Awake! (1951)
Title
Awake! (1951)
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 (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.