Proverbs of Hell 11

This is the oneteenth entry in my series on William Blake’s “Proverbs of Hell,” see this post for context, background, and excuses.

The selfish smiling fool, & the sullen frowning fool. shall be both thought wise. that they may be a rod.

There are two separate thoughts happening here although the bizarrely placed periods obscure it by doubling as commas, which was common in this time for printed works. The first one is only one thought but it’s got two different subjects. The selfish smiling fool and the sullen frowning fool don’t even seem equally weighted. Selfish and smiling have no apparent connection, so it’s on the reader to find it. Checking its partner for context, the sullen frowning fool, they both describe a fool’s expression. Sullen and frowning are almost synonyms, but selfish is a specific motivation with negative connotations. It almost implies deception, but the sentence is not over.

To use the same analysis again, I’ll look at the second thought to clarify the first. “that they may be a rod” is an evocative phrase, especially to anyone who’s spent time studying the Bible as translated by the scribes of King James VI. Which means that the preceding subjects must be alluding to Biblical themes as well. With only a few searches to find specifics, I found what it was reminding me of.

The first two fools are in reference to the Biblical Proverbs 17:28 which reads in the King James version, which would be closer to what Blake knew: “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” The difference is that Blake is describing the expression on their faces, so he must be focusing on the silent fools’ motivations or natures. The first seems deceptive, and the second seems straightforward, but they are both thought wise, “that they may be a rod.”

Any Bible reader knows that “rod” is almost always a reference to Proverbs 23:13 which, again in KJV, reads: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.” Make your own moral judgements about the advice here, but the intended function of the rod is to guide and correct. Proverbs 13:24 and 22:15 are basically just repetitions of the same point. Otherwise most of the references to a rod in the Bible are either poetic, “Your rod and your staff they comfort me” in Psalms 23, or practical rules like Exodus 21:20 about exactly how much corporal punishment towards slaves was cool with Moses.

So after all of that, we have Blake’s advice: Since both fools are silent, they will be considered wise, and then, according to sacred advice, placed in keeping and care of others, though they may have different motivations and opaque goals. Even selfish fools will wield the rod.

What is now proved was once, only imagin’d.

The advice this provides is also only imagined.

Essentially it’s a reminder to keep an open mind. We’re always discovering more of the world and stretching our understanding of it. I’m typing this on a magic screen that will whizz my words away to every corner of the globe the moment I hit Publish and alt tab back to my email. Blake wouldn’t be able to imagine the world a hundred years after he wrote this, let alone the marvels of today so it feels like more proven advice than most.

The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse,    the elephant, watch the fruits.

For our second big one today we have two compared lists. The one piece of clarification we have from the formatting is that Blake discovered the hanging indent so he could put in as much nonsense punctuation as he wanted and it’s still the same sentence. Peeling it apart we have Group A: Rat, Mouse, Fox, Rabbit who watch the roots, and Group B: Lion, Tiger, Horse, Elephant who watch the fruits. Animal symbology is always a blast.

The first group is all common field animals. It’s tempting to label them all prey animals, but the Fox is in there representing cunning carnivores as well. The second aren’t all exotic, since the much more common horse is in with the lion and elephant, and it’s split between predators and herbivores.

To a guy in 18th and 19th century London, these animals would have also had ringing tones of heraldry and nobility. The fox would be seen as a hunting target along with the rabbit and the rat and mouse would be common pests. The animals in the second group would be seen as nobility and international power. This could be as simple as Bad group:Good group, but the temptation to dissect every choice of animal is hard to resist.

The difference between the groups for Blake is their choice of focus. Group A focuses on the roots, on the beginnings of things and their history. Trusting their hardy sustenance to consistently show that it can survive weather and drought. While Group B focuses on the fruits, on the results of things. Fruit represents their breathing, colorful existence and then quick death, to spread new life through the seeds again.

Music (holy cats this song is so underrated give it a listen):