WILLIAM BLAKE AND THE MYTHS OF BRITAIN

WILLIAM BLAKE AND THE MYTHS OF BRITAIN

William Blake and the Myths of Britain Jason Whittaker Lecturer in English with Media Studies Falmouth College of Arts tt

First published in Great Britain 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndrnills, Basingstoke, Hamp-;hire RG2 I 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for thi-. honk is availahle from the British Lihrary. ISBN 978-1-349-40930-3 ISBN 978-0-230-37210-8 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230372108 hr~t published in the ljnited States of America!999 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Divi<;ion. 175 l'ifth Avenue. New York. N.Y. 10010 ISRN 978-0-.' 12 222h9-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-i11-Puhlicalion Dat<1 Whittaker, Jason. 1969- William Blake and the myths of Britain I Jason Whittaker. p. cm. Revision of author's the:-.is (Joctoral) -ljnih:rsity of Birmingham. 1995. Includes bibliographical references ( p 1 and index. ISBN 978-0 312 22269 6 I. Blake, William. 1757-1827-Knov.ledge-Mythology. 2. Literature and history-great Britain-History-18th century. 3. Mythology. British-Great Britain -History- 18th century 4. Blake, V../illiam, 1757-1827-Knowledge-Great Britain. 5. Prophecie' in literatore. 6. Mythology in literature. 7. ~1yth in literature. I. Title. PR4148.M8.1W45 1999 821'.7-dc21 98-54883 CIP rt'j Jason Whittaker 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover!st edition 1999 978-0-333-73896-2 All right:-; reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with \Hillen permission or in i.lltonbnce with the provi.,ions or the Copyright, Doigns and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licem:e permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road. London WI P 9HE Any person who does any unauthorised al'i in re!alion to this puhlication may he liabk~ to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has :.isst'rtej his right to be identified as the author of tbis work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act J 988. Thi~ book i-; printed on paper -;uilable for recycling: and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. IO 9 8 7 08 07 06 05 6 i 4 04 03 02 01 I 00 99

For Sam, and for my parents, for all their support

Contents Acknowledgements ix Key to Abbreviations xi Introduction: the Matter of Britain 1 1 Origins 18 2 The Voice of the Bard 59 3 Druids, Deism and Patriarchy 114 4 The Monuments of Albion 152 5 Visions of History 179 Notes 189 Bibliography 202 Index 211 vn

Acknowledgements An earlier version of this book was submitted as a doctoral thesis at the University of Birmingham in 1995. I would like to thank my examiners, Nigel Wood and David Worrall, for their comments on the thesis, in particular David who was extremely supportive when a paper on the thesis was delivered to the 'William Blake 1794/1994' conference at Strawberry Hill. I would also like to thank the staff of the Heslop Room at the University of Birmingham who were helpful beyond the call of duty in providing me with many of the original texts referred to, saving my meagre funds from disappearing in too many London excursions. Most of all, I would like to thank Mark Storey, whose wide-ranging knowledge of Romantic poetry inspired my own interest in Blake, and whose patience and good sense provided much needed guidance during my research. In addition, thanks are due to the University of Birmingham for permission to reproduce the cover illustration of this book. I would also like to acknowledge the generous help given by my parents, Kathleen and William Whittaker, as well as their encouragement to continue my studies at a time when I thought I knew better. Without Sam's support, however, this book would have been impossible and, for her faith in me, her infinite tolerance, and her many suggestions, I would like to express my thanks. IX

Key to Abbreviations All quotations from Blake's writings follow The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, revised edition, edited by David V. Erdman (New York, 1988). These are identified in the text as 'E', followed by page, plate and line numbers. References to Blake's paintings come from The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, edited by Martin Butlin, 2 volumes (New Haven, Conn., and London, 1981), and are identified in the text as 'Butlin', followed by the catalogue number. Abbreviations of titles cited: MHH The Marriage of Heaven and Hell VDA Visions of the Daughters of Albion A America E Europe SL The Song of Los BU The [First] Book of Urizen BA The Book of Ahania M Milton ] Jerusalem FZ The Four Zoas DC Descriptive Catalogue BIQ Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly XI