Moral Virtue: cruel two-fold Monster shining bright,

A Dragon red & hidden Harlot which John in Patmos saw.

And all beneath the Nations innumerable of Ulro

Appear'd, the Seven Kingdoms of Canaan & Five Baalim

Of Philistea into Twelve divided, call'd after the Names

Of Israel: as they are in Eden. Mountain, River & Plain,

City & sandy Desart intermingled beyond mortal ken.

But turning toward Ololon in terrible majesty Milton

Replied: Obey thou the Words of the Inspired Man.

All that can be (can be) annihilated must be annihilated

That the Children of Jerusalem may be saved from slavery.

There is a Negation, & there is a Contrary:

The Negation must be destroy'd to redeem the Contraries.

The Negation is the Spectre: the Reasoning Power in Man:

This is a false Body: an Incrustation over my Immortal

Spirit; a Selfhood which must be put off & annihilated alway,

To cleanse the Face of my Spirit by Self-examination:

P. 43 TO bathe in the waters of Life: to wash off the Not Human.

I come in Self-annihilation & the grandeur of Inspiration,

To cast off Rational Demonstration by Faith in the Saviour,

To cast off the rotten rags of Memory by Inspiration,

To cast off Bacon, Locke & Newton from Albion's covering,

To take off his filthy garments & clothe him with Imagination,

To cast aside from Poetry, all that is not Inspiration

That it no longer shall dare to mock with the aspersion of Madness,

Cast on the Inspired by the tame high finisher of paltry Blots: 44