Awake! (1952)

Title

Awake! (1952)

Student Commentary:

Although the images in Blake’s plates do not always seem to relate very clearly to the text, in this case from Jerusalem the male figure at the bottom would seem to represent Albion, calling to his female counterpart Jerusalem in the lines of the poem at the top of the page: “Awake! Awake Jerusalem! O lovely Emanation of Albion / Awake and overspread all Nations as in Ancient Time / For lo: The Night of Death is past and the Eternal Day / Appears upon our Hills! Awake Jerusalem, and come away. / So spake the Vision of Albion . . .” This image from the 1952 facsimile should be compared to the colored facsimile in the library’s collections from 1951. Without full color, the brilliance of the sun is less effective and the distinction between day and night is much less clear.

Links:

Detailed View of Image at the William Blake Archive

About this Book

Source

William Blake@Union Digital Collection