The Portable Blake

by William Blake

  And the Accuser standing by

  Cried out, “Crucify! Crucify!

  Our Moral Virtues ne’er can be,

  Nor Warlike pomp & Majesty;

  For Moral Virtues all begin

  In the Accusations of Sin,

  And all the Heroic Virtues End

  In destroying the Sinners’ Friend.

  Am I not Lucifer the Great,

  And you my daughters in Great State,

  The fruit of my Mysterious Tree

  Of Good & Evil & Misery

  And Death & Hell, which now begin

  On everyone who Forgives Sin?”

  a

  The Vision of Christ that thou dost see

  Is my Vision’s Greatest Enemy:

  Thine has a great hook nose like thine,

  Mine has a snub nose like to mine:

  Thine is the friend of All Mankind,

  Mine speaks in parables to the Blind:

  Thine loves the same world that mine hates,

  Thy Heaven doors are my Hell Gates.

  Socrates taught what Meletus

  Loath’d as a Nation’s bitterest Curse,

  And Caiaphas was in his own Mind

  A benefactor to Mankind:

  Both read the Bible day & night,

  But thou read’st black where I read white.

  b

  Was Jesus gentle, or did he

  Give any marks of Gentility?

  When twelve years old he ran away

  And left his Parents in dismay.

  When after three days’ sorrow found,

  Loud as Sinai’s trumpet sound:

  “No Earthly Parents I confess—

  My Heavenly Father’s business!

  Ye understand not what I say,

  And, angry, force me to obey.”

  Obedience is a duty then,

  And favour gains with God & Men.

  John from the Wilderness loud cried;

  Satan gloried in his Pride.

  “Come,” said Satan, “come away,

  I’ll soon see if you’ll obey!

  John for disobedience bled,

  But you can turn the stones to bread.

  God’s high king & God’s high Priest

  Shall Plant their Glories in your breast

  If Caiaphas you will obey,

  If Herod you with bloody Prey

  Feed with the sacrifice, & be

  Obedient, fall down, worship me.”

  Thunders & lightnings broke around,

  And Jesus’ voice in thunders’ sound:

  “Thus I seize the Spiritual Prey.

  Ye smiters with disease, make way.

  I come your King & God to sieze.

  Is God a smiter with disease?”

  The God of this World raged in vain:

  He bound Old Satan in his Chain,

  And bursting forth, his furious ire

  Became a Chariot of fire.

  Throughout the land he took his course,

  And traced diseases to their source:

  He curs’d the Scribe & Pharisee,

  Trampling down Hipocrisy:

  Where’er his Chariot took its way,

  There Gates of death let in the day,

  Broke down from every Chain & Bar;

  And Satan in his Spiritual War

  Drag’d at his Chariot wheels: loud howl’d

  The God of this World: louder roll’d

  The Chariot Wheels, & louder still

  His voice was heard from Zion’s hill,

  And in his hand the Scourge shone bright;

  He scourg’d the Merchant Canaanite

  From out the Temple of his Mind,

  And in his Body tight does bind

  Satan & all his Hellish Crew;

  And thus with wrath he did subdue

  The Serpent Bulk of Nature’s dross,

  Till He had nail’d it to the Cross.

  He took on Sin in the Virgin’s Womb,

  And put it off on the Cross & Tomb

  To be Worship’d by the Church of Rome.

  c

  Was Jesus Humble? or did he

  Give any proofs of Humility?

  When but a Child he ran away

  And left his Parents in dismay.

  When they had wonder’d three days long

  These were the words upon his Tongue:

  “No Earthly Parents I confess:

  I am doing my Father’s business.”

  When the rich learned Pharisee

  Came to consult him secretly,

  Upon his heart with Iron pen

  He wrote, “Ye must be born again.”

  He was too Proud to take a bribe;

  He spoke with authority, not like a Scribe.

  He says with most consummate Art,

  “Follow me, I am meek & lowly of heart,”

  As that is the only way to Escape

  The Miser’s net & the Glutton’s trap.

  He who loves his Enemies, hates his Friends;

  This is surely not what Jesus intends;

  He must mean the meer love of Civility,

  And so he must mean concerning Humility;

  But he acts with triumphant, honest pride,

  And this is the Reason Jesus died.

  If he had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus,

  He’d have done anything to please us:

  Gone sneaking into the Synagogues

  And not used the Elders & Priests like Dogs,

  But humble as a Lamb or an Ass,

  Obey himself to Caiaphas.

  God wants not Man to humble himself:

  This is the Trick of the Ancient Elf.

  Humble toward God, Haughty toward Man,

  This is the Race that Jesus ran,

  And when he humbled himself to God,

  Then descended the cruel rod.

  “If thou humblest thyself, thou humblest me;

  Thou also dwelst in Eternity.

  Thou art a Man, God is no more,

  Thine own Humanity learn to Adore

  And thy Revenge Abroad display

  In terrors at the Last Judgment day.

  God’s Mercy & Long Suffering

  Are but the Sinner to Judgment to bring.

  Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray

  And take Revenge at the last Day.

  “Do what you will, this Life’s a Fiction

  And is made up of Contradiction.”

  d

  Was Jesus Humble? or did he

  Give any Proofs of Humility?

  Boast of high Things with Humble tone,

  And give with Charity a Stone?

  When but a Child he ran away

  And left his Parents in dismay.

  When they had wander’d three days long

  These were the words upon his tongue:

  “No Earthly Parents I confess:

  ”I am doing my Father’s business.”

  When the rich learned Pharisee

  Came to consult him secretly,

  Upon his heart with Iron pen

  He wrote, ”Ye must be born again.”

  He was too proud to take a bribe;

  He spoke with authority, not like a Scribe.

  He says with most consummate Art,

  ”Follow me, I am meek & lowly of heart,”

  As that is the only way to escape

  The Miser’s net & the Glutton’s trap.

  What can be done with such desperate Fools

  Who follow after the Heathen Schools?

  I was standing by when Jesus died;

  What I call’d Humility, they call’d Pride.

  He who loves his Enemies betrays his Friends;

  This surely is not what Jesus intends,

  But the sneaking Pride of Heroic Schools,

  And the Scribes’ & Pharisees’ Virtuous Rules;

  For he acts with honest, triumphant Pride,

  And this is the cause that Jesus died.

  He did not die
with Christian Ease,

  Asking pardon of his Enemies:

  If he had, Caiaphas would forgive;

  Sneaking submission can always live.

  He had only to say that God was the devil,

  And the devil was God, like a Christian Civil:

  Mild Christian regrets to the devil confess

  For affronting him thrice in the Wilderness;

  He had soon been bloody Caesar’s Elf,

  And at last he would have been Caesar himself.

  Like dr. Priestly & Bacon & Newton—

  Poor Spiritual Knowledge is not worth a button!

  For thus the Gospel Sir Isaac confutes:

  ”God can only be known by his Attributes;

  And as for the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost

  Or of Christ & his Father, it’s all a boast

  And Pride & Vanity of the imagination,

  That disdains to follow this World’s Fashion:

  To teach doubt & Experiment

  Certainly was not what Christ meant

  What was he doing all that time,

  From twelve years old to manly prime?

  Was he then Idle, or the Less

  About his Father’s business?

  Or was nis wisdom held in scorn

  Before his wrath began to burn

  In Miracles throughout the Land,

  That quite unnerv’d Caiaphas’ hand?

  If he had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus,

  He’d have done any thing to please us—

  Gone sneaking into Synagogues

  And not us’d the Elders & Priests like dogs,

  But Humble as a Lamb or Ass

  Obey’d himself to Caiaphas.

  God wants not Man to Humble himself:

  This is the trick of the ancient Elf.

  This is the Race that Jesus ran:

  Humble to God, Haughty to Man,

  Cursing the Rulers before the People

  Even to the temple’s highest Steeple;

  And when he Humbled himself to God,

  Then descended the Cruel Rod.

  “If thou humblest thyself, thou humblest me;

  Thou also dwell‘st in Eternity.

  Thou art a Man, God is no more,

  Thy own humanity learn to adore,

  For that is my Spirit of Life.

  Awake, arise to Spiritual Strife

  And thy Revenge abroad display

  In terrors at the Last Judgment day

  God’s Mercy & Long Suffering

  Is but the Sinner to Judgment to bring.

  Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray

  And take Revenge at the Last Day.

  This Corporeal life’s a fiction

  And is made up of Contradiction.”

  Jesus replied & thunders hurl’d:

  “I never will Pray for the World.

  Once I did so when I pray’d in the Garden;

  I wish’d to take with me a Bodily Pardon.”

  Can that which was of woman bom

  In the absence of the Morn,

  When the Soul fell into Sleep

  And Archangels round it weep,

  Shooting out against the Light

  Fibres of a deadly night,

  Reasoning upon its own dark Fiction,

  In doubt which is Self Contradiction?

  Humility is only doubt,

  And does the Sun & Moon blot out,

  Rooting over with thorns & stems

  The buried Soul & all its Gems.

  This Life’s dim Windows of the Soul

  Distorts the Heavens from Pole to Pole

  And leads you to Believe a Lie

  When you see with, not thro’, the Eye

  That was born in a night to perish in a night,

  When the Soul slept in the beams of Light.

  Was Jesus Chaste? or did he, &c.

  e

  Was Jesus Chaste? or did he

  Give any Lessons of Chastity?

  The morning blush’d fiery red:

  Mary was found in Adulterous bed;

  Earth groan’d beneath, & Heaven above

  Trembled at discovery of Love.

  Jesus was sitting in Moses’ Chair,

  They brought the trembling Woman There.

  Moses commands she be stoned to death,

  What was the sound of Jesus’ breath?

  He laid His hand on Moses’ Law:

  The Ancient Heavens, in Silent Awe

  Writ with Curses from Pole to Pole,

  All away began to roll:

  The Earth trembling & Naked lay

  In secret bed of Mortal Clay,

  On Sinai felt the hand divine

  Putting back the bloody shrine,

  And she heard the breath of God

  As she heard by Eden’s flood:

  “Good & Evil are no more!

  Sinai’s trumpets, cease to roar!

  Cease, finger of God, to write!

  The Heavens are not clean in thy Sight.

  Thou art Good, & thou Alone;

  Nor may the sinner cast one stone.

  To be Good only, is to be

  A God or else a Pharisee.

  Thou Angel of the Presence Divine

  That didst create this Body of Mine,

  Wherefore hast thou writ these Laws

  And Created Hell’s dark jaws?

  My Presence I will take from thee:

  A Cold Leper thou shalt be.

  Tho’ thou wast so pure & bright

  That Heaven was Impure in thy Sight,

  Tho’ thy Oath turn’d Heaven Pale,

  Tho’ thy Covenant built Hell’s Jail,

  Tho’ thou didst all to Chaos roll

  With the Serpent for its soul,

  Still the breath Divine does move

  And the breath Divine is Love.

  Mary, Fear Not! Let me see

  The Seven Devils that torment thee:

  Hide not from my Sight thy Sin,

  That forgiveness thou maist win.

  Has no Man Condemned thee?”

  No Man, Lord:” ”Then what is he

  Who shall Accuse thee? Come Ye forth,

  Fallen fiends of Heav‘nly birth

  That have forgot your Ancient love

  And driven away my trembling Dove.

  You shall bow before her feet;

  You shall lick the dust for Meat;

  And tho’ you cannot Love, but Hate,

  Shall be beggars at Love’s Gate.

  What was thy Love? Let me see it;

  Was it love or dark deceit?”

  Love too long from Me has fled;

  ’Twas dark deceit, to Earn my bread;

  ‘Twas Covet, or ’twas Custom, or

  Some trifle not worth caring for;

  That they may call a shame & Sin

  Love’s temple that God dwelleth in,

  And hide in secret hidden shrine

  The Naked Human form divine,

  And render that a Lawless thing

  On which the Soul Expands its wing.

  But this, 0 Lord, this was my Sin

  When first I let these devils in

  In dark pretence to Chastity:

  Blaspheming Love, blaspheming thee.

  Thence Rose Secret Adulteries,

  And thence did Covet also rise.

  My sin thou hast forgiven me,

  Canst thou forgive my Blasphemy?

  Canst thou return to this dark Hell,

  And in my burning bosom dwell?

  And canst thou die that I may live?

  And canst thou Pity & forgive?”

  Then Roll’d the shadowy Man away

  From the Limbs of Jesus, to make them his prey,

  An Ever devouring appetite

  Glittering with festering venoms bright,

  Crying, “Crucify this cause of distress,

  Who don’t keep the secrets of holiness!

  All Mental Powers by Diseases we bind,

&nbs
p; But he heals the deaf & the dumb & the Blind.

  Whom God has afflicted for Secret Ends,

  He Comforts & Heals & calls them Friends.”

  But, when Jesus was Crucified,

  Then was perfected his glitt’ring pride:

  In three Nights he devour’d his prey,

  And still he devours the Body of Clay;

  For dust & Clay is the Serpent’s meat,

  Which never was made for Man to Eat.

  f

  I am sure this Jesus will not do

  Either for Englishman or Jew.

  g

  Seeing this False Christ, In fury & Passion

  I made my Voice heard all over the Nation.

  What are those, &c.

  h

  This was spoke by My Spectre to Voltaire, Bacon, &c.

  Did Jesus teach doubt? or did he

  Give any lessons of Philosophy,

  Charge Visionaries with decieving,

  Or call Men wise for not Believing?

  i

  Was Jesus Born of a Virgin Pure

  With narrow Soul & looks demure?

  If he intended to take on Sin

  The Mother should an Harlot been,

  Just such a one as Magdalen

  With seven devils in her Pen;

  Or were Jew Virgins still more Curst,

  And more sucking devils nurst?

  Or what was it which he took on

  That he might bring Salvation?

  A Body subject to be Tempted,

  From neither pain nor grief Exempted?

  Or such a body as might not feel

  The passions that with Sinners deal?

  Yes, but they say he never fell.

  Ask Caiaphas; for he can tell.

  “He mock’d the Sabbath, & he mock’d

  The Sabbath’s God, & he unlock’d

  The Evil spirits from their Shrines,

  And turn’d Fishermen to Divines;

  O‘erturn’d the Tent of Secret Sins,

  & its Golden cords & Pins—

  ’Tis the Bloody Shrine of War

  Pinn’d around from Star to Star,

  Halls of justice, hating Vice,

  Where the devil Combs his lice.

  He turn’d the devils into Swine

  That he might tempt the Jews to dine;

  Since which, a Pig has got a look

  That for a Jew may be mistook.

  ‘Obey your parents.’—What says he?

  ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?

  No Earthly Parents I confess:

  I am doing my Father’s Business.’

  He scorn’d Earth’s Parents, scorn’d Earth’s God,

  And mock’d the one & the other’s Rod;

  His Seventy Disciples sent