Part 3: Filling Gaps

The addition of the inscriptions around Laocoön's upthrust arm has the effect of creating visual gaps around the statue. The most obvious is that to the right of Laocoön's head and upper body.

Filling this gap are the inscriptions that run from "All that we See is Vision" to "Natural Man". These must have been engraved together: although "All that we See is Vision" could exist as a phrase on its own, it sits too far from the statue for Blake ever to have intended it in isolation; and the inner four lines make no sense without "All that we See is Vision".

A slant in part of the text indicates that this block was engraved after "מל[א]ך יהוה": the words "from Generated" bend towards Laocoön's head to avoid the "ך" (figure 3b). Indeed, the compositional awkwardness of the word "from" gives the impression that this word was an even later addition.

The positioning of the outer inscriptions of this contoured block—"Hebrew Art is called Sin by the Deist Science"—indicates a later addition. Blake seems not to have left himself enough space between the lines "All that we See is Vision" and "Hebrew Art is" and has had to squeeze in the line "called Sin by the Deist Science". These two outer lines, however, appear to have dictated the shape of the text blocks above it ("What can be Created / Can be Destroyed", and "Adam is only / The Natural Man [. . .]") and to its right (especially the lines from "Of Egypt nor Babylon" to "War and Dominion"). They must, therefore, have arrived on the plate earlier than those inscriptions. (See figure 3c.)

Above and below the raised arm of the left-hand (younger) son there are further inscriptions that must have been the result of Blake's space filling around the image of the sculpture. That these words appeared after those surrounding Laocoön's upthrust arm is evident from the fact that the space between "Good" and "& Evil" has been sized so as to accommodate the initial "T" of "The Gods of Priam". (See figure 3d.)

The obvious places for Blake to have added further inscriptions at this stage are to the left of the younger son's body and to the right of the elder son's body.

The inscriptions to the right—"All is not Sin that Satan calls so / all the Loves & Graces of Eternity", and "& Heroism a Miser"—conform roughly to the contour of the statue but are essentially vertical. Their perpendicular nature is emphasised by the fact that, instead of curving inwards to hug the outline of the elder son's leg, the phrase "All is not Sin that Satan calls so" is in line with "& Heroism a Miser"; "all the Loves & Graces of Eternity" fills the space left. (See figure 3e.)

The innermost inscriptions to the left—"The True Christian Charity not dependent on Money (the lifes blood of Poor Families) / that is on Caesar or Empire or Natural Religion" and "Money, which is The Great Satan or Reason / the Root of Good & Evil / In The Accusation of Sin"—provide a visual balance to "All is not Sin [. . .]" on the right. Here, though, Blake departs further from the statue's contours. Although the indentations of the lines echo the steps of the altar on which Laocoön sits, Blake makes no attempt to curve his words around the figures. (See figure 3f.)

It is unlikely that Blake added the phrase "It manifests itself in his Works of Art", or any of the other inscriptions further to the left until after this stage, as they sit beyond the line of the plinth.

The addition of the lines on "The True Christian Charity [. . .]" and "Money [. . .] The Great Satan" may have been a turning point for Blake, as compositionally they open up the way for the many vertical and horizontal inscriptions that we find in the engraving's final state.