[P 48] [The well-grounded painter] is contented that all shall be as great as himself, who have
undergone the same fatigue; . . .
The Man who asserts that there is no Such Thing as Softness in Art & that every thing
in Art is Definite & Determinate has not been told this by Practise but by Inspiration
& Vision because Vision is Determinate & Perfect & he Copies That without Fatigue
Every thing being Definite & determinate Softness is Produced Alone by Comparative
Strength & Weakness in the Marking out of the Forms
I say These Principles could never be found out by the Study of Nature without Con
or Innate Science
DISCOURSE III
[P 50, back of title]
Syren Daughters. but by Devout prayer to that Eternal Spirit. who can enrich with all
utterance & knowledge & sends out his Seraphim with the hallowed fire of his Altar
to touch & purify the lips of whom he pleases." Milton
[Lecture ]>is particularly Interesting to Blockheads. as it
Endeavours to prove That there is No such thing as Inspiration & that any Man of a
plain Understanding may by Thieving from Others. become a Mich Angelo>
[P 52] . . . the genuine painter. . . instead of endeavouring to amuse mankind with the minute
neatness of his imitations, must endeavour to improve [P 53] them by the grandeur of his ideas; .
Without Minute Neatness of Execution. The. Sublime cannot Exist! Grandeur of Ideas
is founded on Precision of Ideas
[P 54] The Moderns are not less convinced than the Ancients of this superior power [i.e.
something beyond mere imitation] existing in the art; nor less sensible of its effects.
Begin Page 647
[P 55, an introductory remark by Blake:]
Now he begins to Degrade [&] to Deny [destroy] & Mock
Such is the warmth with which both the Ancients and Moderns speak of this divine principle of
the art; . . .

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