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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL (VERSION 2), by WILLIAM BLAKE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Was jesus humble or did he Last Line: Or call men wise for not believing Subject(s): Bible; Christianity; Humility; Jesus Christ - Life & Ministry; Mythology; Pride; Vanity; Self-esteem; Self-respect | |||
Was Jesus Humble or did he Give any Proofs of Humility Boast of high Things with Humble tone And give with Charity a Stone When but a Child he ran away And left his Parents in Dismay When they had wanderd three days long These were the words upon his tongue No Earthly Parents I confess I am doing my Fathers business When the rich learned Pharisee Came to consult him secretly Upon his heart with Iron pen He wrote Ye must be born again He was too proud to take a bribe He spoke with authority not like a Scribe He says with most consummate Art Follow me I am meek & lowly of heart As that is the only way to escape The Misers net & the Gluttons trap He who loves his Enemies betrays his Friends This surely is not what Jesus intends But the sneaking Pride of Heroic Schools And the Scribes & Pharisees Virtuous Rules For he acts with honest triumphant Pride And this is the cause that Jesus died He did not die with Christian Ease Asking Pardon of his Enemies If he had Caiphas would forgive Sneaking submission can always live He had only to say that God was the devil And the devil was God like a Christian Civil Mild Christian regrets to the devil confess For affronting him thrice in the Wilderness He had soon been bloody Caesars Elf And at last he would have been Caesar himself Like dr Priestly & Bacon & Newton Poor Spiritual Knowledge is not worth a button For thus the Gospel Sr Isaac confutes God can only be known by his Attributes And as for the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost Or of Christ & his Father its all a boast And Pride & Vanity of Imagination That disdains to follow this Worlds Fashion To teach doubt & Experiment Certainly was not what Christ meant What was he doing all that time From twelve years old to manly prime Was he then Idle or the Less About his Fathers business Or was his wisdom held in scorn Before his wrath began to burn In Miracles throughout the Land That quite unnervd Lord Caiaphas hand If he had been Antichrist Creeping Jesus Hed have done any thing to please us Gone sneaking into Synagogues And not usd the Elders & Priests like dogs But Humble as a Lamb or Ass Obeyd himself to Caiaphas God wants not Man to Humble himself This is the trick of the ancient Elf This is the Race that Jesus ran Humble to God Haughty to Man Cursing the Rulers before the People Even to the temples highest Steeple And when he Humbled himself to God Then descended the Cruel Rod If thou humblest thyself thou humblest me Thou also dwellst in Eternity Thou art a Man God is no more Thy own humanity learn to adore For that is my Spirit of Life Awake arise to Spiritual Strife And thy Revenge abroad display In terrors at the Last Judgment day Gods Mercy & Long Suffering Is but the Sinner to Judgment to bring Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray And take Revenge at the Last Day Jesus replied & thunders hurld I never will Pray for the World Once I did so when I prayd ill the Garden I wishd to take with me a Bodily Pardon Can that which was of Woman born In the absence of the Morn When the Soul fell into Sleep And Archangels round it weep Shooting out against the Light Fibres of a deadly night Reasoning upon its own Dark Fiction In Doubt which is Self Contradiction Humility is only Doubt And does the Sun & Moon blot out Rooting over with thorns & stems The buried Soul & all its Gems This Lifes dim Windows of the Soul Distorts the Heavens from Pole to Pole And leads you to Believe a Lie When you see with not thro the Eye That was born in a night to perish in a night When the Soul slept in the beams of Light. Was Jesus Chaste or did he Give any Lessons of Chastity The morning blushd fiery red Mary was found in Adulterous bed Earth groand beneath & Heaven above Trembled at discovery of Love Jesus was sitting in Moses Chair They brought the trembling Woman There Moses commands she be stoned to Death What was the sound of Jesus breath He laid his hand on Moses Law The Ancient Heavens in Silent Awe Writ with Curses from Pole to Pole All away began to roll The Earth trembling & Naked lay In secret bed of Mortal Clay On Sinai felt the hand Divine Putting back the bloody shrine And she heard the breath of God As she heard by Edens flood Good & Evil are no more Sinais trumpets cease to roar Cease finger of God to Write The Heavens are not clean in thy Sight Thou art Good & thou Alone Nor may the sinner cast one stone To be Good only is to be A Devil or else a Pharisee Thou Angel of the Presence Divine That didst create this Body of Mine Wherefore has thou writ these Laws And Created Hells dark jaws My Presence I will take from thee A Cold Leper thou shalt be Tho thou wast so pure & bright That Heaven was Impure in thy Sight Tho thy Oath turnd Heaven Pale Tho thy Covenant built Hells Jail Tho thou didst all to Chaos roll With the Serpent for its soul Still the breath Divine does move And the breath Divine is Love Mary Fear Not Let me see The Seven Devils that torment thee Hide not from my Sight thy Sin That forgiveness thou maist win Has no Man Condemned thee No Man Lord! then what is he Who shall Accuse thee. Come Ye forth Fallen Fiends of Heavnly birth That have forgot your Ancient love And driven away my trembling Dove You shall bow before her feet You shall lick the dust for Meat And tho you cannot Love but Hate Shall be beggars at Loves Gate What was thy love Let me see it Was it love or Dark Deceit Love too long from Me has fled. Twas dark deceit to Earn my bread Twas Covet or twas Custom or Some trifle not worth caring for That they may call a shame & Sin Loves Temple that God dwelleth in And hide in secret hidden Shrine The Naked Human form divine .And render that a Lawless thing On which the Soul Expands its wing But this O Lord this was my Sin When first I let these Devils in In dark pretence to Chastity Blaspheming Love blaspheming thee Thence Rose Secret Adulteries And thence did Covet also rise My Sin thou hast forgiven me Canst thou forgive my Blasphemy Canst thou return to this dark Hell And in my burning bosom dwell And canst thou Die that I may live And canst thou Pity & forgive Then Rolld the shadowy Man away From the Limbs of Jesus to make them his prey An Ever devouring appetite Glittering with festering Venoms bright Crying Crucify this cause of distress Who dont keep the secrets of Holiness All Mental Powers by Diseases we bind But he heals the Deaf & the Dumb & the Blind Whom God has afflicted for Secret Ends He comforts & Heals & calls them Friends But when Jesus was Crucified Then was perfected his glittring pride In three Nights he devourd his prey And still he devours the Body of Clay For Dust & Clay is the Serpents meat Which never was made for Man to Eat Was Jesus gentle or did he Give any marks of Gentility When twelve years old he ran away And left his Parents in dismay When after three days sorrow found Loud as Sinai's trumpet sound No Earthly Parents I confess My Heavenly Fathers business Ye understand not what I say And angry force me to obey Obedience is a duty then And favour gains with God & Men John from the Wilderness loud cried Satan gloried in his Pride Come said Satan come away Ill soon see if youll obey John for disobedience bled But you can turn the stones to bread Gods high king & Gods high Priest Shall Plant their Glories in your breast If Caiaphas you will obey If Herod you with bloody Prey Feed with the Sacrifice & be Obedient fall down worship me Thunders & lightnings broke around And Jesus voice in thunders sound Thus I sieze the Spiritual Prey Ye smiters with disease make way I come Your King & God to sieze Is God a Smiter with disease The God of this World raged in vain He bound Old Satan in his Chain And bursting forth his furious ire Became a Chariot of fire Throughout the land he took his course And traced Diseases to their Source He cursd the Scribe & Pharisee Trampling down Hipocrisy Where eer his Chariot took its way There Gates of Death let in the Day Broke down from every Chain & Bar And Satan in his Spiritual War Dragd at his Chariot wheels loud howld The God of this World louder rolld The Chariot Wheels & louder still His voice was heard from Zions hill And in his hand the Scourge shone bright He scourgd the Merchant Canaanite From out the Temple of his Mind And in his Body tight does bind Satan & all his Hellish Crew And thus with wrath he did subdue The Serpent Bulk of Natures dross Till he had naild it to the Cross He took on Sin in the Virgins Womb And put it off on the Cross & Tomb To be Worshipd by the Church of Rome The Vision of Christ that thou dost see Is my Visions Greatest Enemy Thine has a great hook nose like thine Mine has a snub nose like to mine Thine is the Friend of All Mankind Mine speaks in parables to the Blind Thine loves the same world that mine hates Thy Heaven doors are my Hell Gates Socrates taught what Melitus Loathd as a Nations bitterest Curse And Caiphas was in his own Mind A benefactor of Mankind Both read the Bible day & night But thou readst black where I read white I am sure This Jesus will not do Either for Englishman or Jew This was Spoke by My Spectre to Voltaire Bacon &c Did Jesus teach Doubt or did he Give any lessons of Philosophy Charge Visionaries with Deceiving Or call Men wise for not Believing | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ROCK AND HAWK by ROBINSON JEFFERS GODOLPHIN HORNE, WHO WAS CURSED WITH THE SIN OF PRIDE, AND BECAME A BOOT-BLACK by HILAIRE BELLOC PRIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE THIN EDGE OF YOUR PRIDE: 1 by KENNETH REXROTH PRIMER LESSON by CARL SANDBURG HAEC FABULA DOCET by ROBERT FROST VICTIM OF HIMSELF by MARVIN BELL A CRADLE SONG by WILLIAM BLAKE |
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