William Blake’s “Argument” to The Marriage of Heaven and Hell begins with a burst of stormy energy. Rintrah, a prophet of wrath, thunders in a heavy sky as the just man trudges through the Valley of Death. Amazingly, his steady endurance transforms the wasteland: roses bloom among thorns, bees hum on the heather, and even dry bones sprout with red clay and new life. But the story pivots sharply: the villain quits his easy paths and drives the just man out into barren territory. Now the serpent, that ancient deceiver, slinks along in meek disguise, while the just man rages in the wilds among lions. The speaker’s voice is charged with fierce indignation — it’s not calm analysis but a visionary alarm. The mood is apocalyptic and deeply unsettling, a storm that flips conventional morality on its head. Everything feels violently out of joint, as if the cosmos itself has been turned inside out.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: The Argument — Summary
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air, Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
Once meek, and in a perilous path The just man kept his course along The Vale of Death. Roses are planted where thorns grow, And on the barren heath Sing the honey bees.
Then the perilous path was planted, And a river and a spring On every cliff and tomb; And on the bleached bones Red clay brought forth: Till the villain left the paths of ease To walk in perilous paths, and drive The just man into barren climes.
Now the sneaking serpent walks In mild humility; And the just man rages in the wilds Where lions roam.
Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air, Hungry clouds swag on the deep.