Og & Anak watch in the brain which "is the Seat / Of Satan in its Webs; for in brain and heart and loins / Gates open behind Satans Seat to the City of Golgonooza / Which is the spiritual fourfold London, in the loins of Albion"
— Blake, William (1757-1827)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
William Blake
Date
c. 1804-1811, 1818
Metaphor
Og & Anak watch in the brain which "is the Seat / Of Satan in its Webs; for in brain and heart and loins / Gates open behind Satans Seat to the City of Golgonooza / Which is the spiritual fourfold London, in the loins of Albion"
Metaphor in Context
Now Albions sleeping Humanity began to turn upon his Couch;
Feeling the electric flame of Miltons awful precipitate descent.
Seest thou the little winged fly, smaller than a grain of sand?
It has a heart like thee; a brain open to heaven & hell,
Withinside wondrous & expansive; its gates are not clos'd,
I hope thine are not: hence it clothes itself in rich array;
Hence thou art cloth'd with human beauty O thou mortal man.
Seek not thy heavenly father then beyond the skies:
There Chaos dwells & ancient Night & Og & Anak old:
For every human heart has gates of brass & bars of adamant,
Which few dare unbar because dread Og & Anak guard the gates
Terrific! and each mortal brain is walld and moated round
Within: and Og & Anak watch here; here is the Seat
Of Satan in its Webs; for in brain and heart and loins
Gates open behind Satans Seat to the City of Golgonooza
Which is the spiritual fourfold London, in the loins of Albion.
Feeling the electric flame of Miltons awful precipitate descent.
Seest thou the little winged fly, smaller than a grain of sand?
It has a heart like thee; a brain open to heaven & hell,
Withinside wondrous & expansive; its gates are not clos'd,
I hope thine are not: hence it clothes itself in rich array;
Hence thou art cloth'd with human beauty O thou mortal man.
Seek not thy heavenly father then beyond the skies:
There Chaos dwells & ancient Night & Og & Anak old:
For every human heart has gates of brass & bars of adamant,
Which few dare unbar because dread Og & Anak guard the gates
Terrific! and each mortal brain is walld and moated round
Within: and Og & Anak watch here; here is the Seat
Of Satan in its Webs; for in brain and heart and loins
Gates open behind Satans Seat to the City of Golgonooza
Which is the spiritual fourfold London, in the loins of Albion.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
William Blake, Milton a Poem ([London], 1804). <Link to works in the Blake Archive>
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
