Proverbs of Hell

As Blake captures the voice of Satan in "Proverbs of Hell," he gives the reader a set of instructions on how to live. However, these instructions are an inversion of the standard religious advice one would expect from a text. The opening to this proverb instructs the reader to "drive your cart" (2), which read in isolation could embody a virtuous teaching. Not only could this message diverge from satanism, but it could in fact be seen as a teaching in virtue, as it could imply that every person should take responsibility for the path of their own life, and recognize that it is up to the individual to guide his or her cart in the correct path. It could instruct that one should consider his own actions, and focus primarily on driving his own life. In this world people would hold themselves accountable for mistakes that they made, and generate praise for success internally rather than relying on external forces.

However, the line continues by suggesting that the reader should "plow over the bones of the dead" (2), implying that the goal of driving "your cart" is not meant as a way of remaining virtuous, but rather is celebrating selfishness and egotistical behavior. There is room to interpret this message again as being a positive instruction. The reader could take this instruction and view it through the lens of burying the past and living life according to what the individual believes is correct. This stands in opposition to the idea that we should base our morals off of the teachings of the dead. This line theoretically could support Blake's awareness of the shortcomings that exist within the rigid structure of organized religion, which centers entirely on the ideas of people from the past. In a way, the poem's opening could be seen as a condemnation of those foolish enough to counter progress by instead obsessing over what someone from a different world believed was the "correct" way to live.

Yet, the poem  follows by suggesting that desire should be the driving force for action. The poem criticizes "he who desires but acts not" saying that this type of person "breeds pestilence" (5). This confirms that the poem is not in fact instructing the reader to hold himself accountable for his actions or instructing the reader to search for new innovations rather than hindering progress, but rather, the poem is prodding the reader to believe that his own desires should be fulfilled regardless of the desires of those around him. Reading the prior lines with this in mind, it becomes clear that to "drive your own cart" and to "plow over the bones of the dead" is meant to celebrate the individual on a level that makes the individual ignorant to those that share a common space. Blake does not say to step over the bones of the dead or even to avoid them. The choice of the word "plowing" implies destruction. Hell's proverb is the teaching that "your" wants are not just the most important, but that they are the only true entity, and all else should be crushed beneath those wants.