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Poet: William Blake
Poem: If It Is True What the Prophets Write
Comment 1 of 1, added on July 15th, 2006 at 9:07 PM.
Blake at his rebel best: throwing doubt at the sanctity of prophets. What hommage is owed to the prophets? Blake questions how Bezaleel and Aholiab followed the divine plan given to Moses by God in constructing the Tabernacle and then muses if these craftsmen followed what was given by God, then WHAT are we to believe about others that do the same? When are holy things really holy, and when are they just stone and wood? Wallage Stevens has a great line in "The Well Dressed Man with a Beard": "It can never be satisfied, the mind, never." It seems all things should and need to be questioned just because of our nature. Man is designed to question because we are in a fallen state. Dante mentions this in his Paradiso. Somehow, there is a perversion that takes place in this poem. Somehow the atonements outlined by Jehovah get spurn'd and "criminals to sacrifices turn'd." Not quite sure about the "they stole them from the temple of the Lord" line. They could refer to the prophets (?), the Romans and Greeks (?), church leaders (?)or those that change original designs ordained by God. It's interesting to speculate, and I think that's what Blake wants the reader to do. Mystery is good for the soul, and Blake wants the reader to think, think and think some more. He adds more by leading the reader to consider what should be offered, either in the guise of being polite, or by force. Bone marrow juice is rendered from dead objects, not living. If by force, it is not from the pureness of the heart. So, is Blake leading us to believe that imperfect sacrifice is dead? If prophets are not telling the truth, and we do things out of habit, is the end result criminal? Is motive the real foundation of this poem? Blake leaves us to reach a conclusion. Charles Simic in "Watch Repair" uses the image of the watches' hands that can be applied to our questioning of things: "Hands thrown up in all directions:/ The crossroads/one arrives at/ in a nightmare." The hands of questions are a nightmare to the pureness of faith. A belief system should be infallible, but when it is not, what happens? Is one a Doubting Thomas with the need to see and prove some level of disbelief, or is one to hold tightly to a belief and silently wonder? Were Bezaleel and Aholiab better men because they followed the divine plan and completed the task as given by Moses, or we who lack a clear plan/voice merely politely, as sheep, going through motions?
The questions are in the poem, posed by Blake. Over a hundred years later, the questions are still current, and can cause deep introspection as to what one chooses or is led to believe.
dallas holsten from United States
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Blake at his rebel best: throwing doubt at the sanctity of prophets. What hommage is owed to the prophets? Blake questions how Bezaleel and Aholiab followed the divine plan given to Moses by God in constructing the Tabernacle and then muses if these craftsmen followed what was given by God, then WHAT are we to believe about others that do the same? When are holy things really holy, and when are they just stone and wood? Wallage Stevens has a great line in "The Well Dressed Man with a Beard": "It can never be satisfied, the mind, never." It seems all things should and need to be questioned just because of our nature. Man is designed to question because we are in a fallen state. Dante mentions this in his Paradiso. Somehow, there is a perversion that takes place in this poem. Somehow the atonements outlined by Jehovah get spurn'd and "criminals to sacrifices turn'd." Not quite sure about the "they stole them from the temple of the Lord" line. They could refer to the prophets (?), the Romans and Greeks (?), church leaders (?)or those that change original designs ordained by God. It's interesting to speculate, and I think that's what Blake wants the reader to do. Mystery is good for the soul, and Blake wants the reader to think, think and think some more. He adds more by leading the reader to consider what should be offered, either in the guise of being polite, or by force. Bone marrow juice is rendered from dead objects, not living. If by force, it is not from the pureness of the heart. So, is Blake leading us to believe that imperfect sacrifice is dead? If prophets are not telling the truth, and we do things out of habit, is the end result criminal? Is motive the real foundation of this poem? Blake leaves us to reach a conclusion. Charles Simic in "Watch Repair" uses the image of the watches' hands that can be applied to our questioning of things: "Hands thrown up in all directions:/ The crossroads/one arrives at/ in a nightmare." The hands of questions are a nightmare to the pureness of faith. A belief system should be infallible, but when it is not, what happens? Is one a Doubting Thomas with the need to see and prove some level of disbelief, or is one to hold tightly to a belief and silently wonder? Were Bezaleel and Aholiab better men because they followed the divine plan and completed the task as given by Moses, or we who lack a clear plan/voice merely politely, as sheep, going through motions?
The questions are in the poem, posed by Blake. Over a hundred years later, the questions are still current, and can cause deep introspection as to what one chooses or is led to believe.
dallas holsten from United States