was thus
rendered non-existent, and an immense poem exists which seems to be
the labour of a long life, all produced without labour or study.

Whatever may be their source, all Blake's writings are deeply mystical
in thought, and symbolic in expression, and this is true of the
(apparently) simple little _Songs of Innocence_, no less than of the
great, and only partially intelligible, prophetic books. To deal at all
adequately with these works, with the thought and teaching they contain,
and the method of clothing it, would necessitate a volume, if not a
small library, devoted to that purpose. It is possible, however, to
indicate certain fundamental beliefs and assertions which lie at the
base of Blake's thought and of his very unusual attitude towards life,
and which, once grasped, make clear a large part of his work. It must be
remembered that these assertions were for him not matters of belief, but
of passionate knowledge--he was as sure of them as of his own existence.

Blake founds his great myth on his perception of unity at the heart of
things expressing itself in endless diversity. "God is in the lowest
effects as [in] the highest causes. He is become a worm that he may
nourish the weak.... Everything on earth is the word of God, and in its
essence is God."[74]

In the _Everlasting Gospel_, Blake emphasises, with more than his usual
amount of paradox, the inherent divinity of man. God, speaking to Christ
as the highest type of humanity, says--

If thou humblest thyself, thou humblest me.
Thou also dwellst in Eternity.
Thou art a man: God is no more:
Thy own humanity learn to adore,
For that is my Spirit of Life.[75]

Similarly the union of man with God is the whole gist of that
apparently most chaotic of the prophetic books, _Jerusalem_.

The proof of the divinity of man, it would seem, lies in the fact that
he desires God, for he cannot desire what he has not seen. This view is
summed up in the eight sentences which form the little book (about 2
inches long by 11/2 inches broad) in the British Museum, _Of Natural
Religion_. Here are four of them.

Man's perceptions are not bounded by organs of perception, he
perceives more than sense (tho' ever so acute) can discover.

None could have other than natural or organic thoughts if he had
none but organic perceptions.

Man's desires are limited by his perceptions, none can desire what
he has not