Blake's Marriage, The Proverbs of Hell

Another portion of William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell is entitled "Proverbs of Hell". This portion, in what can easily be seen as a reversal of that which has been traditionally seen as "hellish", Blake sets forth a slew of proverbs that make a whole heap of sense, both in the time they were written, and in the world of today.

I will discuss several of them here:

The first two are relatively closely related,

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.

Drive your cart and plow over the bones of the dead." 

 Blake offers, firstly, what is easily one of the best lessons I have ever heard. "In seed time learn," meaning, when you are starting something, learn from it. Do not let it become something that is mundane and unimportant, learn from this new experience, even if it is a familiar process. "[I]n harvest teach" which  means when you have worked to bring something to its fruition, make sure you teach others how to make (or avoid) choices and situations that you found yourself in. "[I]n winter enjoy", even if nothing else in the proverb meant anything, these three words are profound. They carry the meaning of recreation, relaxation and enjoyment. Blake says that, once work is done, one should strive to enjoy themselves, for the struggle is over and they are now relishing the fruits of their labor.
The next proverb, "drive your cart and plow over the bones of the dead", while being an extremely vivid and morbid sounding thing to say, it can be interpreted in quite a positive light. Blake may have been saying, "move forward, the past is past, though the mistakes are now skeletons, you must continue on with the knowledge you have gained."

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."

 This, especially so in 1790, when first published, is incredibly suggestive that people have not been approaching wisdom in the correct manner. Blake is implying that by living so perilously close to the edge, one can gain a great view of the infinity that lies on the other side of the cave wall (which I mentioned in my previous post). This new wisdom can be shared, but only by bringing others to this edge of insanity and excess, which can lead some people over the edge and to their untimely demise. The road of excess is one fraught with danger, and a high chance of an early death due to the unhindered nature of this new "enlightened" life.
I will allude to Jim Morrison, the drinking, the drugs, and the poetry. Even if you don't like Morrison or the Doors, Morrison's writing had a haunting and deep level to it that is not a commonplace in music, or even in poetry, especially these days.

"Prayers plow not! Praises reap not!"

 Essentially, nothing gets done unless it is done. Prayers and praise are meaningless, only doing things right makes it work well. Water and fertilize your crops and they will grow strong.

I will leave you with one final proverb:

"Thus Men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast."

 I'd love to hear someone's interpretation of that, if anyone wants to comment.

-Wolfram पहला प्रजना