Two muscular males are the center of this plate from Milton (1967 facsimile). Both are clothed only in loincloths. In front of a radiant sun, and seeming larger than life, is the figure of Blake’s mythological figure of poetic energy and imagination, Los. His arms are bent at the elbows and his palms face upwards, while his face is turned downwards. Crouching in front of him is a figure who appears to look up at Los in awe.
This plate from Milton (1967 facsimile) features a large body of text above a relatively simple illustration. In the image, a man walks on a path alongside a seaside cottage. The man is dressed in a formal blue coat and has short, dark hair. Above the cottage, an angelic figure looks down at the man. Blake scholars believe that the man in this plate is William Blake, and that the cottage is his cottage at Felpham where he resided between 1800 and 1803 while working on a commission for writer William Hayley as well as on Milton. The angelic figure is a representation of Ololon, a spiritual component of Milton.
In this plate from Milton (1967 facsimile), a muscular male figure, believed to represent William Blake himself, stands in the center of the plate with his eyes towards the sky and his arms outstretched. Dark billowing clouds that border the top of the plate range in color from black to rust. Parallel to Blake’s knee in the image on the plate is a glowing comet in the shape of a traditional star. In the poem, this comet is the descending spirit of Milton, who enters Blake's foot and uses it as a halfway point between Heaven and the human world. There are also steps in the left of the plate which Blake appears to have just walked down.
In this plate from Milton (1967 facsimile), a muscular nude male figure seems to be placing his hands violently on an older figure. The older male has long flowing hair and wears a long robe, seeming to potentially represent Moses. Blake scholars, however, theorize that the older figure is supposed to represent the god-like figure of oppression from Blake’s own mythology, Urizen, while the younger figure represents Milton, the epic hero of this poem. As Milton raises his hands to Urizen in a threatening manner, his stance splits the word “selfhood” at the bottom of the plate. Urizen holds a broken tablet containing Hebrew writing with one half of the tablet in each hand. Above the struggle between the two men stand several human figures holding musical instruments. They all appear angelic or cherubic in dress. Behind them, a vivid sunset appears to set the sky on fire.
At the start of Book 1 of Milton (1967 facsimile), the word “Milton” is in large scrawling letters at the top center of the plate. Framing it are two naked human figures, one male and one female. Both have their arms outstretched towards the top corners of the plate with their toes joining amid some vegetation towards the center of the plate. A border of black surrounds sprawling green vines and plants. In the top right of the plate, a bright red star shines brightly through the lush vegetation, holding the promise of what is to come.
A muscular male figure is center of this image from Milton (1967 facsimile). He appears to be illuminated by light, while the rest of the plate contains billowing dark clouds. His arm is extended into the clouds, as if to push them back and make room for more light. The title of the work is split in half and surrounds his frame. This male is thought to be either Milton, the hero of Blake’s epic poem, or perhaps even Blake himself, pushing through the shrouds of mystery in order to get to the heart of his work.
It is unusual for Blake to identify himself as an “author” on a title page; usually he signs himself as a printer. He may have used “author” here because he was grappling with the legacy of fellow writer Milton, whose work he admired in many ways, but whose Puritan outlook he was also trying to take apart. The text at the bottom, “To Justify the Ways of God to Man” is from Paradise Lost. Blake elevates the creative or poetic imagination as justification for his own views.
In this plate from Jerusalem (1951 facsimile), which appears at "The End of the Song of Jerusalem,” the writing at the top of the plate almost disappears out of view like a cloud of smoke as attention is drawn to the center of the page. In this image two figures, male and female, embrace. Their arched posture creates the appearance that they are in a whirlwind of fire. The female figure’s hair blends into the fire and is almost part of it, while the male is protected by his halo from the fire touching him at all. Yet the overwhelming message is of unity as the poem identifies “All Human Forms” as one in “the Life of Immortality.”
Although the images in Blake’s plates do not always seem to relate very clearly to the text, in this case from Jerusalem (1951 facsimile), 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 . . .” The brilliant sun in this image sends the stars and moon of night sailing off the page.
In this image from Jerusalem (1951 facsimile), a man with blond hair opens an arched door that leads to a dark room. He is wearing a brown hat and a long blue coat. Blake scholars theorize that this man is Los, mainly because of the glowing orb he holds in his right hand. The orb lights up the room and casts shadows across the doorway. Los peers into the doorway as he steps within.
In this image from Europe, a Prophecy (1969 facsimile), a creature that resembles a bat or a devil sits atop a throne that rests on a cloud. He wears a red robe and has large black wings extending from either side of his body. Blake scholars theorize that this creature is meant to be a caricature of King George III. Beneath him, two angels clad in sheer robes bow before him. They hold scepters that cross and point downwards towards the poetry at the bottom of the plate. The background is jet black darkness.
In this image from Europe, a Prophecy (1969 facsimile), a nude male figure lays face down on a bed of cold rock and earth. He has curly hair lit ablaze by a ring of fire that surrounds his head. This man is Orc, the revolutionary figure from Blake’s prophecies. Above him, a nude female kneels on a cloud and pulls a dark blanket of some material over Orc’s body. The female is Enitharmon, mother figure in the Blakean universe. The sky is a mixture of dark yellows and reds, and nude human figures dance in the background beneath the text.
A snake takes up the majority of this plate from Europe, a Prophecy (1969 facsimile). The snake is mostly green, but rust, purple, and blue flecks are scattered throughout its skin. It curves in large coils towards the middle of the plate but its head is raised in between the words of the title, with its tongue sticking out in an aggressive manner. The rest of the plate is fairly simple in terms of illustration. Pastel mountains are seen in the background, and sparse vegetation can be found around the snake and the words in the title.
In this image from Europe, a Prophecy (1969 facsimile), a naked man crouches on the edge of the world. His long white hair and beard flow in the wind and catch fire at the tips. This man is Urizen, creator and god-like figure of the Blakean universe. His hand is extended into the surrounding darkness. From his fingers, two beams of light shoot in opposite directions into the void, like calipers measuring the world. This image likely portrays Urizen creating the universe from the void.
In this image at the end of America, a Prophecy (1963 facsimile), a female figure lies hunched over on the edge of a cliff, her hands outstretched in prayer. Tears flow from her eyes and become a waterfall that flows over the edge of the cliff as well. Upon and around her body are several smaller human figures. Several of the smaller figures appear to be reading tablets or books. Others appear to be playing pipes, praying, or herding sheep. Vines and flowers grow throughout the page and even spread into the lines of poetry. There are also several dead trees towards the top of the image. In the poem, revolution and the spirit of liberation have been unleashed, but the ending is not triumphant. The world has been engulfed in the conflict.
In this image from America, a Prophecy (1963 facsimile), the spirit of revolutionary energy, Orc, is seen naked in a powerful, animal-like pose. Around him are flames, either symbolizing revolution or Hell. The flames take up the majority of the plate, even surrounding some of the words in the poetry.
In this image from America, a Prophecy (1963 facsimile), the title of the poem appears in large, billowing clouds whose colors range from light to jet black. Towards the bottom of the images lies a pile of faceless bodies upon which a female figure lays, embracing the topmost body. The top half of the image contains two robed figures sitting upon a layer of clouds, both examining tablets and surrounded by smaller figures. The figure in the pink robe appears to be a young woman with blond hair, while the figure in the blue robe is an elderly man. On the bottom half of the image it is raining or hailing, while sun peaks through the clouds in the top half of the image.
In this image from America, a Prophecy (1963 facsimile), a winged figure sits naked and chained in the darkness of a rocky landscape. This figure is thought to represent either Orc, Blake’s revolutionary figurehead, or Albion’s Angel, a symbol of the establishment forces. Also in this image is an exhausted-looking mother holding her children on her lap. All figures appear to be naked. It is unclear if the mother and child are related to the winged figure. A toppled cannon lies in the bottom left corner of the image.
In this image from All Religions are One (1970 facsimile), an old male figure with a long beard sits on the ground with his legs crossed. Behind him is a winged angel with a hand resting on the shoulder of the man. In the foreground of the picture is a stone tablet that resembles a combination of a tombstone and the Ten Commandments tablet. The tablet reads “All Religions are One."
This image appears near the beginning of Blake’s illustrations to “The Descent of Odin” in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It depicts the Norse god literally riding “down the yawning steep” on a horse, with drawn sword, shield out, and armor covering his body. This poem “from the Norse Tongue” was actually translated by Gray from Latin. It is part of a number of Norse legends dealing with the death of Odin’s son, Balder, and Odin’s effort to determine whether Balder’s death can be averted. Here Blake also shows Odin encountering the hideous “Dog of Darkness.” The adjacent page introducing the poem in Blake’s illustrations is startlingly light and whimsical compared to this dark image
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “A Long Story,” a comic tale of magic and tangled social relationships in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). A woman lunges away in fear at the sight of a translucent, ghostly figure on the right who bars the entrance to a chapel door. This alarming “sentry” has flames coming out of his eyes, and is “enough to scare ye,” as the next page of the poem attests.
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” which is included in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). The woman wearing a crown appears to be the queen of the “painful family of death” in the line marked with Blake’s X. She has snakes wrapped around her legs and torso and flames at her feet. The tortured figures around her represent the loss and dark times that will inevitably have to be faced by the happy youth at the start of the poem.
This image continues Blake’s illustrations to “The Progress of Poesy,” a long Pindaric ode in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It has a cold, ice-mountain setting where a figure walks, covered in a wolf skin and playing a trumpet. From the lines Blake marked with an X, it is clear what is going on: “In climes beyond the solar road, / Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, / The Muse has broke the twilight-gloom / To cheer the shiv'ring native's dull abode.”
This image is from Blake’s illustrations to “The Progress of Poesy,” a long Pindaric ode in Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile). It depicts Hyperion in a burst of light emerging from the sun. Hyperion holds a bow and arrow at the ready, as he is about to cast war upon the forces of “sickly” Night and various human ills.
On the title page to Blake’s illustrations to Thomas Gray’s Poems (1972 facsimile), a swan is flying in a deep blue sky. A man is riding on the back of the swan, holding the reigns and reaching for a lyre. He can be interpreted to be “The Pindaric Genius” behind Gray’s work, because a note on the verso of this image refers specifically to the “Genius receiving his Lyre” (symbolically, a sign that he is a poet).