William Blake’s illuminated poetry
The Vales of Har
The vales of Har are the setting associated with Thel before her descent and the destination of her final flight. In the conversation, she is called mistress or queen of the vales; the surrounding world contains flowers, birds and the small lives whose purpose she questions. The final line names the vales again after the encounter with graves and sorrow in the land unknown. Their role is therefore relational: they provide the familiar world against which the descent is measured. The poem does not supply a geographical location or an atlas of the wider territory.
Also known as Vales of Har
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In the sources
Thel belongs to the vales
LiteraryThe Lilly’s dialogue addresses Thel as mistress of the vales of Har.
The ending returns to the same name
LiteraryAfter hearing the voice at her grave, Thel flees back to the vales named earlier.
Context & interpretation
This account follows the exact coloured facsimile selected for Lumitheca’s The Book of Thel. The page references identify this eight-leaf sequence, not a universal plate order or the colouring of every surviving copy. The speakers are characters and personifications within Blake’s poem; the entry makes no claim that they document independently existing beings.
Original passages
Source 1
The Book of Thel
mistress of the vales of HarOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Section I, address to Thel
Actual checksum-verified active Reader scan inspected. Short quotation transcribed from the scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0371-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0371-E001-P0004
- Original scan leaf
- 4
- Recorded leaf number
- 4
- Current Reader position
- 5
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Source 2
The Book of Thel
the vales of HarOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Section IV, final lines
Actual checksum-verified active Reader scan inspected. Short quotation transcribed from the scan; line breaks and spacing normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0371-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0371-E001-P0008
- Original scan leaf
- 8
- Recorded leaf number
- 8
- Current Reader position
- 9
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
Illustrations
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Literary & Visionary Settings ↗
The Land Unknown in Thel
The sorrowful realm of graves that Thel briefly enters through the eternal gates.
Shared source pageThe Lilly in Thel
The small flower that answers Thel’s fear of extinction by describing care received and nourishment given.
Shared source pageThel
The questioning figure who fears passing away, listens to small forms of life and briefly enters the land unknown.
Shared illustrationThe Cloud in Thel
The passing Cloud that describes disappearance as renewal through dew, flowers and a returning life.