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William Blake's Laocoön: The Inscriptions

Part 2: The Upthrust Arm


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The words that run around Laocoön's upthrust arm—"The Gods of Priam are the Cherubim of Moses & Solomon The Hosts / of Heaven / Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done Practise is Art / If you leave off you are Lost"—follow the established pattern of echoing the statue's curves but strke out beyond the boundaries set by what I have posited as the engraving's original inscriptions (see Part 1).

The fact that the inscription commands the surrounding space on Blake's engraving indicates that parts of it at least were engraved early on, before many of the inscriptions in its vacinity. That fact, combined with the simultaneous echoing and departure from the first grouping identified, suggests that this was the next section of engraving to be added.

Although it was certainly engraved relatively early, however, the constituent parts of this inscription seem not to have been engraved in the sequence in which we read them.

Figure 2a
Figure 2a
 

The distance between Laocoön's arm and the inscription "Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done" is similar to that between the elder son's head and the inscription "Satans Wife The Goddess Nature [. . .]". This suggests that "Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done" was the first of this group of inscriptions to be added. The words "Practise is Art", however, are out of kilter with "Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done", so were not added at the same time. (See figure 2b.)

Figure 2b
Figure 2b
 

The outer inscription "The Gods of Priam are the Cherubim of Moses & Solomon" follows the shape of the inscription within it, indicating that it was added next (figure 2c).

Figure 2c
Figure 2c
 

The "The Hosts / of Heaven" appears to be as an addition to the original outer line ("The Gods of Priam are the Cherubim of Moses & Solomon"). Where Blake ran out of room he dropped the last two words below the first two, so that they extended in line with the end of the inscription "Without Unceasing Practise nothing can be done". (See figure 2d.)

Figure 2d
Figure 2d
 

It was probably not until after this stage that the words "Practise is Art" were incised—perhaps when Blake was beginning to lack room elsewhere on the plate. This inscription bends towards Laocoön's arm to avoid colliding with "of Heaven". The line "If you leave off you are Lost" was probably also engraved later: it is a half-line, only appearing down the left of Laocoön's arm. It was perhaps added in that position to balance the overflow of the words "of Heaven" on the right of the arm. The spatial prominence of the statements corresponding with the weight they are given in this added warning. (See figures 2e and 2f.)

The reference to "The Gods of Priam" echoes the inscription concerning "the Cherubim / of Solomons Temple" beneath the statue's plinth, suggesting that the particular statement below the statue was developing into a encompassing idea.

Figure 2e
Figure 2e
Figure 2f
Figure 2f

 

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