Leutha is a female character appearing in the mythology of
William Blake. According to
S. Foster Damon
Samuel Foster Damon (February 12, 1893 – December 25, 1971) was an American academic, a specialist in William Blake, a critic and a poet. When remembered as a Blake scholar, he is often compared in importance to Northrop Frye and David V. Erdma ...
, ''A Blake Dictionary'', she stands for 'sex under law'.
Incidence
Leutha is mentioned in
* ''
Visions of the Daughters of Albion
''Visions of the Daughters of Albion'' is a 1793 poem by William Blake, produced as a book with his own illustrations. It is a short and early example of his prophetic books, and a sequel of sorts to ''The Book of Thel''.
Plot
The central narra ...
''
* ''
The Book of Los
''The Book of Los'' is a 1795 prophetic book by the English poet and painter William Blake. It exists in only one copy, now held by The British Museum. The book is related to the ''Book of Urizen'' and to the ''Continental prophecies''; it is ...
''
* ''
Europe a Prophecy''
* ''
America a Prophecy
''America a Prophecy'' is a 1793 prophetic book by the English poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on eighteen plates, and survives in fourteen known copies. It is the first of Blake's ''Continental prophecies''.
Background
Dur ...
''
* ''
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell''
* ''
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
''
* ''
Vala, or The Four Zoas
''Vala, or The Four Zoas'' is one of the uncompleted prophetic books by the English poet William Blake, begun in 1797. The eponymous main characters of the book are the Four Zoas (Urthona, Urizen, Luvah and Tharmas), who were created by the fall o ...
''
* ''
Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion''
Relationships
She is the Emanation of
Bromion Bromion is a character in the mythology of William Blake. According to S. Foster Damon (''A Blake Dictionary'') he represents Reason, from the side of the poet's mind.
Incidence
* ''Visions of the Daughters of Albion'', in which he plays a major r ...
. She occurs in a pair with the male
Antamon.
In ''Milton''
:''But when Leutha (a Daughter of Beulah) beheld Satans condemnation''
:''She down descended into the midst of the Great Solemn Assembly''
:''"Offering herself a Ransom for Satan, taking on her, his Sin."''
Whence the interpretation commonly given as guilt, and in particularly sexual guilt.
Locality
In the poem ''
And did those feet in ancient time
"And did those feet in ancient time" is a poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the ...
'' by
William Blake, Leutha is associated with the
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...
:
He came down from Highgate thro' Hackney & Holloway towards London
Till he came to old Stratford, & thence to Stepney & the Isle
Of Leutha's Dogs, thence thro' the narrows of the River's side,
And saw every minute particular, the jewels of Albion, running down
The kennels of the streets and lanes as if they were abhorr'd
Every Universal Form was become barren mountains of moral
Virtue, and every Minute Particular harden'd into grains of sand
And all the tendernesses of the soul cast forth as filth and mire.
Name
The homophone relationship to
Martin Luther has often been pointed out. Angela Esterhammer (''Blake and Language'' p. 73, in ''William Blake Studies'' (2006), edited by Nicholas M. Williams) writes:
Blake's Leutha represents 'Protestant speech' — an association achieved partly through the pun on 'Luther', but mainly through her own verbal behaviours in Blake's prophetic poems, where she manifests 'Protestant' modes of speech such as public self-scrutiny, self-exaggeration, confession, and plain-spokenness.
References
{{William Blake, myth
William Blake's mythology