_Design XII._--The horror of darkness has passed. The stars are shining, and the youthful Elihu essays to utter the wisdom that the old men have lacked. Blake could recall the ministry of his young friends, who had come so recently into his life, and by their love had caused the stars to appear. Elihu does not utter perfect wisdom, for that cannot be reached from human experience. _Design XIII._--The source of perfect wisdom. "The Lord answered Job out of the Whirlwind." Job sees Him as He is in His true lineaments, and listens as the Almighty speaks. Blake, too, reads breathlessly the marvellous description of creation till his spirit flames up, and the creative fire gives birth to his next most glorious design. _Design XIV._--The creation and the immense joy of it. There is the creation of the whole cosmos, when the morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy. Never was such joy again till the beginning of the New Creation, when the Son of God was born in Bethlehem, as Luke, artist and saint, narrates with such artless simplicity and beauty. The Scriptures assure us of a time when that joy shall be eternal. Meanwhile it is the artists who in true creation have a foretaste of the joy. It is Blake who has presented it in its most spiritual and universal aspect. _Design XV._--A grotesque. I presume that Blake, like Leonardo da Vinci, discovered something grotesque as he explored the universe. _Design XVI._--The universe once more. It is the consummation of the judgment. Satan and his shadowy companions who dwell in man have taken definite form and substance. The man who has walked the way of excess has brought all his latent evil out, and has given it substance, so that he can arise in his strength and cast it out for ever. _Design XVII._--Job's beatific vision. He is blessed and his house, now only his wife, but through her and God's blessing he may be fruitful and multiply, and build his house in the divine order. His sun has risen and will no more set. _Design XVIII._--Job stands before an altar of burnt-offering. Like Jacob he has prevailed, and God accepts him and his prayers for his friends. _Design XIX._--Job and his wife once more under the fig-tree, whose fruit has ripened. He is the recipient of friendly gifts and offerings from his neighbours. _Design XX._--Job, with memories engraven on the chambers of his imagery, stretching forth his hands over his new family of beautiful daughters. _Design XXI._--A return to the first scene. But the sun is rising, and Job and his family, taking their instruments of art, are worshipping God in the beauty of holiness. Blake completed his engravings for Job in March 1825, and they were published March 1826. They might well have been the crowning work of his life, and followed by his _Nunc dimittis_, but there was boundless mental energy in the old man, though his body was failing. [Illustration: FROM THE DANTE SERIES.]