Proverbs of Hell

by images by James Putnam Abbott William Blake

All of Blake's seventy 225-year-old proverbs are presented in this book. Each of the sometimes cryptic messages is accompanied by an image made by artist/sculptor James Putnam Abbott. Abbott selected the images from over 40 years worth of his portfolios, after finding a consonance between each one and the accompanying proverb.

Genres: Poetry, Philosophy, Classics, English Literature

148 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work of is central to the vision of William Blake who is generally recognized to be one of the greatest poets of the English language. I decided to read it after finishing Olga Tokarczuk's "Drive your plow over the bones of the dead." The title of Tokarczuk's novel is the second line of the "Proverbs" and many of the quotations found at the beginnings of the individual chapters are also taken from the "Proverbs."

In the "The Proverbs of Hell" Blake asserts his fundamental thesis that man who lives in a fallen state cannot return to his divine condition by simply abstaining from sin. Rather man must act in a dynamic and creative manner. In the context of Tokarczuk's the heroine who is a timid and restrained vegan at first simply recoils in horror as she observers hunters slaughter the animals in the forest where she lives. Finally she decides that she must act and she embarks on a killing spree in which she kills four hunters. The conclusion that may be drawn is that in our ecological twenty-first century is that Blake is more relevant than ever.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contemporary American Gothic poet Oliver Sheppard has done all Blake lovers a favor by editing and publishing a one volume edition of Blake's "Proverbs of Hell". Part of the larger, multifaceted "Marriage of Heaven and Hell", this is the first time it has been published on its own. The small volume also includes Blake's "A Memorable Fancy", and a selection of proverbs and aphorisms from other Blake works. As well as a small, well curated, selection of proverbs from Johann Kaspar Lavater and Swedenborg, both of whom influenced Blake greatly, but with whom Blake had some major issues as well.
Sheppard also includes his own excellent 10 page Introduction, which nicely presents the book-within-a-book within Blake's career and thought. Sheppard understands Blake both on an intellectual level as a scholar, and intuitively as well, as someone who appreciates Blake's difficult cosmology.
This is the fourth title in Sheppard's "Sources of Gothic" series, published by his own Ikonograph Press. My only complaint is that not all the reproductions of Blake's art work is clear and precise - some of it looks quite muddled. But, this is a small press, and the text is the important part here. The text itself is well formatted here, with Roman Numerals indicating each Proverb, and lots of space between each.
For lovers of Blake, the Romantic tradition, and alternative world and spiritual views.

[Ona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.

[Alejandro Salgado B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelentes proverbios del gran Blake, siempre misterioso, oscuro y a la vez luminoso.

[D Weav · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure I understand as much as I should or could. I'm just beginning on Blake.

[Jamie Duda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a big fan of poetry but I liked our class discussions on this one