The Book of Thel

            On Wednesday morning after yoga I skipped song practice and made use of the final four hours before my essay was due. I spent the first half of that time editing the paper and putting on the finishing touches and the rest on adding the citations.

            In previous courses I’ve often been late for class to finish my essays but I seem to be managing my time better this year. I had to print my essay twice because I flubbed the title the first time. Despite that hassle I left on time for class.

            We continued with our study of the poetry of William Blake but moved on to his Book of Thel. Professor Weisman said that The Book of Thel has continuity with Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

            The professor reminded us that the point of view of the speaker is always crucial in Blake but she added that it is really the case with all literature.

            The Book of Thel was probably published in 1789, the same year as Songs of Innocence and so before Songs of Experience. The Book of Thel is an intermediary between Songs of Innocence and Blake’s prophetic works.

            Innocence is challenged by experience.

            The title “The Book of Thel” sounds Biblical.

            Prophetic texts are not supposed to just convey information but revelations of divine truths.

            The book begins with “Thel’s motto:

Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?

Or wilt thou go ask the Mole?

Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?

Or Love in a golden bowl?"

            A motto is supposed to convey a maxim or rule of conduct but this is not really a motto.

            A rod is phallic and a bowl is yonic but a golden bowl is also a chalice, like that used in the eucharist. A chalice isn't really a bowl though, but rather more like a goblet.

            “Does the eagle know what is in the pit?” Andala said that only the mold would know. I said that if the eagle wants to eat it has to know that there are moles in the pit.

            The Book of Thel is confusing and we are thwarted when we look in this poem for wisdom.
            Some see the opening questions of the motto as leading to the idea that we have inherited notions of the proper places of things. There is a sense of the potential exploitation of the sexes and subjugation to ideals about the separation of identities.

            There is obfuscation in the meaning of Mne here but in Greek it relates to memory as in “mnemonic" of “amnesia”. I just noticed that if one lifts "mne" out of "amnesia" one gets "Asia". Mnemosyne was the Greek goddess of memory. She was the daughter of Heaven and Earth and the mother of the nine Muses.

            The setting for this poem is pastoral, which is about unity, ease and idyllic. Mne is a shepherdess. Remember how the pastoral for Wordsworth was a place of retreat and refuge. The period before the exile of the Jews in the Bible was a pastoral time. 

            Innocence is associated with naivety and escapism.

            The lines are long. The poem is not in ballad form, not straightforward, not simplistic, but it still represents Thel’s innocence. She is a virgin.

            This is Blake’s first prophetic book.

            “Thelema” is a rare Greek word meaning “human will or desire” that appears often in the first translations of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. In that book it signifies the will of god or of the god fearing. Thel has a desire to find the answer.

            Thel compares herself first to water and other transient entities and wants to know the significance of an insubstantial life. She complains of impermanence. What if there is no immortal soul and it all means nothing?

            Even the Lilly is visited by Heaven and flourishes. .

            The lily of the valley, representing the female beloved, blooms in The Song of Solomon.

            Thel decides that she is not like the lily and so talks to a cloud. The cloud is also subject to transience. The cloud mates with the dew and they bear food for flowers. Even the cloud has an afterlife. Clouds are water ships. The cloud is male and the cloud descends upon the feminine lily. Water is equated with semen but also with baptism.

            Thel is not like the cloud and worries about being food for worms. But it is not a complaint to be useful.

            Cyclical decay throws into relief that we are all part of a great and meaningful cycle of continuity.

            Thel is looking for meaning. Critics say this is an allegory of innocence.

            The worm in this poem is an infant and the clod of clay speaks for it as if it were its mother. “He that loves the lowly pours his oil upon my head …” Adam was made from clay. In the non-Biblical book “The Gospel of Thomas”, Jesus is said to have, as a child, made clay sparrows and brought them to life.

            Thel visits the land of the dead and comes to her own grave and hears a voice there asking why we equate sex and the senses with death.

            Thel flees, maybe from death or maybe back to innocence. Thel is self-obsessed.

            This is a hypothetical and fantastical dream world.

            I said that it seems to me the ending when Thel runs away is meant to be funny. Sort of like, "Lose my virginity? Exit stage left!”

            We handed in our essays. I commented that there might be an MLA for citing everything but I find the MLA guide very difficult to maneuver in order to find out specific things. I had to guess a lot, as in; if it applies to this then maybe it applies to that. She reassured me that as long as I’ve made my citations clear I shouldn’t worry about it.