Rosamomd: A Mingling of History and Fiction

Above is a faint drawing done by Blake titled ‘The Downfall of Fair Rosamond’.

I give you the end of a golden string,
Only wind it into a ball:
It will lead you in at Heavens gate,
Built in Jerusalems wall. (E 231)

“The myth of Ariadne may be the primary source for these lines, but, given the reference in Jerusalem to “Rosamonds Bower,” perhaps the unwound ball of thread in the Rosamond legend also lies behind Blake’s image of a string to be wound into a ball. Other string and thread images in the poem, including “the iron threads of love & jealousy & despair”  may also be related to the story of Rosamond.”