Day 1 (DDRD 1,389): August 21, 2021
My Daily Devotional Reading program...now nearing the end of its 4th year...has taken me through a lot of pages: 13,449 in my first 1,000 Days, and 8,876 thus far in my second 1,000 days. That's 22,325 pages. A lot of love.
Most of my reading has been in the non-fiction realm. In fact, I didn't read any fiction in my first 1,000 pages...and have only read three thus far in my second 1,000--two of which were pretty close to history (Stalingrad and Life and Fate, both by Vasily Grossman).
But today (which is actually August 20th), as I try to decide what I want to read next, I find myself leaning towards fiction. Don Quixote, which I tried to read again a few years back, is a prime candidate.
And today, which actually is August 21, I had a little What Should I Choose Next panic attack. I really have to start planning ahead more carefully. Anyway, I decided Don Quixote wasn't what I wanted right now, and thought, "But I would like to read Alan Moore's Jerusalem, which I had a go at previously and never completed. That makes it fitting material for my DDR program, right? A book I wanted to read, tried to read, and had my ass kicked by? But before I even got it off the shelf, I thought, "But of course I should read something about William Blake first." Which reminded me that I had long ago purchased Blake: Prophet Against Empire by David V. Erdman, but had never even opened it up.
Yep. That was the one.
Then I got side-lined by softball...the first game at 11:30, the second at 2:00...and then had to take The Kids out for a celebratory dinner... and then had to finish watching Reminiscence with Joe (it wasn't very good)...and then had to read to Jacqueline, who was so tired out from playing two softball games that she was ready for bed at 7 pm.
And THEN I finally opened B:PAE.
Read the prefatory material--xx pages. Read to page 10 of the text.
Hmmm. This is some pretty challenging material. I found myself wondering if I had the intellectual gumption to follow through on reading 20 pages of this a day.
Which, of course, convinced me that it was the perfect choice.
So let's go. *
Blake: Prophet Against Empire is 503 pages long...plus those xx pages of prefatory material...so a Grand Total of 523 pages. It looks like this:
As stated above, I am dubious of my ability to throw back 20 pages a day on this one...but that's going to be my out of the gate goal. If I can keep to it, that means this will be a 26 day reading journey... which would put my End Date at September 15th.
And just to make life easier for my future self, I do now solemnly declare that my next DDR selection will be Alan Moore's Jerusalem. All 1,312 pages of it. **
* Yes, James Osterberg fans, that is an allusion to Iggy Pop's recording of "Bang Bang" from the album Party. Your welcome.
** Holy shit! I just went over to Amazon to get the page count... since I'm far too lazy to get up and go over to my bookshelf to take down my (3 volume) copy...and they've got GOOD copies of this edition of the book for $8.12...including the $2.99 shipping charge. How did THAT happen? Well...here's a possible answer:
Best Sellers Rank: #502,063 in Books
#1,154 in Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction (Books)
#30,245 in Literary Fiction (Books)
#34,322 in Science Fiction (Books)
Day 2 (DDRD 1,390): August 22, 2021
Read to page 30. I wouldn't call it easy reading, for sure...but it was interesting. It's really more literary analysis than biography (which was what I was expecting), and I quickly realized that great familiarity with Blake's works would have been a boon for this reading. So note to you readers and teachers out there: for the Alan Moore Jerusalem unit, begin with a careful (one month minimum) study of Blake's Prophetic Works (Tiriel, The Book of Thel, America a Prophecy, Europe a Prophecy, Visions of the Daughters of Albion, The Book of Urizen, The Book of Ahania, The Book of Los, The Song of Los, Vala, or The Four Zoas, Milton: A Poem in Two, and (of course) Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion. And maybe that should be followed by a week's worth of William Blakes's Mythology. Couldn't hurt. (This seriously could be a great one semester class in a university.)
I did something like unto this in my AP English class with my Beowulf unit. We started with some Anglo-Saxon poems, proceeded to Beowulf (I love Seamus Heaney, but I prefer the Burton Raffel translation), did some literary studies (often including the J.R.R. Tolkien essay "The Monsters and the Critics"), then took a side-turn into Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell before winding it all up with John Gardner's Grendel. I was always very proud of that unit ...the way everything paid off with Grendel, and the way that Grendel's ambiguity gave you plenty of room to think and draw your own conclusions. ("Is it joy I feel?")
But back to this book.
Erdman akes reference to Blake's "frustration as a prophet without an audience." He also notes, "The Poetical Sketches were never published except among friends...." (17) That both makes my heart ache for Blake...and, I have to admit, though it be a tad heretical, feel a kinship with him. But after all, every unpublished (or severely under published) writer would like to think that somewhere down the line s/he will be discovered and lauded, right?
Of course, of course.
Day 3 (DDRD 1,391): August 23, 2021
Read to page 50.
It's now apparent that a reading of all of Blake's prophetic books prior to reading this book would have been ideal. I'm slightly familiar with Blake--mostly from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience and from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell--but not nearly familiar enough to feel that I'm grasping more than a piece of the discussion in this book, which veers from one work to another without pause. Still, it's interesting and in part comprehensible, so I shall soldier on.
There were many mentions of poet Thomas Gray, who was apparently buddies with Blake...and for whom Blake did some illustrations. Also mentions of several other painters, one of whom, James Barry, seems particularly interesting. I looked up some of the paintings referenced in the text--Mercury Inventing the Lyre and The Temptation of Adam--and they were both interesting, but not particularly striking so far as I could see. Of the later, it's not clear to me if the picture posted on Wikipedia Commons is Public Domain, so I'll refrain from posting it. One interesting detail is that Eve is holding the apple in such a way that it's shadow and a leaf partially obscures Adam's genitals, but his scrotum and part of the head of his penis is visible. Apparently this caused some concern for the folks back in the day, as there a reference made to contemporaenous comments about the "lack of drapery" in the text of the book.
Speaking of painting, there's a lot of talk about Blake beginning his career as an artist as a depiction of history. That was a surprise for me. There was also talk about how historical paintings became repositories for symbolism of one sort or another...and for one purpose or another. (One painting, for instance, included the figures of people who were not actually in the scene depicted, but who paid to have their likenesses painted in. See? Nothing new under the sun.) Which makes sense. If you're going to convey the impact of a historical moment, just having a bunch of white guys standing around looking at each other might not do the trick. Throwing in an eagle or something of like ilk pumps up the volume. And on that note, here's a bit from Blake which I thought worth remembering:
"...shall painting be confined to the sordid drudgery of facsimile representations?" (47)
And from there we can easily see the path to Pollack and Klee and etcetera, right?
Right.
P.S. I'm also thinking that in my "Jerusalem class" I would knock back the reading of the works of Blake to just Jerusalem. And maybe a commentary on it. Maybe even this: William Blake's "Jerusalem" Explained: The First Full-Scale Line By Line Analysis by Dr. David Whitmarsh-Knight, which I found at Amazon. Of course, since I don't buy from Amazon, you'd think that that would make it difficult, but guess what? Thrift Books has a copy...a NEW copy...for $2.84 LESS than Amazon...and Thrift Books is a really excellent online bookseller that doesn't like to fuck you (or its suppliers or its employees) over! Better World Books also has a NEW copy for just a little bit more...$45.69, and they are also a truly lovely online bookseller. In fact, I'd probably rate them as my #1, so I'd certainly be willing to spend an extra $3 to get the book from them. Of course, I first want to check this book out a little bit, so I'm going to see if I can find an excerpt somewhere. Just in case. 'Cause it sounds exactly like what I want...but you never know, right? I thought that that biography of Jules Verne was going to be IT, too, and I barely made it through the first pages of that thing before realizing that the writer was just horrifically bad.
News as it happens.
P.S. Speaking of Jerusalem...Wikisource has the whole thing... including the plates with the illustrations and text as well as the text separately...which is sometimes needed, especially if you have horary eyeballs like me...available for your perusal right HERE. I was hoping to get a copy of the book from the library, but they don't have it. I thought I had a book with all of Blake's works, but I haven't been able to locate it. I can't believe that I've have sold that one...but it's possible that I loaned it out and that it didn't come back. It's also possible that it's in this house somewhere and I just haven't found it yet, too. ANYway, I read the first few pages, and although a lot of it goes over my head, I might could try to stick with it as I read B:PAE.
Day 4 (DDRD 1,392): August 24, 2021
Read to page 70. Blake has various folks revealing their true nature as they transform into dragons (George III) and other reptilian creatures. BTW, I really appreciate the fact that this book has actual footnotes. That makes so much more sense to me than endnotes... which really only make sense if you don't intend to read them.
Day 5 (DDRD 1,393): August 25, 2021
Read to page 90. Don't know if this is a quote from a Blake poem or a summary comment by David V. Erdman (though evidence leans towards the latter), but I thought this was a most excellent and thought-provoking expression: "...cynicism is close to opportunism." (86) Takes a bit of thinking, that.
I timed today's reading. There was an end of chapter followed by a blank page or two, but discounting that, it took
to knock back those twenty pages. So, yeah. About two minutes per page, give or take. I think that's pretty ideal for me vis-a-vis this project, since it's enough time to make visible progress, but not enough to be burdensome or unwieldy. Everybody's got 40 minutes of leeway time in a day, right?
Day 6 (DDRD 1,394): August 26, 2021
Read to page 110.
So, I've been reading a little bit of William Blake's Jerusalem online, but I really wanted to be able to hold the book in my hand and turn the pages, and since I couldn't locate my copy of Blake's illuminated works, I looked to see if the library had one. Got a hit on The Graphic Canon Volume 2 : from "Kubla Khan" to the Brontë Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray, which had 7 plates of it. Funny thing is, I had already checked that book out from the library when I was trying to read every John Porcellino book I could get my hands on, so I still had the book sitting on my table. Kind of odd, huh?
Day 7 (DDRD 1,395): August 27, 2021
Read to page 130.
Yesterday I got a copy of an old Comic Journal in the mail. I'd ordered it from eBay for the interview with John Porcellino that it cover-featured. Included in the package was a mini-comic by the seller, one Jeff Zenick. I thought it was interesting, so I went online to see who this fellow was. Saw some of his other mini-comics, one of which was New First Printing 2020 of PROVERBS OF HELL . 68 pages. 7 " x 8 1/2". Xeroxed. Strange world, ennit?
Day 8 (DDRD 1,396): August 28, 2021
Read to page 150. That's getting close to 1/3rd of the way through.
Two things struck me in Today's Twenty. First, the fact that Mr. Erdman was able to find so many records referring to Blake. I mean...he even has references to his dinner dates (from diaries of others). It really put the whole lack of information about William Shake-speare into perspective. It's just not possible that a guy of WS's stature left NO impressions behind, y'know? The more I think on it, the more I'm convinced that you have to be willfully blind and ignorant not to conclude that WS was a pseudonym. Speaking of which, these thoughts reminded me that I've yet to read the monumental The Mysterious William Shakespeare by Charlton Ogburn. Seeing as how I've owned that book for a decade or two and haven't yet cracked it, it might be prime material for DDR treatment.
The other thing that struck me was this bit:
"Withdrawal of this work was to mean Blake's withdrawal from any audience beyond a few uncritical or even uncomprehending friends, its withdrawal from the essential experience of communication, without which even the most richly significant and creative art cannot attain full stature and true proportions. Failure to communicate with the fraternity of citizens for whom and of whom he wrote encouraged Blake to pursue the invaluted symbolism and obscure manner he had already made use of in Tiriel and The Marriage." 138-139)
Well. Is it just me, or did Erdman just crack William Blake across the face? Seems to me that he's saying (1) that Blake's work started heading downhill at this point...which is a point very early in his career, by the way, and (2) that Blake's symbolism is weak. Which leads me to ask...who the fuck does Erdman think that he is? I know that there is an inclination in biographers to shit on their subjects... presumably in the name of Exposing The Warts, but this just pisses me off. If nothing else, I don't need a biographer to do my thinking for me. But really, it just sounds like sour grapes: the limited mind casting aspersions at the greater mind. It's Richard A. Lupoff v. Edgar Rice Burroughs all over again.
Day 9 (DDRD 1,397): August 29, 2021
Read to page 170.
I found these lines from The French Revolution particularly interesting:"But go, merciless man! enter into the infinite labyrinth of
Ere thou measure the circle that he shall run. Go, thou cold
If thou canst not do this, doubt thy theories, learn to consider
all men as thy equals,
Thy brethren, and not as thy foot or thy hand, unless thou first
fearest to hurt them."
Day 10 (DDRD 1,398): August 30, 2021
Read to page 190.
Hmpf. Just when I was feeling like I had a better grasp of this book--because it was focusing on The Marriage of Heaven & Hell--the focus shifted, and we're on to others things before (IMHO) we even got started. I have to admit that Erdman's organization (or progression, I suppose) baffles me. It seems like he just leaps from one thing to the next as the mood takes him. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to grasp the bigger picture. Or maybe he's just not a very good writer. Hard to tell who has the log in his eye here.
Meanwhile...I don't think I'm getting any more tattoos in this lifetime...which unfortunately means that I'll go to my grave with P a t r i c i a inscribed beneath my left teat...but if I were going to have another tattoo, this drawing from Blake's notebooks would be a good one:
Day 11 (DDRD 1,399): August 31, 2021
Read to page 210.
Learned a new word: sup·pos·i·ti·tious
Which is pronounced /səˌpäzəˈtiSHəs/...or, in my orthography, suh-pah-suh-TI-shus.
It is an adjective meaning, substituted for the real thing; not genuine. And I really thought that it was a typo. So there you have it. David V. Erdman took me to school.
Also, there was a bit which really bothered me...some verses from "A Song of Liberty":
O Jew, leave counting gold! return to thy oil and wine. O African! black African! (go, winged thought widen his forehead.)
Unless I'm misreading, these lines say two things: (1) Jews are totally absorbed with money and (2) Black Africans are stupid.
And you know what? I don't think "The Times" can excuse this kind of thing. Blake was not a man of his times in any appreciable way, so giving him that excuse is just bullshit.
Sigh.
This is the kind of shit that really takes the wind out of my sails. Guess I'll have to row for awhile and see if I can still make some headway.
Day 12 (DDRD 1,400): September 1, 2021
Read to page 240. Got a few extra licks in because I was babysitting ...and baby fell asleep.
"I see a Whale in the south-sea, drinking my soul away."
Day 13 (DDRD 1,401): September 2, 2021
Read to page 260.
Erdman quotes some lines from "The Song of Los" (Asia) which I found interesting:
I was particularly puzzled by the "glandous wine." Is Blake talking about...PUSSY JUICE? I Googled around a bit. Found a couple of references which made it seem that that was, indeed, the case. Which seems more than a little bit bold for 1795. By the way, in my Googling about, I also found a website entitled William Blake and Enlightenment Media which I thought was very interesting. On the first page I looked at, there was a picture of the entrance to the old General Electric Building in New York City, and above the doors there is a bas relief which is obviously based on Blake's Ancient of Days. Interesting blog...worth having a look at.
Day 14 (DDRD 1,402): September 3, 2021
Read to page 280.
This
"In Blake's account, the fall of speech (Tharmas) precipitates the fall of man from 'Universal Brotherhood' into the age or iron, where he is a slave to the repressive laws of reason (Urizen)." (274)
made me think of my novel, Nine Cat Stories, which featured the giant bipedal cat, Tamas. (Tharmas.) In fact, it actually made me think, "I should write another Tamas story"...which is not a thought I thought I'd ever think. It also made me think, "I should try to promote that novel here. Tried before and it resulted in 0 sales, but it's worth another shot, right?" Then I realized that I'd taken Nine Cat Stories off of Amazon when I entered it in a contest. I didn't win the contest, though, so maybe it's time for it to go back up? Maybe.
Also, had another Why On Earth Are You Bocking Me? * moment with Erdman. He was talking about how Blake had written a letter pretty aggressively attacking a sermon, but hadn't published it. Erdman wouldn't let go of it for about a page and a half.
"...why should not Blake try the effect of a small pamphlet - or seize his furious harp? The question reverberates endlessly through The Four Zoas. (277-278)
Erdman also points out that Thomas Paine did published his response to this same sermon, and although he doesn't state it overtly, his implication is clear: he is accusing Blake of cowardice.
Well. Maybe that's so. But there's certainly not enough information given here to substantiate that claim...and it seems to me that it's just another example of a "biographer" going out of his way to be disrespectful to his subject.
Between the lack of cohesive organization (Erdman doesn't seem capable of sticking with his chosen subject for long...so that while reading this book has been interesting, it's also been like having a conversation with someone suffering from severe OCD...whilst imbibing several pots of coffee) and these pot shots at Blake, I'm getting ready to be through with Erdman.
I'm also puzzled. I just looked up his biography on Wikipedia, and they identify him as the author of five books...four of which are about Blake & His works. This guy isn't just biting the hand that feeds him ...he's making a four course meal of the whole fuckin' arm.
So at this point...and with nine days remaining on this part of the DDR journey...I think I can confidently say, Fuck David V. Erdman.
Day 15 (DDRD 1,403): September 4, 2021
Read to page 300.
When I read this line--
"...a spiritual digest of the unsuccessful peace negotiations of 1796 and 1797...."
--I realized what my biggest problem with this book is.
Essentially, Erdman is summarizing the plot of Blake's poems--which means he is stripping out most of the "poetic" material (though he does go back to kick a few pots and pans around afterwards), then connecting the plot of the poems to historical events. I suppose that this kind of thing could be interesting to some extent...but I'd have to say that for me, Blake's "usefulness" as a poet extends far beyond his ability to transform history into myth...and that seems to be what Erdman values most in Blake.Day 16 (DDRD 1,404): September 5, 2021
Read to page 320.
Day 17 (DDRD 1,405): September 6, 2021
Read to page 340. So just a little more than one hundred pages to go now. And at some point I'll whittle down that "little more," so I'm looking at five more days before I'm moving on, moving on.
Meanwhile...there's this from The Four Zoas: Night the Ninth:
I don't know that it's a particularly unique or even profound thought, but it struck me. It evoked the same feeling that Wordsworth did (for me) in "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798":
"...all which we behold / Is full of blessings."
At first it seems absurd, of course. When we look around the world, it is not long before we perceive immense suffering, astonishing stupidity, rampant disregard for others, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. To such an extent that it is easy to conclude that life is nothing but suffering and that evil has been unloosed upon this world. But this Blake and this Wordsworth suggest that that conclusion is, in essence, stupidity talking. It's a failure to perceive that The Eternal lurks behind all of this. It suggests to me the image of a man...say a man named Nick Fury (since I just watched Spider-Man: Far From Home) sitting in a holographic chamber. He sees himself as sitting on a beach...when it actuality he is sitting in a space station. (The difference here being that the beach = the world filled with evil and suffering.) Taking that a step farther, the reason that Nick sees the beach is because he chose to witness that scenario. And perhaps that's exactly what we do. We chose to see the illusion of evil. Why would be do such a thing? Well...why would we take a perfectly fine grass field, cover it with chalk lines, and then put twenty-two grown ass men on it and have them run around hitting each other for an hour? The cynical interpretation (the stupid one) would be because we are bored and need to find ways to while away the hours. Another way of looking at it would be that by constructing this false scenario, by creating am essentially false conflict, we allow ourselves the opportunity to do wondrous things: one-handed catches in the end zone, for instance. Bringing it all back around, perhaps the Wise look on this world and see beyond the illusion of Evil and Conflict, see the Eternal will is Real rather than the Temporary which is Illusion. And when you see the Eternal, you realize that all which we behold is full of blessings.
End of sermon.
Also today, I read for the first time about something called Pitt's Brown Bread 🍞 Bill. Here's most of what Wikipedia has to say on this subject:
"The Making of Bread, etc. Act 1800 (41 Geo. III c. 16), also known as the Brown Bread Act or the Poison Act, was a British Act of Parliament that prohibited millers from producing any flour other than wholemeal flour. The act was introduced as one of a series of measures to deal with a severe food shortage, caused at least partly by the poor wheat harvest of 1799. Labourers and their families at that time lived very largely on bread, the price of which could account for more than half of their weekly wages.[1] The act proved to be very unpopular, and impossible to enforce.[2] So concerned was the government by the civil unrest that resulted, the act was repealed after less than two months." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_of_Bread,_etc._Act_1800)
Erdman noted that the reason for the Act was to make the bread unpalatable, therefore insuring that less bread would be consumed, thus solving the food shortage problem so far as bread was concerned. I don't really trust Erdman, so I had a look around to see if what he was saying was true, and I found this:
"Whole wheat flour adds a nutty flavor, firmer texture and rich brown color to those baked goods. Although most health-conscious home cooks might prefer to substitute whole wheat flour for all of the white flour in yeast and quick bread recipes, a 100% whole wheat product will yield disappointing results. Yeast and quick breads rely on gluten for their rise, texture and structure. Whole wheat flour does not develop gluten as well as white flour because it contains fewer gluten-forming proteins…plus, the bran in whole wheat flour can cut the delicate strands of gluten during kneading or mixing. So breads made only with whole wheat flour generally do not rise as high and are heavier and denser in texture. If you are converting some of your own recipes, start by substituting 25-50% whole wheat flour for the white flour." (https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/wheat-flour/)
So I guess he got it on this one.
Day 18 (DDRD 1,406): September 7, 2021
Read to page 364.
Speaking of William Pitt, check this out: "The 'only way to prove a sincere and enlightened regard to the interests and well-being of the poor' was to guard them from 'false and dangerous expectations' of enough to eat." (341)
Um...what?
Somewhere along the way today, Erdman made reference to "Sir Artegall and the Iron Man" by John Hamilton Mortimer. He had me at Iron Man.
And on the side, look at what I just picked up from the library:
$50's worth of Blake, and well worth the price...but it's even nicer to get to look at it for free. My plan is to knock back Jerusalem before the week is out...to coincide (or precede if possible) finishing Blake: Prophet Against Empire. On five. Ready...break!
Day 19 (DDRD 1,407): September 8, 2021
Read to page 380.
Took my book over to #1🌞's house for babysitting duty--since Savannah always has an hour (+) nap during my shift. Got about half of the day's reading done, then put the book on a little table beside the sofa when Savannah got up from her nap. She was extremely interested in the book, so I thought I'd let her page through it.
Bad idea.
Ah, well. We all express our love for William Blake in different ways, I suppose.
Day 20 (DDRD 1,408): September 9, 2021
Read to page 400. Just three days to go at the current pace, and I have to say that I'll be glad. On the one hand, I have gained some insight into Blake's work from reading this, but I am very much put off by Erdman's writing. I wish that I had chosen another book about Blake's work...and I strongly encourage anyone Out There to do so if they are interested in boning up on Blake.
P.S. That nice big book of Blake I got from the library? It does a fantastic job of showing the 100 Plates that make up Jerusalem...but it doesn't include the text separately, and though I'm sorry to admit it, there is just no way I'm going to get through all of that stuff in the handwritten format. It's definitely legible, but there's still a decoding process going on...and it's dense material anyway...and I've only got a couple of days to knock it back if I want to get it in before Alan Moore's Jerusalem (which is my goal). So I took yet another look around on the internets...and lo and behold, found exactly what I was looking for on Wikisource. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Jerusalem._The_Emanation_of_the_Giant_Albion to be exact. It has the plates, but it also has the typewritten (well, "typewritten") text right beneath it. And that--not money--is what I want.
News as it happens.
Day 21 (DDRD 1,409): September 10, 2021
Read to page 420.
Day 22 (DDRD 1,410): September 11, 2021
Was going to write something about 9/11, but it's too much for me. Just going to stick to the books. Not for lack of caring, I assure you.
Read to page 440. Looks like tomorrow will be the last cookie roundup, then. Funny how when I get to this point in any of my DDR books I think, "Well, I'm not actually ready for this to be over." Even in this case, wherein the book wasn't one I enjoyed a whole hell of a lot.
That said, here are some things I enjoyed from Today's Twenty:
I learned a new word: desiderate. I needed Merriam-Webster's help on this one:
desiderate
verb
de·sid·er·ate | \ di-ˈsi-də-ˌrāt , -ˈzi- \
: to entertain or express a wish to have or attain
Good word.
There was also this:
"Blake was never in doubt about the goal: Jerusalem must be built." (436)
Which isn't exactly profound, I know, but it settled into place in my mind like the foundation stone for Jerusalem. Which I think (hope) will help me as I go into Moore's Jerusalem. And Blake's as well, assuming I have the firepower to get through it in the next day. (I'm currently on Plate 4 of 100, so it doesn't seem likely. I suppose I can always read it after I start the Moore novel, but that seems like missing the train, y'know?
I put my book down on my lap to search for the definition of desiderate, and Jet saw an opportunity:
P.S. Speaking of William Blake's Jerusalem...I started in on it in earnest this morning...and when I stopped, I'd only read 9 plates. Of 100. One of those plates (Plate 7) had 754 words. They don't, but if every plate had that much, this would be novel length. And it's not what I'd call easy reading by any means. (Which is not to say that it's not enjoyable, because it is.)
But I'm thinking that my idea that I could knock this out between today and tomorrow is way over-optimistic.
Plan B?
Day 23 (DDRD 1,411): September 12, 2021
Read to page 503. As in The End.
"The finale of Jerusalem is...a hymn to the spiritual regeneration of man and nature." (447)
Well...I wish that this had been a better book. It gave me some background to go into Moore's Jerusalem, but I feel that I could use a bit more. And I'd have to say that I would not recommend this book if you're looking for some insight into William Blake.
But I'm not going to wait, tomorrow I begin Moore's book.
Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it, chile.
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