Proverbs of Hellis a part from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–1793) is a series of texts written in imitation of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own intensely personal Romantic and revolutionary beliefs. Like his other books, it was published as printed sheets from etched plates containing prose, poetry and illustrations. The plates were then coloured by Blake and his wife Catherine. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is probably the Content most influential of Blake's works. Its vision of a dynamic relationship between a stable “Heaven” and an energized “Hell” has fascinated theologians, aestheticians and psychologists.
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) – an English writer – took the name of one of his most famous works, The Doors of Perception (1954), from this work, which in turn also inspired the name of the American rock band The Doors. Blake was fasci-nated with the idea of ‘contraries’. He understood Heaven as a part of a structure which must become one with the creative energy of Hell rather than stand in opposition to it. The ‘doors of perception’ are cleansed only by a transformation of categories so that contraries meet in newly energetic formations. Thus the tigers and horses, the lions and lambs, the children and adults, the innocent and the experienced of Blake’s symbol-ism should be regarded as integral elements of creation.
A characteristic feature of Blake’s poetry to see the world in terms of opposites is highlighted in the collections Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794). Accompanied by Blake’s magnificent hand-decorated drawings, the two volumes were printed together for the first time in 1794 (with the title Songs of Innocence and of Experience). The book describe-s contrary states of feeling and seeing. “Innocence” is a state of genuine love and naïve trust to all mankind, accompanied by unquestioned Christian belief. Blake was an true believer, but he recognized that Christian doctrines were used by the English Church as a form of social manipulation to encourage among the people passive obedience and acceptance of oppression, poverty and inequality. The state of “Experience” is described as a profound disillusionment with human nature and society. One entering the state of “Experience” sees cruelty and hypocrisy clearly, but is unable to find a way out. The Songs of Innocence frequently suggest challenges to the innocent state: children are afraid of the dark, brute beasts threaten lambs, dreadful trade kills a little chimney-sweeper. Satirical and sarcastic poems from the Songs of Experience represent the “wisdom” of the old as oppression. Parents, nurses, priests, and human reason serve to limit and restrain what once was innocent.
Blake said that innocent conceptions of reality change in the face of experience, but he didn’t deny the role of experience in the development of human soul. Blake pointed out a third, higher state of consciousness he called “Organized Innocence”, which is expressed in his later works. In this state, one’s idea of the divinity of humanity coexists with the idea of injustice. One recognizes both and assumes an active position to them. “Without contraries”, Blake wrote, “there is no Progression. If Man is to grow he must come to terms with the more sorrowful aspects of life”. Blake’s work is rich in symbols and images. He tried to create an alternative reality to that which dissatisfied him. “I must create a system”, he wrote, “or be enslaved by another man’s”. This system of personal myths and visions became increasingly complex and elusive as time progressed. Much of his later poetry possesses an almost biblical ‘prophetic’ quality