The Book of Thel is one of the prophetic illuminated books written by William Blake, a great British poet, painter and visionary born in the 18th Century. Crafted after The Song of Innocence, this allegorical poem is closely related to the loss of innocence, maybe indicating the creation of The Song of Experience in his later years.
This poem begins with Thel, the youngest daughter of Mne Seraphim, separates herself and goes to the river. There, Thel laments about the transience of mortal life and the inevitability of death. The Lily of the valley, upon hearing her words, replies, explaining that even as weak and insignificant as she can be blessed by the almighty God and everything that lives should rejoice instead of complaining. Thel responds by listing the virtues of the Lily and compares herself to a cloud, dying without leaving a trace. So she continues to ask a little cloud about the understanding of mutability. The cloud explains that transience is born out of Love and death is beautiful, for it means the transformation into a more romantic and unified way of existence. Thel responds with a lamentation upon her uselessness, fearing her only use after death will be feeding worms. The cloud says it is also a great use because it emphasizes the interconnectedness of all forms of life. Then, the cloud asks a worm to come to Thel. But the worm cannot speak, it only cries like a feeble infant. Soon after, a clod of clay joins them and claims even the worm is still loved by the divine. Invited by the clod of clay, Thel agrees to come to the clay’s home, where the couches of the dead and the fibrous roots intertwine. Wandering through this land of sorrow and tears, she finally comes to her own grave and being asked by a mysterious voice about the perception of the five senses. Upon hearing the possible woe perceived by these sensory organs, Thel runs back to the vale with a shriek.
In The Book of Thel, The Vales of Har are depicted as a paradisal place which resembles the Garden of Eden. Thel wishes to enter the world of experience and leave the innocent paradise behind. However, once Thel enters into the world of experience, her heart is filled with terror upon the thought of mortality and the futility of human conductions if the final demise is inevitable. But at the same time, her escape from all these possible pain and sorrow also leads to the inability to conceive all the beautiful things in the mortal life. Sometimes, it is exactly the transient nature of things that makes them more precious, like sweet music floating in the air and gradually dying away. In other words, Thel’s fear of growing up is what keeps her from actually living. When she flees from the world of experience, she is also fleeing from the fullness of life itself. Innocence should take on a more elevated meaning, one found through suffering, through fire and frost, that Thel can never reach as long as she is gripped by the fear of opening herself up to risk. In order to truly enter the age of maturity, we must face all these fabulous perils scattered along our journey. Our life is meant to be a hero’s journey, maybe unlike that of Achilles and Odysseus, but still possesses its own style of heroism. We must slay the bad fire-breathing dragons, jump into the deep den of despair and rise up from the ruin of life all over again. Sacrifice and suffering are painful indeed, but at the same time also necessary to the completion of our Self. Passively accepting the given Innocence and Grace, may sounds like a state of extreme bliss, but are actually far less romantic than the process of elevation from the deepest pit to the highest heaven with the power of imagination.
“Fear ye not and behold the Creation of God”, a voice arises in the bottom of my heart, retelling the story of Thel.