Page:Works of William Blake; poetic, symbolic, and critical (1893) Volume 2.djvu/43

 Rh life is to be lived. They are counterparts to "Mary," and to the "Visions of the Daughters of Albion," where Oothoon is another name for Mary. The "Golden Net" is the story of "pity seeking dominion " in another form. lb belongs, as the "Crystal Cabinet," to the life of Vala who is here seen, not as one virgin three-fold, but as three. The region of the three, it will be noticed, are East, North, West. The Net was disguised in gold to make it seem to be of the South. The idea is, — catch the eye and the man is caught. "What we look on we become."

"Scoffers" belongs to the "Grain of Sand in Lambeth." It explains itself in connection with the symbols in "Jerusalem."

The points of the compass in "Day-break" suggest the journey of Los. He leaves the North, goes through the "terrible East," sees the wars of Urizen and Luvah, and foretells the regeneration of Urizen when he shall arise like the lion in the "Songs of Innocence," whose eyes flowed with golden tears. The Western Path is that towards Eden — outwards every way — in Imagination, and is not here the region of Tharmas, in an evil, dark, vegetative sense. The "Thames and Ohio" are to be read by their regions only, as East and West, in the sense of Void and Eden, or Urizen and the innocent Tharmas.

"Young Love" naturally precedes "William Bond" and might be put into his mouth at the beginning of his story. Passing by "Riches," only noting that world, devil and earthly kings are used as equivalents, and passing "Opportunity" as containing no symbolic enigma, and "Seed-sowing "with the reference to the sowing by Urizen in the ninth book of "Vala" — and passing "Barren Blossom," with the note that it mnst be read with "Milton," extra page 3, we come to "Night and Day," and find ourselves in the presence of the subject of William Bond turned the other way up. Here is no Mary Green, nor Oothoon. Her place is taken by Rahab, the "harlot coy." This is the truth whose contemplation led William Bond into the error of failing to perceive that when seen from another