CHAPTER IVBlake's Rational Cosmology: Being and Generation The opening lament of Tharmas inverts the harmony of the pre-lapsarian state. Two major forms of inversion occur: the ideal masculine/ feminine energy relationship, and the ideal inner/outer visionary relationship. Tharmas falls into finite being and is symbolized by a labyrinth. His inverted impulses draw Enion into finitude with him and she is symbolized by a loom. He becomes the raw material, so to speak, for the formative powers of Enion. She, in turn, converts his primal energies from a regenerative cycle to a generative cycle. The generative cycle is defined by the circle of destiny and Enion weaves Tharmas1 energies into its finite form. Once the circle of finitude takes form, the daughters of Beulah 'close off* the circle from the infinite by closing the gate of the tongue on the 'tomb' of the finite; thereby infinite being becomes sharply divided from finite being. Because the creation of being and generation 'drains' Tharmas' energies, his Spectre forms as the husk of Tharmas' ideal form. Though limited to a fallen time/space continuum, the spectre is an authentic facet of Tharmas and continues to 'embody' the primal life/death impulse. When the Spectre copulates with Enion he engenders the natural cycle of being and generation as the first step in the rational cosmology of The Four Zoas. Tharmas' opening speech contains images of secrecy, darkness, silence, and the notion of refuge in a labyrinth, for the fall inverts the love of the pre-lapsarian state. Enion must now 'pry into' Tharmas in order to 22 |