The Book of Urizen - William Blake

Summary

'The Book of Urizen' is William Blake's re-imagining of the Book of Genesis, presenting a creation myth from his own complex mythological system. It describes the birth of Urizen, the embodiment of abstract reason, convention, and law, who separates himself from the other timeless, joyous Eternals. Urizen seeks to create order through rigid laws, which ironically leads to the solidification and limitation of existence. He falls into a deep sleep, from which Los, the Eternal Prophet (representing imagination and artistic creation), emerges. Los, with immense effort and pain, binds Urizen, inadvertently creating the temporal and spatial dimensions of the fallen, material world. Los later feels pity for Urizen, which leads to his own fall and the creation of his female counterpart, Enitharmon. Their son, Orc, a figure of revolutionary passion and energy, is born and subsequently chained by Los, fearing Orc's rebellious nature. Meanwhile, Urizen, awakening in his self-created, desolate world, discovers his own children (representing various aspects of humanity) who are born into suffering under his restrictive laws. Urizen then weaves a vast "web of religion" to control his offspring, further entrapping them in a cycle of suffering, ignorance, and moral codes that suppress natural impulse and imagination. The book critiques dogmatic reason, restrictive religion, and the suppression of human potential.

Book Sections

Section: Preludium

The poem begins with a lament from the Eternals, who are beings of boundless energy and joy. They describe how Urizen, an ancient, priest-like figure, has begun to separate himself from them. Urizen is depicted as a self-absorbed entity who is obsessed with order, creating dark, secret places within himself, and establishing abstract, rigid laws. The Eternals express horror and sorrow at his actions, recognizing that his self-imposed separation and rule-making will bring about an era of division and suffering.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Eternals	Infinite, joyous, boundless, harmonious	Maintain eternal harmony and unity; lament Urizen's destructive self-absorption.
Urizen	Ancient, solitary, priest-like, self-absorbed, obsessed with order and law, cold, rational	To establish absolute, unchanging laws and principles; to separate himself from the perceived chaos of the Eternals; to create a world based on reason and order.

Section: Chapter I

Urizen’s self-isolation intensifies. He attempts to create a perfect, rational, and ordered world from his own being, withdrawing into himself, forming a vast, dark "void." He outlines his "eternal principles" and "laws of peace, of love, of unity," which are ironically experienced as oppressive and cold by the Eternals. His withdrawal is seen as a "petrifying" of his form, making him solid and distinct from the fluid Eternals. His first creation is a profound darkness, and he establishes laws based on reason, measure, and number, fundamentally differing from the limitless energy of eternity.

Section: Chapter II

The Eternals, witnessing Urizen's profound separation, try to intervene, but their efforts are futile. Urizen continues to solidify, his form becoming increasingly grotesque and isolated. He wraps himself in a "cold and barren" cloak, sealing himself off from the infinite. This chapter emphasizes the irreversible nature of Urizen's fall and his self-creation of a distinct, material existence governed by his rigid principles. His form is described as a "mass of metals," "cold and abhorred," becoming fixed and unyielding.

Section: Chapter III

Out of Urizen's intense and painful self-contemplation, another entity is born: Los, the Eternal Prophet. Los emerges from Urizen's "sore travel," crying out in anguish as he sees Urizen's rigid, solidified form. Filled with pity and a sense of duty, Los undertakes the monumental task of binding Urizen. This painful process of binding Urizen's "obdurate form" is what gives rise to the dimensions of time and space, creating the measurable, finite world. The forging of Urizen's body by Los creates the physical universe – a head, then bones, nerves, and veins – each step marking the descent into a material existence.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Los	The Eternal Prophet, representing imagination, artistic creation, energy, and empathy	To mitigate Urizen's suffering and contain his destructive rigidity; to bring form to Urizen's chaos (unintentionally creating the material world).

Section: Chapter IV

As Los continues to forge and bind Urizen, his own form begins to change. The immense effort and the pity he feels for Urizen lead to his own "fall" and the division of his being. From Los's pity and agony, Enitharmon, his female counterpart, is born. Her emergence is also painful, marking the further fragmentation of primal unity and the establishment of gender roles. Los and Enitharmon then conceive and give birth to Orc, their fiery, rebellious son, whose birth is met with both awe and dread by the Eternals, as it signifies new forms of passion and suffering within the fallen world.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Enitharmon	Female counterpart to Los, representing pity, sorrow, empathy, and the physical body	Her existence is derived from Los's pity and pain; to complete the cycle of generation within the fallen world.
Orc	Son of Los and Enitharmon, embodying revolutionary energy, passion, rebellion, desire	His birth is a natural expression of the fallen world's energy and desire for change.

Section: Chapter V

Fearing the burgeoning, uncontrolled energy and rebellious spirit of his son Orc, Los decides to chain him to a rock. This act, driven by parental fear and the desire for control, symbolizes the suppression of revolutionary spirit and natural passion. The chains are forged in the fires of Los's own creativity. The Eternals observe this chaining with renewed lament, understanding that it further entrenches the cycle of repression and suffering within the fallen world. Orc's struggles against his chains become a source of agony for Los and Enitharmon, and his fiery spirit is caged.

Section: Chapter VI

Urizen eventually awakens within the desolate world that Los has forged around him. He discovers that his creation is not the perfect order he envisioned, but a barren wilderness, filled with "caves of night" and "forests of affliction." He begins to explore this new realm, mapping out its vastness and emptiness. His journey is one of profound despair as he realizes the futility of his efforts to create order in isolation. He becomes a wanderer in his own domain, seeking to understand the consequences of his self-imposed separation.

Section: Chapter VII

During his exploration, Urizen discovers his own children, who have been born into the fallen world. These children (including Fuzon, Rintrah, Palamabron, Theotormon, Sotha, Thiralatha) represent various aspects of humanity, each experiencing suffering and questioning the nature of their existence. They are born into Urizen's restrictive laws, but also possess innate desires and capacities for rebellion, sorrow, or resignation. Their world is one of hunger, disease, and limitation, a direct result of Urizen's rigid order. They begin to form communities but are plagued by discord and fear.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Fuzon	Fiery, rebellious, powerful, but ultimately trapped and suffering	To rebel against Urizen's oppressive laws and the suffering they impose.
Rintrah	Wrathful, embodying righteous indignation and anger	To express rage against injustice and limitation.
Palamabron	Gentle, pastoral, often associated with agriculture and a more harmonious existence	To seek peace and a simpler existence within the confines of Urizen's world.
Theotormon	Anguished, despairing, often bound by sorrow and unfulfilled desires	To lament the lost freedom and the pain of existence under Urizen's rule.
Sotha	Less specifically characterized, generally representing another aspect of humanity's plight	To endure or question the conditions of the fallen world.
Thiralatha	Less specifically characterized, generally representing another aspect of humanity's plight	To endure or question the conditions of the fallen world.

Section: Chapter VIII

Alarmed by the suffering and questioning of his children, and fearing their potential rebellion, Urizen decides to impose further control. He weaves a vast, intricate "web of religion," a system of moral codes, doctrines, and prohibitions designed to trap his children within his rigid structure. This web, woven from "cold and dark" threads, spreads across the entire world, creating a pervasive system of false belief and suffering. It binds humanity, making them believe that Urizen's laws are the ultimate truth and that their suffering is deserved. This act establishes the oppressive systems of conventional religion and society that Blake vehemently opposed.

Literary Genre

Epic poem, Prophetic Book, Creation Myth (parody/subversion), Allegory.

Author Facts

William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, he is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both poetry and the visual arts of the Romantic Age. He developed a unique personal mythology expressed in his "Prophetic Books," which combined lyrical poetry with intricate engravings and personal symbolism. Blake rejected much of the Enlightenment's rationalism and organized religion, advocating for imagination and spiritual vision.

Morale

The central morale of 'The Book of Urizen' is a profound critique of dogmatic reason, restrictive religious laws, and the suppression of human imagination and desire. It suggests that the attempt to impose rigid order and abstract laws on existence leads to suffering, division, and the "fall" into a limited, material world. True freedom and spiritual insight, Blake argues, lie not in reason or institutionalized religion, but in the boundless energy of imagination and compassion. The book warns against self-imposed limitations and the dangers of separating the divine from humanity and nature.

Curiosities

• Blake's Mythology: 'The Book of Urizen' is a cornerstone of Blake's complex personal mythology, often referred to as his "Prophetic Books." It presents a unique cosmology distinct from traditional Christian narratives.
• Anti-Genesis: It serves as an anti-Genesis, subverting the traditional creation story by casting the creator figure, Urizen, not as a benevolent God but as an oppressive force of cold reason and law.
• Illuminated Printing: Like many of Blake's works, 'The Book of Urizen' was created using his innovative method of "illuminated printing," where both text and illustrations were etched onto copper plates, printed, and then often hand-colored by Blake and his wife, Catherine. This made each copy a unique work of art.
• Critique of Enlightenment: The poem can be read as a radical critique of the Enlightenment's emphasis on pure reason and empirical science, which Blake believed stifled spiritual truth and human imagination.
• Biblical Parody: Urizen is widely interpreted as a parody of Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, portrayed as a tyrannical lawgiver rather than a loving creator.