53

"Her little ones [will be del.] are slain on the

top of every street,

"And she herself let (led) captive & scatter'd into

[all nations del.] the indefinite.

"Gird on thy sword, 0 thou most mighty in glory &

majesty:

"Destroy these oppressors of Jerusalem § those who

ruin Shiloh."

(K. I. 545-549)

The deletions from "will soon" to "is " and "will be" to "are," indicate a stress upon the simultaneity of the fall. The further emendation from "all nations" to "the indefinite" emphasizes Blake's final view of Albion's exudation. Whatever the limits placed upon this exudation within the finite by the Zoas and Emanations, he remains indefinite to those without, in infinity. After their plea, the messengers of Beulah are closed "in clouds around/Till the time of the End," or Christ's intervention. Till then, the "Family Divine" or Council of God elect "the Seven Eyes of God & the Seven Lamps of the Almighty" (K. I. 5S3-5S4). These represent seven stages in the cycle of the finite and culminate in Christ who is the seventh:

Then they Elected Seven, called the Seven

Eyes of God & the Seven Lamps of the Almighty.

555 The Seven are one within the other; the Seventh is

named Jesus,

The Lamb of God, blessed for ever, & he follow'd

the Man

Who wander'd in mount Ephraim seeking a Sepulcher,

His inward eyes closing from the Divine vision, & all His children wandering outside, from his bosom fleeing away.

CK. I. 552-559)

End of The First Night [second draft]

It should be noted that Blake's late penciled additions to the second draft of Night the First place Jerusalem in the structure of The Four Zoas to help justify her role in the incarnation of Jesus later in the cycle, in Night the Eighth: