The Echoing Greenhorn: Blake as Hebraist

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1 A R T I C L E The Echoig Greehor: Blake as Hebraist Arold Cheski Blake/A Illustrated Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 3, Witer , pp

78 THE ECHOING GREENHORN BLAKE AS HEBRAIST ARNOL CHESKIN As studets of Blake kow, "the most formative literary ad spiritual ifluece" o him was the Bible.

2 78 THE ECHOING GREENHORN BLAKE AS HEBRAIST ARNOL CHESKIN As studets of Blake kow, "the most formative literary ad spiritual ifluece" o him was the Bible. There is cosiderable ucertaity, however, about the extet of Blake's familiarity with the origial laguage of the Old Testamet, Hebrew. Although at least eight of his illumiatios cotai Hebrew iscriptios, "we do ot kow how much Hebrew Blake had.... " 2 I the thirtee years sice Harold Bloom's ackowledgmet, that small islad T the sea of Blake scholarship has ot, apparetly, bee covered. I will attempt, the, o the basis of the iscriptios to assess Blake's kowledge of ad facility with Hebrew. Because the irregularities i the iscriptios are so tellig, we ca focus our attetio exclusively o them. If they had bee accurate ad i a good had, their evidece would be equivocal. We could ot kow, i that case, if Blake merely possessed a good eye for copyig. A obvious reaso for the ucertaity about Blake's grasp is that most critics themselves have o Hebrew. Oe such figure, Mr. A. G. B. Russell, cocluded that the subject of Blake's oly lithograph, a bearded "aciet" holdig a book iscribed with his ame, was "Job i Prosperity." 3 Oly after the ascriptio had gaied geeral acceptace did someoe otice that the ame i Hebrew characters idetifies the subject of the lithograph ot as Job, but as Eoch. "Ad he was o more because God took him" (Geesis 5:24), the Biblical descriptio of Eoch's sigal death, is beig scrutiized by two aked figures o the right side of the compositio. A further iroy lies i the very ame that was missed--for "Eoch" ("Haokh" i Hebrew) ca mea "educatio." Uable to assess Blake's grasp of Hebrew from iteral evidece, Frederick Tatham, a early biographer, relied o circumstatial evidece from Blake's book collectio. Fidig Hebrew books "well thumbed ad dirtied by his gravig hads," Tatham cocluded that Blake had "a most cosummate kowledge" of the great Hebrew writers. u This highly questioable deductio ca be put i its proper perspective with the help of G. E. Betley, Jr.: "As a source of biographical facts [Tatham s] Life is of dubious value." 5 Ufamiliarity with the laguage seems to be resposible for aother disturbig problem i Hebrewrelated Blake scholarship. Blake's loe referece to his Hebrew studies, foud i a 803 letter to his brother James, cotais Hebrew characters. They have, however, bee prited at least six differet ways. I 92, Geoffrey Keyes prited the series as 2K (ABK--'aZe.f J beth^ kaf) i.e., "am ow learig my Hebrew ABK." 7 (Hebrew is writte from right to left. For ease of comprehesio, however, I have writte the Eglish equivalets which follow directly, ad the the ames of the Hebrew letters, from left to right. A alphabet table is prited with my essay for the reader's referece.) This meaigless series was replaced by a equally meaigless oe i 927: "»K(AYB-- 'alef 3 yod, daleth, bvth), four characters istead of three. 8 Fially, i 968 Keyes proposed UK (ABC 'alef, beth, gtmel)--a rederig which would put Blake at the begiig of his Hebrew laguage studies. 9 Eoch (detail). Private collectio. Blake's letter to his brother James, 30 Jauary, 803. Library of Cogress, Rosewald Collectio.

3 79 ^K 7// k " */7A JLtL J?J(> *<i &WvL if <Vc **3 *A st<jy <diu L^-* IrU^ ^ ^ MM'CH **A^r t^igu w *U jbui fur * ' 7..' '! _ L.4Z _,_ (..wl^^/^i^^/

4 80 "^*i(*"^«i*pi!!»p«^"i«^ < i Milto, pi. 5 (detail). Library of Cogress, Rosewald collectio. Tables of the Law. From the Collectio of the Jewish Museum, New York. Moa Wilso, geerally regarded as the best twetieth cetury biographer of Blake, remais cosistet i pritig the series as a four letter group. However, her 949 rederig,2 "»K (AYON 'alef, ydd, Wdw, u), becomes 3. ' K( IYOV 'alef, yz>d, waw, vsth) i the 969 revisio. 0 This latter versio, i strikig cotrast to Keyes's latest versio (ABC), makes Blake a good Hebraist sice IYOV, the origial ame for Job, is oe of the most difficult books i the Bible. Who, the, is correct? By examiig a photographic reproductio of the relevat portio of the letter cotaiig Blake's loe referece to his Hebrew studies, I have foud that Keyes's last variatio, 3K (ABC), is accurate. No explaatio for Keyes's forty seve year delay or for other diverget readigs is provided by the difficulty "of mak[ig] out what Blake [actually] wrote before he deleted the mauscript or erased the egravig...." It is umistakably legible, as the reproductio below shows. Elsewhere i Blake's Hebrew iscriptios, however, there are relatively may obscurities ad irregularities. Their special character, i cotrast to that of the Eglish oes, suggests that Blake ever did master all of the Hebrew ABC's. Plate 8A of Milto, which cotais "letters so erroeous that it seems impossible to idetify or traslate them," 2 serves as a good startig poit. This evaluatio by S. Foster amo was actually make of a 797 iscriptio i Night Thoughts. That it applies equally well to this oe of 804 throws ito questio amo's ow implicatio that Blake improved sigificatly i the years after Night Thoughts. To facilitate a evaluatio here, I have icluded alogside it a typical pair of tablets (a familiar motif i Jewish ceremoial art). 3 Although several letters scrawled o the tablets i Urize's hads are idetifiable, they do ot form, without iterpolatio, Commadmets or abbreviatios for Commadmets that sometimes ru to several seteces. If this plate existed i isolatio, oe could argue for the appropriateess of the illegibility i that Urize ad the tablets he holds are, to borrow a word from Blake's captio, i the process of aihilatio. Aother set of stoe tablets of the Law, i "Job's Evil ream" from the Butts watercolors of Blake's Job, lk begis to make such a sympathetic view uteable. The last three letters from right to left i the lie idicated by Job's persecutor compose "gave," icorrectly spelled as 3JU (NTN u, taw 3 u). The u (circled i reproductio), like several other Hebrew letters, requires a differet form at the ed of a word. It is easily see that Blake merely repeats the regular u (j). This loose parallel i Eglish may clarify

5 8 the fudametal ature of the error: spellig "jeopardy" with a "i"-"jeopardi"--istead of a "y" because the verb form uses the "ize" suffix ("jeopardize"). Just as the "i" caot ed "jeopardy," so a regular u caot edim. This is ot, apparetly, the oly such error. Oe way of explaiig this iscriptio is by positig Blake's use of a trasliteratio. Sice both regular letters ad their fial couterparts soud idetical, the Eglish (Roma) character would ot distiguish them. I have ot foud evidece of prited trasliteratios of the Hebrew Bible extat i Blake's time, but it is possible that his istructor trasliterated the Te Commadmets for Blake. This hypothesis might also explai aother "letter iterchage" committed i the Milto tablets, O the oe i Urize's right had, Blake substitutes a o (S-samkh) for what should be a (S [accordig to the Ashkeazic prouciatio]--^')- These Commadmets, however, are listed out of order (0, Job's Evil reams (detail). Pierpot Morga Library. probably 9, 3), forcig us to posit more specifically a faulty trasliteratio or a faulty readig of a correct trasliteratio. Aother way of explaiig some of Blake's irregularities arises from the tablets i "Job's Evil ream." There the sixth, seveth, ad eighth Commadmets, accordig to the Hebrew reckoig, are listed i correct sequece, although they appear i the seveth, eighth, ad ith positios. I the sixth positio is the phrase aa ^-K ("Your God has give"); (the dash is to be disregarded. Jewish law prohibits writig God's ame i this kid of cotext.) which we have discussed earlier from a formal stadpoit. Although either a Commadmet or a abbreviatio for oe, the phrase actually does origiate i the sectios of the Bible cotaiig the Te Commadmets (Exodus, ch. 20 ad euteroomy, ch. 5). I fact, these words are amog the last i the fifth Commadmet: "Hoor your father ad mother so that your days may be may upo the lad which the Lord your God has give you." Oe may be iclied to posit that Blake mistook the ed of the fifth Commadmet for the begiig of the sixth. This would ot explai, though, how Blake maaged to miscopy the fial u (correctly writte as i, ot 3), if he had a text i frot of him.

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6 83 Tl,c W^UfthedviivePres* E> - ^ ci,., I*- m ^ r u^^izi- c,-,,,uuod^j r-g 'v, ^ re 2" 5? whe r,, k.jv. * 'vw^ i ; ' <*«P^^S., ''' r A '-. ' $ 2. ' 5 t..,!t g ^>/-. -J;5;>,. Oil? i r-r J / V *> '- ^*v2 Wh '! T.. : ' V ^ < 'l \r/ve< Ol U..«W*»I< s..ti..c.^ "> \\'. r.d o.i. io e t3. I.. - <, Vl..! > It "» ** TKCI..U. Si ii.. \,v,...,.v H«M Ma...I u> li.-.v.-,-.v tj(, Such. fe J\, i"~ * ^ Kw two Sos 5 d^av\ ocj\.da.m as tkevwere copiedtcomtke Cktrubim 3#* 7, I However well they explai idividual pheomea, either of the hypotheses suggested so far or others like faulty memory, which give Blake the beefit of the doubt explais everythig. The umethodical character of the irregularities leaves us with two possible explaatios: willful subversio or igorace. But the case for willful subversio that Blake kew better but deliberately made errors to disparage the traditio he saw as Laoao (detail). Collectio of Mrs. Charles T. Rosebloom. "Oe [tyraical] Law for the Lio ad the Ox"; or that he chose to keep himself a greehor to Hebrew o priciple is simultaeously usupportable ad irrefutable. We do ot kow his mid. Nevertheless, we seem justified i oe coclusio. Give their elemetary ature, it makes most sese to see the

83 irregularities as arisig from igorace To see itetio here is to argue that "jeopardi spelled by a immigrat or elemetary school studet is deliberate.

7 83 irregularities as arisig from igorace To see itetio here is to argue that "jeopardi spelled by a immigrat or elemetary school studet is deliberate. That mere carelessess is ot Blake's bae i the iscriptios ca best be see through his rederig of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, K I'alef) The letter requires a diagoal bar slagig up from right to left. I "The Laocoo" he slats the bar i the opposite directio, dow from right to left. I the frotispiece to Job (825), he slats it correctly. Ad i "job's Evil ream" (also 825, he does both Sice oly a ich separates letters '? the latter Illumiatio, it is practically impossible to believe that he did ot otice the discrepacy. I all probability, he thought that either form was acceptable ^ i the Arabic umeral "four," writte V ad "4." We ca, at this poit, formulate a judgmet more sopcific tha Harold Fisch's whe he says: Blake "kew ittle or o Hebrew." 5 We have see that he was ot etirely without Hebrew. Eve a brief ote like the followig foud amog the may proverb like sayigs i "The Laocoo" suggests some familiarity: "He repeted that he had made Adam (of the Female, the Adamah) " A complete foreiger to Hebrew would ot kow that the "ah" ( T ) edig is femiie. We have see, oetheless, T that the first of Fisch's possibilities that Blake kew little Hebrew best fits the evidece. 6 Oe of the iterestig usolved problems coected with Blake's Hebrew is his meas of acquirig it. Ufortuately, eve i a area like this, where o Hebrew writig is ivolved, the scholarship is problematic. amo idicates the problem of Blake's acquisitio this way: We do Sot kow who Blake's teachers were. [I] Lodo he cotiued his [Hebrew] studies, probably with some local rabbi...." 7 6. E. Betley Jr. seems to have foud the solutio. Basig his claim o the Jauary 803 letter to James Betley idetifies William Hayley as Blake's tutor. 8 The letter, however, cotais o referece to Hayley i this capacity. Ad a perusal of the ictioary of Natioal Biography ad Hayley's ow Memoirs reveals o evidece that Hayley kew eough Hebrew to serve 9 *<: tutor Eve with some eergetic diggig ad good fortue, it is possible to use Blake's words, that "this mystery ever shall cease. i Jea Hagstrum, William Blake: Poet ami Paiter (Chicago: Uiversity of Chicago Press, 964), p. 4». 2 Harold Bloom, "Commetary," I The Poetry ad Prose of William Blake, ed. avid Erdma (New York: oubleday, 965), p Cpffrev Keves, itroductory moograph to Illustratios of ttbooklfjz^. Geoffrey Keyes (New York: Pierpot Morga Library, 935), p. 8. * G. E. Betley, Jr., Blake Records (Oxford: Oxford Uiversity Press, 969), p Betley, p e This character would techically require a dot [dageah) withi it i order to be cosidered a totft. But I urealized Hebrew ihe dot is ot used. I have read other such letters I the same fashio whe clearly appropriate. 7 Geoffrey Keyes, A Bibliography of William Blake (New York: Grollier Club of New York, 92), p William Blake, Pecil rawigs, ed. Geoffrey Keyes (Great Britai: Noesuch Press, 927), sketch William Blake, The Letters of William Blake, ed Geoffrey Keyes, (Lodo: Rupert Hart avis, 968 [revised editio]), p Wilso actually seems to be returig here to a secod readig offered by Keyes i 927 ad abadoed as early as 956. F W. Bateso, review of The Poetry ad Prose of William Blake, ed. avid Erdma, New York Review of Books, 28 October 965, p S Foster amo, A Blake ictioary: The Ideas ad Symbols of William Blake (Providece, R. I.: Brow Uiversity Press, 965), p Tablets of ukow origi ad date from the collectio of The Jewish Museum, New York.»«Job, pi.. 5 Harold Fisch, "William Blake," The Ecyclopedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter Publishig House, 97), IV, 07 7Z. 6 A assessmet of Blake's Hebrew does ot require treatmet of his every use of Hebrew. Whe take as a whole, the istaces ot discussed i this paper (listed below) corroborate my fidigs. See "Figure Studies" i The Paitigs of William Blake,, ed. arrell Figgis (New York: Charles Scriber's Sos, 925), p. tid; the title page ad pi. 2 of Job, the last page of the third of the Night Thoughts, ad pi. 35 of Milto, copy. 7 8 amo, p. 25. Betley, p. 526, William Hayley, Memoirs of the Life ad Writigs of William Hayley, Esq., ed. Joh Johso (Lodo: Hery Colbur & Co., 823)/ 20 William Blake, The Poetry ad Prose of William ^lake, ed. Geoffrey Keyes (Lodo: Noesuch Press, 927), p. 94. X 3 } T ^ b 3 V t *? r ) r Alrf Beth Glmel aleth He Waw Zaym tyeth Teth Yod KH( Lamed MJm NQ Samelth Ay, Pe >H.lr Q0( Rtah Si, Shi Tiw TST* ' or omit», t) 9 d h w ' h! V fc,m / m. P,t. r t.'h t PUttll»! > origially a glottal atop; ow silet b,v g i go d A; silet at ed of word origially UJ; ow v * a atrog h origially emphatic t; y i yes k, Icli as Germa ch I m ".i so origially a laryl voiced spirat; ow silet origially emphatic t; ow r< i pets origially velar k: ow r, as i Frech uvular ' or Italia trilled ; origially palatal, ow t i so, h as i shoe /. origially alao like tk " '»'

Third- and fourth-graders are old enough to understand the difference between right

Third- and fourth-graders are old enough to understand the difference between right Lesso 2 15 Zechariah Prophesies About Jesus Luke 1:68-79 Third- ad fourth-graders are old eough to uderstad the differece betwee right ad wrog. However, kids this age may ot completely uderstad the cocepts