The Shrine of Apollo: Milton's Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity 1815

William Blake created this watercolor illustration, The Shrine of Apollo: Milton's Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, during a period of immense social and political upheaval. Blake, living through the Enlightenment and the rise of industrialism, was deeply concerned with the spiritual and imaginative dimensions of human experience. Here, Blake engages with John Milton's poem, a celebration of Christ's birth which heralded the end of pagan gods and oracles. Blake visualizes this clash of civilizations. Look at the figures kneeling in submission before Apollo's shrine. There is a sense of melancholy as the old order bows before the new. Blake’s own religious and political views—marked by a rejection of institutional authority and an embrace of individual spirituality—are central to understanding his interpretation of Milton. It's as if Blake asks us to consider what is lost and what is gained in such a transition. The image evokes a sense of profound cultural and spiritual reckoning.