Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau
Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau - meaning Summary
Faith Resists Skeptical Mockery
Blake defends spiritual vision against Enlightenment skepticism. He imagines Voltaire and Rousseau mocking faith, but their derision is like throwing sand that the divine wind returns as shining gems. Scientific atoms and particles are reduced to mere sand beside the radiant tents of Israel. The poem asserts that materialist or rationalist critique cannot extinguish the enduring truth and illumination of prophetic or religious experience.
Read Complete AnalysesMock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau; Mock on, mock on; 'tis all in vain! You throw the sand against the wind, And the wind blows it back again. And every sand becomes a gem Reflected in the beams divine; Blown back they blind the mocking eye, But still in Israel's paths they shine. The Atoms of Democritus And Newton's Particles of Light Are sands upon the Red Sea shore, Where Israel's tents do shine so bright.
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