Thus the terrible race of Los & Enitharmon gave
Laws & Religions to the sons of Har binding them more
And more to Earth: closing and restraining:
Till a Philosophy of Five sense was complete
Urizen wept & gave it into the hands of Newton & Locke
The Song of Los is both a further exploration of Blake’s mythology and the third of his Continental Prophecies, following Europe & America. This poem focuses on the history of Asia & Africa seen through the prism of his mythology. It’s once again a critique of organized religion, represented here by Urizen, and the virtue of rebellion against hard-line fundamentalism by Los. The poem explores several different religions, including secularism and empiricism among them. Blake sees the virtues behind these philosophies, but rails against the way they’ve been used against humanity instead of in service to them. Quite loved this; very visceral and the comparison of the different religions is really compelling. 3 ½ stars.
tl;dr – the last of Blake’s Continental Prophecies explores Africa & Asia and the history of religion; visceral and compelling. 3 ½ stars.