The Apocalypse in England: Revelation Unravelling, 1700-1834

274 Pages·1997·47.39 MB·English

by  Christopher Burdon

The Apocalypse in England
Revelation Unravelling, 1700–1834
Christopher Burdon
THE APOCALYPSE IN ENGLAND
STUDIES IN LITERATURE AND RELIGION
General Editor: David Jasper, Director of the Centre for the Study of
Literature and Theology, University of Glasgow
Studies in Literature and Religion is a series of interdisciplinary titles, both
monographs and essays, concerned with matters of literature, art and
textuality within religious traditions founded upon texts and textual
study. In a variety of ways they are concerned with the fundamental
issues of the imagination, literary perceptions and theory, and an
understanding of poetics for theology and religious studies.
Published titles include:
David Scott Arnold
LIMINAL READINGS
Forms of Otherness in Melville, Joyce and Murdoch
John D. Barbour
THE CONSCIENCE OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHER
Ethical and Religious Dimensions of Autobiography
Tibor Fabiny
THE LION AND THE LAMB
Figuralism and Fulfilment in the Bible, Art and Literature
Max Harris
THEATRE AND INCARNATION
David Jasper (editor)
POSTMODERNISM, LITERATURE AND THE FUTURE OF THEOLOGY
TRANSLATING RELIGIOUS TEXTS
READINGS IN THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE
Written for Our Learning
Ann Loades and Michael McLain (editors)
HERMENEUTICS, THE BIBLE AND LITERARY CRITICISM
Irena S. M. Makarushka
RELIGIOUS IMAGINATION AND
LANGUAGE IN EMERSON AND NIETZSCHE
Kevin Mills
JUSTIFYING LANGUAGE
Paul and Contemporary Literary Theory
Linda Munk
THE TRIVIAL SUBLIME
George Pattison
KIERKEGAARD: THE AESTHETIC AND THE RELIGIOUS
The Apocalypse
in England
Revelation Unravelling, 1700-1834
Christopher Burdon
First published in Great Britain 1997 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-65946-5
First published in the United States of America 1997 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-16542-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burdon, Christopher.
The Apocalypse in England: Revelation unravelling, 1700-18341
Christopher Burdon.
p. cm. - (Studies in literature and religion)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-312-16542-0 (cloth)
I. Bible. N.T. Revelation-Criticism, interpretation, etc.
-England-History-18th century. 2. Bible. N.T. Revelation-
-Criticism, interpretation, etc.-England-History-19th century.
3. Bible. N.T. Revelation-In literature. 4. Bible. N.T.
Revelation-Influence. 5. English poetry-18th century. 6. English
poetry-19th century. I. Title. II. Series.
BS2825.2.B86 1997
228' .06'0942--<1c20 96-34795
CIP
© Christopher Burdon 1997
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by
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For Rosemary
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1 A Book Resisting Interpretation 5
Apocalypse, Prophecy, Allegory and Midrash 8
Telling, Seeing, Hearing and Writing 16
2 Apocalypse and Reason 31
Providence 39
Chronology 48
'Usefulness' 54
Purity 60
3 Prophecy and Poetry 67
'The Uncertain Continuance of Reason' 67
The Reasons of the Heart 74
The Language of the Spirit 80
4 Revelation and Revolution 90
Proof by Apocalypse 96
The Dawning Millennium 105
The Rhetoric of Patmos 119
The Collapse of Interpretation 128
5 Coleridge and the Limits of Interpretation 134
Wordsworth and the Displacement of Apocalypse 136
Eichhorn and Prophetic History 143
Irving and the Religion of Ideas 152
The Spirituality of Hades 160
Prometheus Bound 168
vii
viii Contents
6 Rewriting Apocalypse: Shelley and Blake 174
Prometheus and the Death of God 175
Prophecy and State Religion 180
Revelation Reversed 193
The Books of Fire 200
7 The Half-Unravelled Web 209
Notes and References 219
Select Bibliography 237
Index 245
List of Illustrations
1 William Blake, 'The Angel of Revelation'
2 Blake, America, plate 8
3 Blake, America, plate 10
4 Blake, Europe, plate 1
5 Blake, Europe, plate 15
6 Blake, Jerusalem, plate 22
7 Blake, The Book of Urizen, plate 1
8 Diirer, The Woman and the Dragon
9 Diirer, The Battle with the Dragon
10 Joseph Mede's synchronisms (from Clavis Apocalyptica, 1833
edition)
11 William Whiston's chart of apocalyptic history (Essay on
Revelation, 1706)
ix