"In Love with the Productions of Time": A Study of the Treatment of Time and Eternity in William Blake's Prophetic Works
Eternity and time are central concepts within the Prophetic Works. In the Prophetic universe, eternity is defined as a positive state of infinite potentiality, whereas time is depicted as a state founded on the exclusion of possibilities; hence, the existence of the human mind in time rather than in eternity severely limits the sum of his existence. Viewed as a whole, the Prophetic cycle can be se