How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When I came home, on the abyss of the five senses, where a flat-sided steep frowns over the present world, I saw a mighty Devil folded in black clouds hovering on the sides of the rock; with corroding fires he wrote the following sentence now perceived by the minds of men, and read by them on earth:— (3.2)
These "corroding fires" seem pretty appropriate for a devil to write with, but they're also a sly reference to the copper engraving technique that William Blake pioneered for his own work. Here, Blake's really referring to himself as a "might Devil." We wonder if that was a favorite nickname that his friends called him.
Quote #2
The ancient poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged and numerous senses could perceive. (4.71)
Before there was religion, Blake claims, we had poetry. Poets were the ones responsible for naming the world and everything in it, because only they had the ability to appreciate the world as a whole. Here, we get a bit more of Blake patting himself on the back for being a poet. Good job, Willy.
Quote #3
Isaiah answered: "I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception: but my senses discovered the infinite in everything; and as I was then persuaded, and remained confirmed, that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences, but wrote." (5.2)
It's hard not to see Blake referring to himself here again. Isaiah explains that the power of his perceptions convinced him to write his prophecies down—regardless of the consequences for doing so. It's not hard to think of Blake making the same claim about his own work, which was pretty… you know, out there.