Yeats, the magician speaking of Blake realized the antithesis between magic and mysticism, and indeed he often makes it quite clear that he realizes the mystical nature of Blake's work. Over and over one find what are apparently contradictory statements about Blake, or ambiguous ones. For instance, Yeats writes: 'If he had not made magic his constant study he could not have written a single word of his Blake book'. Consequently one can only judge that Yeats is speaking first in the voice of the magician, and then in the voice of the 'saint'. Denis Saurat, who is mostly concerned with Blake's so-called occultism, made a strong impression on Yeats. Saurat, like Blake's other critics, never recognizes Blake's humour, his love of bewildering, his art-student tricks. Yeats is one of those great artificers of God who uttered mysterious truths. Magic and religion are joined together in Yeats' interpretation of Blake, at the risk of distorting Blake's own meaning.