Proverbs of Hell: Understanding One Quote of Many

Understanding William Blake’s poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” can be difficult if one does not try to understand his meanings within the poem. I found it interesting to try and decode his meanings in the ironic metaphors or personification Blake had used in the section Proverbs of Hell. Every line has its meaning and it could be taken all sorts of ways.

At first when I read the Proverbs of Hell, without really thinking too much of the sentences’ meanings, I did not know how he had gotten the ideas about what he wrote. Nothing seemed to connect. I first liked “Eternity is in love with the productions of time”. What is that supposed to mean? So I read and reread every word trying to get the real understanding. To do so I felt it necessary to determine the meaning of the main words.

Eternity: time without end or eternal existence some religions believed is what their afterlife was. The next word, I know has many different meanings according to people, in love: having a strong liking or attempting to express love. Production: the act of producing something or the output of something. Time: the human creation to keep track of dates and organize activities easier. The meaning of this quote is the time with no end has a strong feeling for what is being made of time.

Blake had written this poem within the Enlightenment time period in Europe. This was a time for new ideas about science, life, the world, and beliefs in religion. People questioning the Catholic religion in Europe created new ideas about God to come about. Eternity is given the ability to be “in love” so I then viewed it as being able to have human qualities. With that in mind, if Eternity is endless time it might get bored with watching the same thing happen to human life. But when chaos or a disruption is made in “normal” lives Eternity now finds itself being entertained. Like an addicting television show to some people, Eternity now unable to bare to not watch. Becoming involved in witnessing the changes that occur over time. With the expansion of time the expansion of disorder and abruptness in the world occurs. Not only unfortunate themes happens with the expansion of time though also fortunate experiences. So with the more time goes on the more ideas and changes will be made. Eternity has now seen what can occur and may expect more chaos and more joy as time puts on a never ending production.