In “Blake’s Auguries of Innocence, the French Revolution, and London” by Robert W. Rix, three of William Blake’s poems are prioritized as prophetic. Blake defines the nature of a prophet as non-existing, in a sense that he has no supernatural powers. Rix evaluates that Blake judges a prophet on the success or failure of his predictions, to act as a public voice of conscience. On the background of an old English book market, Blake writes that Jonah was no prophet because his prophecy to Nineveh failed (book of Jonah-Bible). However he chooses this story to illustrate that Jonah by informing the people of the Assyrian empire, ‘made’ them turn away from their sin. So God consequently relented from the disaster that he said he would bring upon them. Evidently, Blake sees that the worth of the prophet is based on his ability to influence public behavior. Also Rix states that the poem “Auguries of Innocence” as well exemplifies the prognostic model. The narrator demonstrates his ability to identify how violence to God’s creatures offends the divine benevolence of the universe: “A robin Red breast in a cage / puts all Heaven in Rage,” “A Horse misused upon the Road / Calls to Heaven for Human Blood,” and “The wanton Boy that kills the Fly / Shall feed the spiders enmity”. As Blake wrote, in the old English book market, “If you go on So / The result is So” the formula clearly supports the line “A dog starved at his Masters Gate / Predicts the ruin of the state”. This is a warning of the uncared for animal which is used to forecast a future event. As Rix stated, “The purpose of Blake’s “prophetic” is to be a public word of caution, based on social observation rather than supernatural foresight” (Rix). The “Auguries of Innocence” is one of the short and interesting poems written by Blake, which corresponds to our blog title “Blake’s Short Titillations”.
Rix main ideas of the Auguries of Innocence, The French Revolution, and London is that prophetic is in a sense of nature, not supernatural powers or events. In detail, “prophetic” is to be a word of caution for the community, based on social observation rather than mystical foresight. Nevertheless, Blake wrote “Prophets in the modern sense of the word have never existed. Jonah was no prophet in the modern sense for his prophecy of Nineveh failed”. By saying that Jonah was not a prophet, Blake shows that he did not believe in God and the word of God; the Bible. For Jonah was a prophet, God talked to Jonah and wanted him to stop the people in Nineveh of their evil sins, “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me” (Book of Jonah-Chapter 1:1-2). God wanted the people to relent to him, so they could go to heaven. The point isn’t that Jonah’s not a prophet because the prophecy didn’t come true, but since God had talked to him he is a prophet. More than one definition of prophet exist. One definition is a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration. Another definition of a prophet is a person who foretells or predicts what is to come. Looking at those two definitions we can tell that Jonah is still a prophet of God. Jonah didn’t predict the right thing, but that is because God is greater than Jonah, and God wanted Jonah to tell the people so they would get startled and stop sinning. God didn’t want them to die, and according to the Bible, 1 John 4:8, “God is Love”, therefore God has love making him loving. At the end of the poem Auguries of Innocence, Blake states “God appears and God is light / To those poor souls who dwell in the night, / But does a human form Display / To those who Dwell in Realms of day.” This part of the poem reveals Blake's belief of God not being visible in the day; he is due to appear in human form since people no longer accept him for divine. People have lost their ability to see beyond the evil. In conclusion it is seen that Blake does believe in God, however he misinterpreted the definition of a prophet.
To view the full poem Auguries of Innocence, Click here.
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