NIGHT VIII: OVERLAPPING REPETITIONS


tive lines and are repeated almost exactly, Blake is deliberately using them
to intertwine and subvert successive moments of the reader's temporal
experience of the narrative. On page 100, "Enitharmon wove in tears
singing Songs of Lamentation / And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on
the wind the Spectres" (100:17-18). Blake repeats these lines almost
exactly on page 103, lines 32-33: "Enitharmon wove in tears Singing
Songs of Lamentations / And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on the
wind the spectres." This repetition leads to the naming ofJerusalem and
appearance of the Lamb.
 Thus, specific repetition overlaps section one with segments three and
four, segment two with three and four; sections one, two, and four do
not feed into the second half of the Night in the form of verbal repetition.
This enumeration reveals that the two halves of Night VIII-before and
after "The Lamb of God stood before Satan opposite" (105:1) -are unusu-
ally independent, the only overlapping being the "numming stupor" the
Shadowy Female induces in Urizen which appears in both major divi-
sions. While the first half of Night VIII involves numerous verbal over-
laps, there is only one such overlap in the second half, and this one
(concerning taking the Body off the Cross) is not an exact repetition but
only an approximate one. The overlapping thus reveals the discrete nature
of the segments as well as the relative independence of the first half from
the second half of the Night. The fact that only the Shadowy Female's
effect on Urizen bridges the gap between the two halves signals its impor-
tance as the key structural clue to Night VIII's perceptual organization.
 The first appearance of the numbing stupor follows the Shadowy
 Female's interpretation of the robes of blood. The second appearance of
 the numbing stupor follows Los's speech to Rahab, which, as we have
 seen, actually confuses this already confusing Night by attempting to
 make the doctrine of "States" re-educate Rahab to narrative relations in
 order to overcome her "Delusive feminine pomp." Los's speech to Rahab
 inverts the narrative proper by having Jerusalem weave "Satan & his com-
 panions...mantles of life and death" (115:39-41), instead of Jerusalem
 being the woven occasion for the Lamb's appearance, and by having Satan
 (rather than the Lamb) be condemned (115:37). Further, the role of"Jesus"
 in Los's story, though parallel to that of the Lamb in the narrative proper-
 he "Came & Died willing beneath Tirzah & Rahab" (115:50) -occurs only
 in the context ofJerusalem's weaving mantles for Satan; and yet at the end
 of his speech Los makes it clear that Jesus' sacrifice is insufficient to "set
 Jerusalem free" (116:2); Los says only Rahab's bowing down to Enithar-
 mon can accomplish that. Los's story scrambles other key relations in the
 narrative proper: the "Moony space" (115:39) in Los's story is created by
 Enitharmon as a refuge for Satan and his companions and seems to replace
 (or be another perspective on) Moony Beulah created by the Lamb of God
 in Night I (5:30). In addition, the existence of the "Moony space" in Los's
 speech presupposes Golgonooza (115:14, 38) which was not built until
 Nights V and VIIa in the narrative proper.


Segment 1 feeds into
segment 4.








Only Urizen's "num-
ming stupor" when he
confronts the Shadowy
Female crosses over
from the first to the sec-
ond half of Night VIII.















Los's speech to Rahab
inverts narrative
priorities and conveys
power to Rahab to
induce the "numming
stupor" in Urizen.