America a Prophecy

Like the others under the title, all aspects of the work, including the composition of the designs, the printing of them, the colouring of them, and the selling of them, happened at his home.

[8] Henry Crabb Robinson contacted William Upcott on 19 April 1810 inquiring about copies of Blake's works that were in his possession.

[9] The image A Breach in a City served as the frontispiece for America and was originally shown on its own at the Royal Academy during April 1784.

[10] The implications of the work are taken up again in America with the King of England trembling as he sees Orc, the embodiment of the American colonies.

This is followed by Orc's apocalyptic vision:[11] The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations; The grave is burst, the spices shed, the linen wrapped up[11] Orc provokes the Angel of Boston to rebellion:[12] "What God is he, writes laws of peace, & clothes him in a tempest What pitying Angel lusts for tears, and fans himself with sighs What crawling villain preaches abstinence & wraps himself In fat of lambs?

"[12] Together, the rebels are able to be freed of the psychological chains that bind them:[12] the five gates of their law-built heaven[12]America, like many of Blake's other works, is a mythological narrative and is considered a "prophecy".

The book represents her as trapped by a philosophical system created by John Locke, and no one is able to hear her pleas except for the daughters of Albion.

[15] Unlike the Visions of the Daughters of Albion, America, as well as Europe, describes nations that are trying to determine their own destiny instead of individuals trying to deal with theirs.

[16] The Song of Los is connected to both America and Europe in that it describes Africa and Asia, which operate as a sort of frame to the other works.

As such, the image in America a Prophecy is that the rebellion is a natural struggle for freedom against oppression and a renewal of society.

The "Ancient of Days", represented in America a Prophecy by Urizen, who is like Zeus, Jehovah and other leaders of gods, is the creator of religion.

[23] Alexander Gilchrist remarked that "Turning over the leaves it is sometimes like an increase of light on the retina, so fair and open is the effect of particular pages".