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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE FOUR ZOAS: NIGHTS THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH, by WILLIAM BLAKE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Then urizen arose the spectre fled & tharmas fled Last Line: Babylon again in infancy calld natural religion Subject(s): Bible; Hate; Imagination; Mythology; Vision; Winter; Fancy | |||
VALA Night the Seventh Then Urizen arose The Spectre fled & Tharmas fled The darkning Spectre of Urthona hid beneath a rock Tharmas threw his impetuous flight thro the deeps of immensity Revolving round in whirlpools fierce all round the cavernd worlds But Urizen silent descended to the Caves of Orc & saw A Cavernd Universe of flaming fire the horses of Urizen Here bound to fiery mangers furious dash their golden hoofs Striking fierce sparkles from their brazen fetters. fierce his lions Howl in the burning dens his tygers roam ill the redounding smoke In forests of affliction. the adamantine scales of justice Consuming in the raging lamps of mercy pourd in rivers The holy oil rages thro all the cavernd rocks fierce flames Dance on the rivers & the rocks howling & drunk with fury The plow of ages & the golden harrow wade thro fields Of goary blood the immortal seed is nourishd for the slaughter The bulls of Luvah breathing fire bellow on burning pastures Round howling Orc whose awful limbs cast forth red smoke & fire That Urizen approachd not near but took his seat on a rock And rangd his books around him brooding Envious over Orc Howling & rending his dark caves the awful Demon lay Pulse after pulse beat on his fetters pulse after pulse his spirit Darted & darted higher & higher to the shrine of Enitharmon As when the thunder folds himself in thickest clouds The watry nations couch & hide in the profoundest deeps Then bursting from his troubled head with terrible visages & flaming hair His swift wingd daughters sweep across the vast black ocean Los felt the Envy in his limbs like to a blighted tree For Urizen fixd in Envy sat brooding & coverd with snow His book of iron on his knees he tracd the dreadful letters While his snows fell & his storms beat to cool the flames of Orc Age after Age till underneath his heel a deadly root Struck thro the rock the root of Mystery accursed shooting up Branches into the heaven of Los they pipe formd bending down Take root again whereever they touch again branching forth In intricate labyrinths oerspreading many a grizly deep Amazd started Urizen when he found himself compassd round And high roofed over with trees. he arose but the stems Stood so thick he with difficulty & great pain brought His books out of the dismal shade. all but the book of iron Again he took his seat & rangd his Books around On a rock of iron frowning over the foaming fires of Orc And Urizen hung over Ore & viewd his terrible wrath Sitting upon an iron Crag at length his words broke forth Image of dread whence art thou whence is this most woful place Whence these fierce fires but from thyself No other living thing In all this Chasm I behold. No other living thing Dare thy most terrible wrath abide Bound here to waste in pain Thy vital substance in these fires that issue new & new Around thee sometimes like a flood & sometimes like a rock Of living pangs thy horrible bed glowing with ceaseless fires Beneath thee & around Above a Shower of fire now beats Moulded to globes & arrowy wedges rending thy bleeding limbs And now a whirling pillar of burning sands to overwhelm thee Steeping thy wounds in salts infernal & in bitter anguish And now a rock moves on the surface of this lake of fire To bear thee down beneath the waves in stifling despair Pity for thee movd me to break my dark & long repose And to reveal myself before thee in a form of wisdom Yet thou dost laugh at all these tortures & this horrible place Yet throw thy limbs these fires abroad that back return upon thee While thou reposest throwing rage on rage feeding thyself With visions of sweet bliss far other than this burning clime Sure thou art bathd in rivers of delight on verdant fields Walking in joy in bright Expanses sleeping on bright clouds With visions of delight so lovely that they urge thy rage Tenfold with fierce desire to rend thy chain & howl in fury And dim oblivion of all woe & desperate repose Or is thy joy founded on torment which others bear for thee Orc answer'd Curse thy hoary brows. What dost thou in this deep Thy Pity I contemn scatter thy snows elsewhere I rage in the deep for Lo my feet & hands are naild to the burning rock Yet my fierce fires are better than thy snows Shuddring thou sittest Thou art not chaind Why shouldst thou sit cold grovelling demon of woe In tortures of dire coldness now a Lake of waters deep Sweeps over thee freezing to solid still thou sitst closd up In that transparent rock as if in joy of thy bright prison Till overburdend with its own weight drawn out thro immensity With a crash breaking across the horrible mass comes down Thundring & hail & frozen iron haild from the Element Rends thy white hair yet thou dost fixd obdurate brooding sit Writing thy books. Anon a cloud filld with a waste of snows Covers thee still obdurate still resolvd & writing still Tho rocks roll oer thee tho floods pour tho winds black as the Sea Cut thee in gashes tho the blood pours down around thy ankles Freezing thy feet to the hard rock still thy pen obdurate Traces the wonders of Futurity in horrible fear of the future I rage furious in the deep for lo my feet & hands are naild To the hard rock or thou shouldst feel my enmity & hate In all the diseases of man falling upon thy grey accursed front Urizen answerd Read my books explore my Constellations Enquire of my Sons & they shall teach thee how to War Enquire of my Daughters who accursd in the dark depths Knead bread of Sorrow by my stern command for I am God Of all this dreadful ruin Rise O daughters at my Stern command Rending the Rocks Eleth & Uveth rose & Ona rose Terrific with their iron vessels driving them across In the dim air they took the book of iron & placd above On clouds of death & sang their songs Kneading the bread of Orc Orc listend to the song compelld hungring on the cold wind That swaggd heavy with the accursed dough. the hoar frost ragd Thro Onas sieve the torrent rain pourd from the iron pail Of Eleth & the icy hands of Uveth kneaded the bread The heavens bow with terror underneath their iron hands Singing at their dire work the words of Urizens book of iron While the enormous scrolls rolld dreadful in the heavens above And still the burden of their song in tears was poured forth The bread is Kneaded let us rest O cruel father of children But Urizen remitted not their labours upon his rock And Urizen Read in his book of brass in sounding tones Listen O Daughters to my voice Listen to the Words of Wisdom So shall ye govern over all let Moral Duty tune your tongue But be your hearts harder than the nether millstone To bring the shadow of Enitharmon beneath our wondrous tree That Los may Evaporate like smoke & be no more Draw down Enitharmon to the Spectre of Urthona And let him have dominion over Los the terrible shade Compell the poor to live upon a Crust of bread by soft mild arts Smile when they frown frown when they smile & when a man looks pale With labour & abstinence say he looks healthy & happy And when his children Sicken let them die there are enough Born even too many & our Earth will be overrun Without these arts If you would make the poor live with temper With pomp give every crust of bread you give with gracious cunning Magnify small gifts reduce the man to want a gift & then give with pomp Say he smiles if you hear him sigh If pale say he is ruddy Preach temperance say he is overgorgd & drowns his wit In strong drink tho you know that bread & water are all He can afford Flatter his wife pity his children till we can Reduce all to our will as spaniels are taught with art Lo how the heart & brain are formed in the breeding womb Of Enitharmon how it buds with life & forms the bones The little heart the liver & the red blood in its labyrinths By gratified desire by strong devouring appetite she fills Los with ambitious fury that his race shall all devour Then Orc cried Curse thy Cold hypocrisy. already round thy Tree In scales that shine with gold & rubies thou beginnest to weaken My divided Spirit Like a worm I rise in peace unbound From wrath Now When I rage my fetters bind me more O torment O torment A Worm compelld. Am I a worm Is it in strong deceit that man is born. In strong deceit Thou dost restrain my fury that the worm may fold the tree Avaunt Cold hypocrite I am chaind or thou couldst not use me thus The Man shall rage bound with this Chain the worm in silence creep Thou wilt not cease from rage Grey Demon silence all thy storms Give me example of thy mildness King of furious hail storms Art thou the cold attractive power that holds me in this chain I well remember how I stole thy light & it became fire Consuming. Thou Knowst me now O Urizen Prince of Light And I know thee is this the triumph this the Godlike State That lies beyond the bounds of Science in the Grey obscure Terrified Urizen heard Orc now certain that he was Luvah And Orc began to Organize a Serpent body Despising Urizens light & turning it into flaming fire Recieving as a poisond Cup Receives the heavenly wine And turning affection into fury & thought into abstraction A Self consuming dark devourer rising into the heavens Urizen envious brooding sat & saw the secret terror Flame high in pride & laugh to scorn the source of his deceit Nor knew the source of his own but thought himself the Sole author Of all his wandering Experiments in the horrible Abyss He knew that weakness stretches out in breadth & length he knew That wisdom reaches high & deep & therefore he made Orc In Serpent form compelld stretch out & up the mysterious tree He sufferd him to Climb that he might draw all human forms Into submission to his will nor knew the dread result Los sat in showers of Urizen watching cold Enitharmon His broodings rush down to his feet producing Eggs that hatching Burst forth upon the winds above the tree of Mystery Enitharmon lay on his knees. Urizen tracd his Verses In the dark deep the dark tree grew. her shadow was drawn down Down to the roots it wept over Orc. the Shadow of Enitharmon Los saw her stretchd the image of death upon his witherd valleys Her Shadow went forth & returnd Now she was pale as Snow When the mountains & hills are coverd over & the paths of Men shut up But when her spirit returnd as ruddy as a morning when The ripe fruit blushes into joy in heavens eternal halls Sorrow shot thro him from his feet it shot up to his head Like a cold night that nips the root & shatters off the leaves Silent he stood oer Enitharmon watching her pale face He spoke not he was Silent till he felt the cold disease Then Los mournd on the dismal wind in his jealous lamentation Why can I not Enjoy thy beauty Lovely Enitharmon When I return from clouds of Grief in the wandring Elements Where thou in thrilling joy in beaming summer loveliness Delectable reposest ruddy in my absence flaming with beauty Cold pale in sorrow at my approach trembling at my terrific Forehead & eyes thy lips decay like roses in the spring How art thou Shrunk thy grapes that burst in summers vast Excess Shut up in little purple covering faintly bud & die Thy olive trees that pourd down oil upon a thousand hills Sickly look forth & scarcely stretch their branches to the plain Thy roses that expanded in the face of glowing morn Hid in a little silken veil scarce breathe & faintly shine Thy lilies that gave light what time the morning looked forth Hid in the Vales faintly lament & no one hears their voice All things beside the woful Los enjoy the delights of beauty Once how I sang & calld the beasts & birds to their delights Nor knew that I alone exempted from the joys of love Must war with secret monsters of the animating worlds O that I had not seen the day then should I be at rest Nor felt the stingings of desire nor longings after life For life is Sweet to Los the wretched to his winged woes Is given a craving cry that they may sit at night on barren rocks And whet their beaks & snuff the air & watch the opening dawn And Shriek till at the smells of blood they stretch their boney wings And cut the winds like arrows shot by troops of Destiny Thus Los lamented in the night unheard by Enitharmon For the Shadow of Enitharmon descended down the tree of Mystery The Spectre saw the Shade Shivering over his gloomy rocks Beneath the tree of Mystery which in the dismal Abyss Began to blossom in fierce pain shooting its writhing buds In throes of birth & now the blossoms falling shining fruit Appeard of many colours & of various poisonous qualities Of Plagues hidden in shining globes that grew on the living tree The Spectre of Urthona saw the Shadow of Enitharmon Beneath the Tree of Mystery among the leaves & fruit Reddning the Demon strong prepard the poison of sweet Love He turnd from side to side in tears he wept & he embracd The fleeting image & in whispers mild wood the faint shade Loveliest delight of Men. Enitharmon shady hiding In secret places where no eye can trace thy watry way Have I found thee have I found thee tremblest thou in fear Because of Orc because he rent his discordant way From thy sweet loins of bliss. red flowd thy blood Pale grew thy face lightnings playd around thee thunders hoverd Over thee, & the terrible Orc rent his discordant way But the next joy of thine shall be in sweet delusion And its birth in fainting & sleep & Sweet delusions of Vala The Shadow of Enitharmon answerd Art thou terrible Shade Set over this sweet boy of mine to guard him lest he rend His mother to the winds of heaven Intoxicated with The fruit of this delightful tree. I cannot flee away From thy embrace else be assurd so horrible a form Should never in my arms repose. now listen I will tell Thee Secrets of Eternity which neer before unlockd My golden lips nor took the bar from Enitharmons breast Among the Flowers of Beulah walkd the Eternal Man & Saw Vala the lilly of the desart. melting in high noon Upon her bosom in sweet bliss he fainted Wonder siezd All heaven they saw him dark. they built a golden wall Round Beulah There he reveld in delight among the Flowers Vala was pregnant & brought forth Urizen Prince of Light First born of Generation. Then behold a wonder to the Eyes Of the now fallen Man a double form Vala appeard. A Male And female shuddring pale the Fallen Man recoild From the Enormity & calld them Luvah & Vala. turning down The vales to find his way back into Heaven but found none For his frail eyes were faded & his ears heavy & dull Urizen grew up in the plains of Beulah Many Sons And many daughters flourishd round the holy Tent of Man Till he forgot Eternity delighted in his sweet joy Among his family his flocks & herds & tents & pastures But Luvah close conferrd with Urizen in darksom night To bind the father & enslave the brethren Nought he knew Of sweet Eternity the blood flowd round the holy tent & rivn From its hinges uttering its final groan all Beulah fell In dark confusion mean time Los was born & Enitharmon But how I know not then forgetfulness quite wrapd me up A period nor do I more remember till I stood Beside Los in the Cavern dark enslavd to vegetative forms According to the Will of Luvah who assumed the Place Of the Eternal Man & smote him. But thou Spectre dark Maist find a way to punish Vala in thy fiery South To bring her down subjected to the rage of my fierce boy The Spectre said. Thou lovely Vision this delightful Tree Is given us for a Shelter from the tempests of Void & Solid Till once again the morn of ages shall renew upon us To reunite in those mild fields of happy Eternity Where thou & I in undivided Essence walkd about Imbodied. thou my garden of delight & I the spirit in the garden Mutual there we dwelt in one anothers joy revolving Days of Eternity with Tharmas mild & Luvah sweet melodious Upon our waters. This thou well rememberest listen I will tell What thou forgettest. They in us & we in them alternate Livd Drinking the joys of Universal Manhood. One dread morn Listen O vision of Delight One dread morn of goary blood The manhood was divided for the gentle passions making way Thro the infinite labyrinths of the heart & thro the nostrils issuing In odorous stupefaction stood before the Eyes of Man A female bright. I stood beside my anvil dark a mass Of iron glowd bright prepard for spades & plowshares. sudden down I sunk with cries of blood issuing downward in the veins Which now my rivers were become rolling in tubelike forms Shut up within themselves descending down I sunk along, The goary tide even to the place of seed & there dividing I was divided in darkness & oblivion thou an infant woe And I an infant terror in the womb of Enion My masculine spirit scorning the frail body issud forth From Enions brain In this deformed form leaving thee there Till times passd over thee but still my spirit returning hoverd And formd a Male to be a counterpart to thee O Love Darkend & Lost In due time issuing forth from Enions womb Thou & that demon Los wert born Ah jealousy & woe Ah poor divided dark Urthona now a Spectre wandering The deeps of Los the Slave of that Creation I created I labour night & day for Los but listen thou my vision I view futurity in thee I will bring down soft Vala To the embraces of this terror & I will destroy That body I created then shall we unite again in bliss Thou knowest that the Spectre is in Every Man insane brutish Deformd that I am thus a ravening devouring lust continually Craving & devouring but my Eyes are always upon thee O lovely Delusion & I cannot crave for any thing but thee not so The spectres of the Dead for I am as the Spectre of the Living For till these terrors planted round the Gates of Eternal life Are driven away & annihilated we never can repass the Gates Astonishd filld with tears the spirit of Enitharmon beheld And heard the Spectre bitterly she wept Embracing fervent Her once lovd Lord now but a Shade herself also a shade Conferring times on times among the branches of that Tree Thus they conferrd among the intoxicating fumes of Mystery Till Enitharmons shadow pregnant in the deeps beneath Brought forth a wonder horrible. While Enitharmon shriekd And trembled thro the Worlds above Los wept his fierce soul was terrifid At the shrieks of Enitharmon at her tossings nor could his eyes percieve The cause of her dire anguish for she lay the image of Death Movd by strong shudders till her shadow was deliverd then she ran Raving about the upper Elements in maddning fury She burst the Gates of Enitharmons heart with direful Crash Nor could they ever be closd again the golden hinges were broken And the gates broke in sunder & their ornaments defacd Beneath the tree of Mystery for the immortal shadow shuddering Brought forth this wonder horrible a Cloud she grew & grew Till many of the dead burst forth from the bottoms of their tombs In male forms without female counterparts or Emanations Cruel and ravening with Enmity & Hatred & War In dreams of Ulro dark delusive drawn by the lovely shadow The Spectre terrified gave her Charge over the howling Orc But in the deeps beneath the Roots of Mystery in darkest night Where Urizen sat on his rock the Shadow brooded Urizen saw & triumphd & he cried to his warriors The time of Prophecy is now revolvd & all This Universal Ornament is mine & in my hands The ends of heaven like a Garment will I fold them round me Consuming what must be consumd then in power & majesty I will walk forth thro those wide fields of endless Eternity A God & not a Man a Conqueror in triumphant glory And all the Sons of Everlasting shall bow down at my feet First Trades & Commerce ships & armed vessels he builded laborious To swim the deep & on the Land children are sold to trades Of dire necessity still laboring day & night till all Their life extinct they took the spectre form in dark despair And slaves in myriads in ship loads burden the hoarse sounding deep Rattling with clanking chains the Universal Empire groans And he commanded his Sons found a Center in the Deep And Urizen laid the first Stone & all his myriads Builded a temple in the image of the human heart And in the inner part of the Temple wondrous workmanship They formd the Secret place reversing all the order of delight That whosoever enterd into the temple might not behold The hidden wonders allegoric of the Generations Of secret lust when hid in chambers dark the nightly harlot Plays in Disguise in whisperd hymn & mumbling prayer The priests He ordaind & Priestesses clothd in disguises beastial Inspiring secrecy & lamps they bore intoxicating fumes Roll round the Temple & they took the Sun that glowd oer Los And with immense machines down rolling. the terrific orb Compell'd. The Sun reddning like a fierce lion in his chains Descended to the sound of instruments that drownd the noise Of the hoarse wheels & the terrific howlings of wild beasts That dragd the wheels of the Suns chariot & they put the Sun Into the temple of Urizen to give light to the Abyss To light the War by day to hide his secret beams by night For he divided day & night in different orderd portions The day for war the night for secret religion in his temple Los reard his mighty stature on Earth stood his feet. Above The moon his furious forehead circled with black bursting thunders His naked limbs glittring upon the dark blue sky his knees Bathed in bloody clouds. his loins in fires of war where spears And swords rage where the Eagles cry & the Vultures laugh saying Now comes the night of Carnage now the flesh of Kings & Princes Pamperd in palaces for our food the blood of Captains nurturd With lust & murder for our drink the drunken Raven shall wander All night among the slain & mock the wounded that groan in the field Tharmas laughd furious among the Banners clothd in blood Crying As I will I rend the Nations all asunder rending The People, vain their combinations I will scatter them But thou O Son whom I have crowned and inthrond thee Strong I will preserve tho Enemies arise around thee numberless I will command my winds & they shall scatter them or call My Waters like a flood around thee fear not trust in me And I will give thee all the ends of heaven for thy possession In war shalt thou bear rule in blood shalt thou triumph for me Because in times of Everlasting I was rent in sunder And what I loved best was divided among my Enemies My little daughters were made captives & I saw them beaten With whips along the sultry sands. I heard those whom I lovd Crying in secret tents at night & in the morn compelld To labour & behold my heart sunk down beneath In sighs & sobbings all dividing till I was divided In twain & lo my Crystal form that lived in my bosom Followd her daughters to the fields of blood they left me naked Alone & they refusd to return from the fields of the mighty Therefore I will reward them as they have rewarded me I will divide them in my anger & thou O my King Shalt gather them from out their graves & put thy fetter on them And bind them to thee that my crystal form may come to me So cried the Demon of the Waters in the Clouds of Los Outstretchd upon the hills lay Enitharmon clouds & tempests Beat round her head all night all day she riots in Excess But night or day Los follows War & the dismal moon rolls over her That when Los warrd upon the South reflected the fierce fires Of his immortal head into the North upon faint Enitharmon Red rage the furies of fierce Orc black thunders roll round Los Flaming his head like the bright sun seen thro a mist that magnifies His disk into a terrible vision to the Eyes of trembling mortals And Enitharmon trembling & in fear utterd these words I put not any trust in thee nor in thy glittering scales Thy eyelids are a terror to me & the flaming of thy crest The rushing of thy Scales confound me thy hoarse rushing scales And if that Los had Dot built me a tower upon a rock I must have died in the dark desart among noxious worms How shall I flee how shall I flee into the tower of Los My feet are turned backward & my footsteps slide in clay And clouds are closd around my tower my arms labour in vain Does not the God of waters in the wracking Elements Love those who hate rewarding with hate the Loving Soul And must not I obey the God thou Shadow of Jealousy I cry the watchman heareth not I pour my voice in roarings Watchman the night is thick & darkness cheats my rayie sight Lift up Lift up O Los awake my watchman for he sleepeth Lift up Lift up Shine forth O Light watchman thy light is out O Los unless thou keep my tower the Watchman will be slain So Enitharmon cried upon her terrible Earthy bed While the broad Oak wreathd his roots round her forcing his dark way Thro caves of death into Existence The Beech long limbd advancd Terrific into the paind heavens The fruit trees humanizing Shewd their immortal energies in warlike desperation Rending the heavens & earths & drinking blood in the hot battle To feed their fruit to gratify their hidden sons & daughters That far within the close recesses of their secret palaces Viewd the vast war & joyd wishing to vegetate Into the Worlds of Enitharmon Loud the roaring winds Burdend with clouds howl round the Couch sullen the wooly sheep Walks thro the battle Dark & fierce the Bull his rage Propagates thro the warring Earth The Lion raging in flames The Tyger in redounding smoke The Serpent of the woods And of the waters & the scorpion of the desart irritate With harsh songs every living soul. The Prester Serpent runs Along the ranks crying Listen to the Priest of God ye warriors This Cowl upon my head he placd in times of Everlasting And said Go forth & guide my battles. like the jointed spine Of Man I made thee when I blotted Man from life & light Take thou the seven Diseases of Man store them for times to come In store houses in secret places that I will tell thee of To be my great & awful curses at the time appointed The Prester Serpent ceasd the War song sounded loud & strong Thro all the heavens Urizens Web vibrated torment on torment Thus in the Caverns of the Grave & Places of human seed The nameless shadowy Vortex stood before the face of Orc The Shadow reard her dismal head over the flaming youth With sighs & howling & deep sobs that he might lose his rage And with it lose himself in meekness she embracd his fire As when the Earthquake rouzes from his den his shoulders huge Appear above the crumbling Mountain. Silence waits around him A moment then astounding horror belches from the Center The fiery dogs arise the shoulders huge appear So Orc rolld round his clouds upon the deeps of dark Urthona Knowing the arts of Urizen were Pity & Meek affection And that by these arts the Serpent form exuded from his limbs Silent as despairing love & strong as Jealousy Jealous that she was Vala Dow become Urizens harlot And the Harlot of Los & the deluded harlot of the Kings of Earth His soul was gnawn in sunder The hairy shoulders rend the links free are the wrists of fire Red rage redounds he rouzd his lions from his forests black They howl around the flaming youth rending the nameless shadow And running their immortal course thro solid darkness borne Loud sounds the war song round red Orc in his triumphant fury And round the nameless shadowy Female in her howling terror When all the Elemental Gods joind in the wondrous Song Sound the War trumpet terrific Souls clad in attractive steel Sound the shrill fife serpents of war. I hear the northern drum Awake, I hear the flappings of the folding banners The dragons of the North put on their armour Upon the Eastern sea direct they take their course The glittring of their horses trapping stains the vault of night Stop we the rising of the glorious King. spur spur your clouds Of death O northern drum awake O hand of iron sound The northern drum. Now give the charge! bravely obscurd! With darts of wintry hail. Again the black bow draw Again the Elemental Strings to your right breasts draw And let the thundring drum speed on the arrows black The arrows flew from cloudy bow all day. till blood From east to west flowd like the human veins in rivers Of life upon the plains of death & valleys of despair Now sound the clarions of Victory now strip the slain clothe yourselves in golden arms brothers of war They sound the clarions strong they chain the howling captives they give the Oath of blood They cast the lots into the helmet, They vote the death of Luvah & they naild him to the tree They piercd him with a spear & laid him in a sepulcher To die a death of Six thousand years bound round with desolation The sun was black & the moon rolld a useless globe thro heaven Then left the Sons of Urizen the plow & harrow the loom The hammer & the Chisel & the rule & compasses They forgd the sword the chariot of war the battle ax The trumpet fitted to the battle & the flute of summer And all the arts of life they changd into the arts of death The hour glass contemnd because its simple workmanship Was as the workmanship of the plowman & the water wheel That raises water into Cisterns broken & burnd in fire Because its workmanship was like the workmanship of the Shepherd And in their stead intricate wheels invented Wheel without wheel To perplex youth in their outgoings & to bind to labours Of day & night the myriads of Eternity. that they might file And polish brass & iron hour after hour laborious workmanship Kept ignorant of the use that they might spend the days of wisdom In sorrowful drudgery to obtain a scanty pittance of bread In ignorance to view a small portion & think that All And call it Demonstration blind to all the simple rules of life Now now the Battle rages round thy tender limbs O Vala Now smile among thy bitter tears now put on all thy beauty Is not the wound of the sword Sweet & the broken bone delightful Wilt thou now smile among the slain when the wounded groan in the field Life up thy blue eyes Vala & put on thy sapphire shoes O Melancholy Magdalen behold the morning breaks Gird on thy flaming Zone. descend into the Sepulcher Scatter the blood from thy golden brow the tears from thy silver locks Shake off the waters from thy wings & the dust from thy white garments Remember all thy feigned terrors on the secret Couch When the sun rose in glowing morn with arms of mighty hosts Marching to battle who was wont to rise with Urizens harps Girt as a Sower with his seed to scatter life abroad Arise O Vala bring the bow of Urizen bring the swift arrows of light How ragd the golden horses of Urizen bound to the chariot of Love Compelld to leave the plow to the Ox to snuff up the winds of desolation To trample the corn fields in boastful neighings. this is no gentle harp This is no warbling brook nor Shadow of a Myrtle tree But blood & wounds & dismal cries & clarions of war And hearts laid open to the light by the broad grizly sword And bowels hidden in hammerd steel rippd forth upon the Ground Call forth thy Smiles of soft deceit call forth thy cloudy tears We hear thy sighs in trumpets shrill when Morn shall blood renew So sung the demons of the deep the Clarions of war blew loud Orc rent her & his human form consumd in his own fires Mingled with her dolorous members strewn thro the Abyss She joyd in all the Conflict Gratified & drinking tears of woe No more remaind of Orc but the Serpent round the tree of Mystery The form of Orc was gone he reard his serpent bulk among The stars of Urizen in Power rending the form of life Into a formless indefinite & strewing her on the Abyss Like clouds upon the winter sky broken with winds & thunders This was to her Supreme delight The Warriors mournd disappointed They go out to war with Strong Shouts & loud Clarions O Pity They return with lamentations mourning & weeping Invisible or visible drawn out in length or stretchd in breadth The Shadowy Female varied in the War in her delight Howling in discontent black & heavy uttering brute sounds Wading thro fens among the slimy weeds making Lamentations To decieve Tharmas in his rage to soothe his furious soul To stay him in his flight that Urizen might live tho in pain He said Art thou bright Enion is the Shadow of hope returnd And She said Tharmas I am Vala bless thy innocent face Doth Enion avoid the sight of thy blue watry eyes Be not perswaded that the air knows this or the failing dew Tharmas replid O Vala once I livd in a garden of delight I wakend Enion in the Morning & she turnd away Among the apple trees & all the gardens of delight Swam like a dream before my eyes I went to seek the steps Of Enion in the gardens & the shadows compassd me And closd me in a watry world of woe where Enion stood Trembling before me like a shadow like a mist like air And she is gone & here alone I war with darkness & death I hear thy voice but not thy form see. thou & all delight And life appear & vanish mocking me with shadows of false hope Hast thou forgot that the air listens thro all its districts telling The subtlest thoughts shut up from light in chambers of the Moon Tharmas. The Moon has chambers where the babes of love lie hid And whence they never can be brought in all Eternity Unless exposd by their vain parents. Lo him whom I love Is hidden from me & I never in all Eternity Shall see him Enitharmon & Ahania combind with Enion Hid him in that Outrageous form of Orc which torments me for Sin For all my Secret faults which he brings forth upon the light Of day in jealousy & blood my Children are led to Urizens war Before my eyes & for every one of these I am condemnd To Eternal torment in these flames for tho I have the power To rise on high Yet love here binds me down & never never Will I arise till him I love is loosd from this dark chain Tharmas replied Vala thy Sins have lost us heaven & bliss Thou art our Curse and till I can bring love into the light I never will depart from my great wrath So Tharmas waild wrathful then rode upon the Stormy Deep Cursing the Voice that mockd him with false hope in furious mood Then She returns swift as a blight upon the infant bud Howling in all the notes of woe to stay his furious rage Stamping the hills wading or swimming flying furious or falling Or like an Earthquake rumbling in the bowels of the earth Or like a cloud beneath & like a fire flaming in high Walking in pleasure of the hills or murmuring in the dales Like to a rushing torrent beneath & a falling rock above A thunder cloud in the south & a lulling voice heard in the north And she went forth & saw the forms of Life & of delight Walking on Mountains or flying in the open expanse of heaven She heard sweet voices in the winds & in the voices of birds That rose from waters for the waters were as the voice of Luvah Not seen to her like waters or like this dark world of death Tho all those fair perfections which men know only by name In beautiful substantial forms appeard & served her As food or drink or ornament or in delightful works To build her bowers for the Elements brought forth abundantly The living soul in glorious forms & every One came forth Walking before her Shadowy face & bowing at her feet But in vain delights were poured forth on the howling melancholy For her delight the horse his proud neck bowd & his white mane And the Strong Lion deignd in his mouth to wear the golden bit While the far beaming Peacock waited on the fragrant wind To bring her fruits of sweet delight from trees of richest wonders And the strong piniond Eagle bore the fire of heaven in the night season Wood & subdud into Eternal Death the Demon Lay In rage against the dark despair. the howling Melancholy For far & wide she stretchd thro all the worlds of Urizens journey And was Ajoind to Beulah as the Polypus to the Rock Mourning the daughters of Beulah saw nor could they have sustaind The horrid sight of death & torment But the Eternal Promise They wrote on all their tombs & pillars & on every Urn These words If ye will believe your Brother shall rise again In golden letters ornamented with sweet labours of Love Waiting with Patience for the fulfilment of the Promise Divine And all the Songs of Beulah sounded comfortable notes Not suffring doubt to rise up from the Clouds of the Shadowy Female Then myriads of the Dead burst thro the bottoms of their tombs Descending on the shadowy females clouds in Spectrous terror Beyond the Limit of Translucence on the Lake of Udan Adan These they namd Satans & in the Aggregate they namd them Satan Then took the tree of Mystery root in the World of Los Its topmost boughs shooting a fibre beneath Enitharmons couch The double rooted Labyrinth soon wavd around their heads But then the Spectre enterd Los's bosom Every sigh & groan Of Enitharmon bore Urthonas Spectre on its wings Obdurate Los felt Pity Enitharmon told the tale Of Urthona. Los embracd the Spectre first as a brother Then as another Self; astonishd humanizing & in tears In Self abasement Giving up his Domineering lust Thou never canst embrace sweet Enitharmon terrible Demon. Till Thou art united with thy Spectre Consummating by pains & labours That mortal body & by Self annihilation back returning To Life Eternal be assurd I am thy real Self Tho thus divided from thee & the Slave of Every passion Of thy fierce Soul Unbar the Gates of Memory look upon me Not as another but as thy real Self I am thy Spectre Thou didst subdue me in old times by thy Immortal Strength When I was a ravning hungring & thirsting cruel lust & murder Tho horrible & Ghastly to thine Eyes tho buried beneath The ruins of the Universe. hear what inspird I speak & be silent If we unite in one, another better world will be Opend within your heart & loins & wondrous brain Threefold as it was in Eternity & this the fourth Universe Will be Renewd by the three & consummated in Mental fires But if thou dost refuse Another body will be prepared For me & thou annihilate evaporate & be no more For thou art but a form & organ of life & of thyself Art nothing being Created Continually by Mercy & Love divine Los furious answerd. Spectre horrible thy words astound my Ear With irresistible conviction I feel I am not one of those Who when convincd can still persist. tho furious.controllable By Reasons power. Even I already feel a World within Opening its gates & in it all the real substances Of which these in the outward World are shadows which pass away Come then into my Bosom & in thy shadowy arms bring with thee My lovely Enitharmon. I will quell my fury & teach Peace to the Soul of dark revenge & repentance to Cruelty So spoke Los & Embracing Enitharmon & the Spectre Clouds would have folded round in Extacy & Love uniting But Enitharmon trembling fled & hid beneath Urizens tree But mingling together with his Spectre the Spectre of Urthona Wondering beheld the Center opend by Divine Mercy inspired He in his turn Gave Tasks to Los Enormous to destroy That body he created but in vain for Los performd Wonders of labour They Builded Golgonooza Los labouring builded pillars high And Domes terrific in the nether heavens for beneath Was opend new heavens & a new Earth beneath & within Threefold within the brain within the heart within the loins A Threefold Atmosphere Sublime continuous from Urthonas world But yet having a Limit Twofold named Satan & Adam But Los stood on the Limit of Translucence weeping & trembling Filled with doubts in self accusation beheld the fruit Of Urizens Mysterious tree For Enitharmon thus spake When In the Deeps beneath I gatherd of this ruddy fruit It was by that I knew that I had Sinnd & then I knew That without a ransom I could not be savd from Eternal death That Life lives upon Death & by devouring appetite All things subsist on one another thenceforth in Despair I spend my glowing time but thou art strong & mighty To bear this Self conviction take then Eat thou also of The fruit & give me proof of life Eternal or I die Then Los plucked the fruit & Eat & sat down in Despair And must have given himself to death Eternal But Urthonas spectre in part mingling with him comforted him Being a medium between him & Enitharmon But This Union Was not to be Effected without Cares & Sorrows & Troubles Of six thousand Years of self denial and of bitter Contrition Urthonas Spectre terrified beheld the Spectres of the Dead Each Male formd without a counterpart without a concentering vision The Spectre of Urthona wept before Los Saying I am the cause That this dire state commences I began the dreadful state Of Separation & on my dark head the curse & punishment Must fall unless a way be found to Ransom & Redeem But I have thee my Counterpart Vegetating miraculous These Spectres have no Counterparts therefore they ravin Without the food of life Let us Create them Counterparts For without a Created body the Spectre is Eternal Death Los trembling answerd Now I feel the weight of stern repentance Tremble not so my Enitharmon at the awful gates Of thy poor broken Heart I see thee like a shadow withering As on the outside of Existence but look! behold! take comfort! Turn inwardly thine Eyes & there behold the Lamb of God Clothed in Luvahs robes of blood descending to redeem O Spectre of Urthona take comfort O Enitharmon Couldst thou but cease from terror & trembling & affright When I appear before thee in forgiveness of ancient injuries Why shouldst thou remember & be afraid. I surely have died in pain Often enough to convince thy jealousy & fear & terror Come hither be patient let us converse together because I also tremble at myself & at all my former life Enitharmon answerd I behold the Lamb of God descending To Meet these Spectres of the Dead I therefore fear that he Will give us to Eternal Death fit punishment for such Hideous offenders Uttermost extinction in eternal pain An ever dying life of stifling & obstruction shut out Of existence to be a sign & terror to all who behold Lest any should in futurity do as we have done in heaven Such is our state nor will the Son of God redeem us but destroy So Enitharmon spoke trembling & in torrents of tears Los sat in Golgonooza in the Gate of Luban where He had erected many porches where branchd the Mysterious Tree Where the Spectrous dead wail & sighing thus he spoke to Enitharmon Lovely delight of Men Enitharmon shady refuge from furious war Thy bosom translucent is a soft repose for the weeping souls Of those piteous victims of battle there they sleep in happy obscurity They feed upon our life we are their victims. Stern desire I feel to fabricate embodied semblances in which the dead May live before us in our palaces & in our gardens of labour Which now opend within the Center we behold spread abroad To form a world of Sacrifice of brothers & sons & daughters To comfort Orc in his dire sufferings; look! my fires enlume afresh Before my face ascending with delight as in ancient times Enitharmon spread her beaming locks upon the wind & said O Lovely terrible Los wonder of Eternity O Los my defence & guide Thy works are all my joy. & in thy fires my soul delights If mild they burn in just proportion & in secret night And silence build their day in shadow of soft clouds & dews Then I can sigh forth on the winds of Golgonooza piteous forms That vanish again into my bosom but if thou my Los Wilt in sweet moderated fury. fabricate forms sublime Such as the piteous spectres may assimilate themselves into They shall be ransoms for our Souls that we may live So Enitharmon spoke & Los his hands divine inspired began To modulate his fires studious the loud roaring flames He vanquishd with the strength of Art bending their iron points And drawing them forth delighted upon the winds of Golgonooza From out the ranks of Urizens war & from the fiery lake Of Orc bending down as the binder of the Sheaves follows The reaper in both arms embracing the furious raging flames Los drew them forth out of the deeps planting his right foot firm Upon the Iron crag of Urizen thence springing up aloft Into the heavens of Enitharmon in a mighty circle And first he drew a line upon the walls of shining heaven And Enitharmon tincturd it with beams of blushing love It remaind permanent a lovely form inspird divinely human Dividing into just proportions Los unwearied labourd The immortal lines upon the heavens till with sighs of love Sweet Enitharmon mild Entrancd breathd forth upon the wind The spectrous dead Weeping the Spectres viewd the immortal works Of Los Assimilating to those forms Embodied & Lovely In youth & beauty in the arms of Enitharmon mild reposing First Rintrah & then Palamabron drawn from out the ranks of war In infant innocence reposd on Enitharmons bosom Orc was comforted in the deeps his soul revivd in them As the Eldest brother is the fathers image So Orc became As Los a father to his brethren & he joyd in the dark lake Tho bound with chains of Jealousy & in scales of iron & brass But Los loved them & refusd to Sacrifice their infant limbs And Enitharmons smiles & tears prevaild over self protection They rather chose to meet Eternal death than to destroy The offspring of their Care & Pity Urthonas spectre was comforted But Tharmas most rejoicd in hope of Enions return For he beheld new Female forms born forth upon the air Who wove soft silken veils of covering in sweet rapturd trance Mortal & not as Enitharmon without a covering veil First his immortal spirit drew Urizens Shadow away From out the ranks of war separating him in sunder Leaving his Spectrous form which could not be drawn away Then he divided Thiriel the Eldest of Urizens sons Urizen became Rintrah Thiriel became Palamabron Thus dividing the powers of Every Warrior Startled was Los he found his Enemy Urizen now In his hands. he wonderd that he felt love & not hate His whole soul loved him he beheld him an infant Lovely breathd from Enitharmon he trembled within himself VALA Night the Eighth Then All in Great Eternity Met in the Council of God as one Man Even Jesus upon Gilead & Hermon Upon the Limit of Contraction to create the fallen Man The Fallen Man stretchd like a Corse upon the oozy Rock Washd with the tides Pale overgrown with weeds That movd with horrible dreams hovring high over his head Two winged immortal shapes one standing at his feet Toward the East one standing at his head toward the west Their wings joind in the Zenith over head Such is a Vision of All Beulah hovring over the Sleeper The limit of Contraction now was fixd & Man began To wake upon the Couch of Death he sneezed seven times A tear of blood dropped from either eye again he reposd In the saviours arms, in the arms of tender mercy & loving kindness Then Los said I behold the Divine Vision thro the broken Gates Of thy poor broken heart astonishd melted into Compassion & Love And Enitharmon said I see the Lamb of God upon Mount Zion Wondring with love & Awe they felt the divine hand upon them For nothing could restrain the dead in Beulah from descending Unto Ulros night tempted by the Shadowy females sweet Delusive cruelty they descend away from the Daughters of Beulah And Enter Urizens temple Enitharmon pitying & her heart Gates broken down. they descend thro the Gate of Pity The broken heart Gate of Enitharmon She sighs them forth upon the wind Of Golgonooza Los stood recieving them For Los could enter into Enitharmons bosom & explore Its intricate Labyrinths now the Obdurate heart was broken From out the War of Urizen & Tharmas recieving them Into his hands. Then Enitharmon erected Looms in Lubans Gate And calld the Looms Cathedron in these Looms She wove the Spectres Bodies of Vegetation Singing lulling Cadences to drive away Despair from the poor wandering spectres and Los loved them With a parental love for the Divine hand was upon him And upon Enitharmon & the Divine Countenance shone In Golgonooza Looking down the Daughters of Beulah saw With joy the bright Light & in it a Human form And knew he was the Saviour Even Jesus & they worshipped Astonishd Comforted Delighted in notes of Rapturous Extacy All Beulah stood astonishd Looking down to Eternal Death They saw the Saviour beyond the Pit of death & destruction For whether they lookd upward they saw the Divine Vision Or whether they lookd downward still they saw the Divine Vision Surrounding them on all sides beyond sin & death & hell Enitharmon wove in tears singing Songs of Lamentation And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on the wind the Spectres Also the Vegetated bodies which Enitharmon wove Opend within their hearts & in their loins & in their brain To Beulah & the Dead in Ulro descended from the War Of Urizen & Tharmas & from the Shadowy females clouds And some were woven single & some two fold & some three fold In Head or Heart or Reins according to the fittest order Of most merciful pity & compassion to the Spectrous dead When Urizen saw the Lamb of God clothed in Luvahs robes Perplexd & terrifid he Stood tho well he knew that Orc Was Luvah But he now beheld a new Luvah. Or One Who assumed Luvahs form & stood before him opposite But he saw Orc a Serpent form augmenting times on times In the fierce battle & he saw the Lamb of God & the World of Los Surrounded by his dark machines for Orc augmented swift In fury a Serpent wondrous among the Constellations of Urizen A crest of fire rose on his forehead red as the carbuncle Beneath down to his eyelids scales of pearl then gold & silver Immingled with the ruby overspread his Visage down His furious neck writhing contortive in dire budding pains The scaly armour shot out. Stubborn down his back & bosom The Emerald Onyx Sapphire jasper beryl amethyst Strove in terrific emulation which should gain a place Upon the mighty Fiend the fruit of the mysterious tree Kneaded in Uveths kneading trough. Still Orc devourd the food In raging hunger Still the pestilential food in gems & gold Exuded round his awful limbs Stretching to serpent length His human bulk While the dark shadowy female brooding over Measurd his food morning & evening in cups & baskets of iron With tears of sorrow incessant she labourd the food of Orc Compelld by the iron hearted sisters Daughters of Urizen Gathring the fruit of that mysterious tree circling its root She spread herself thro all the branches in the power of Orc Thus Urizen in self decie his warlike preparations fabricated And when all things were finishd sudden wavd among the Stars His hurtling hand gave the dire signal thunderous Clarions blow And all the hollow deep rebellowd with the wonderous war But Urizen his mighty rage let loose in the mid deep Sparkles of Dire affliction issud round his frozen limbs Horrible hooks & nets he formd twisting the cords of iron And brass & molten metals cast in hollow globes & bor'd Tubes in petrific steel & rammd combustibles & wheels And chains & pullies fabricated all round the heavens of Los Communing with the Serpent of Orc in dark dissimulation And with the Synagogue of Satan in dark Sanhedrim To undermine the World of Los & tear bright Enitharmon To the four winds hopeless of future. All futurity Seems teeming with Endless Destruction never to be repelld Desperate remorse swallows the present in a quenchless rage Terrified & astonishd Urizen beheld the battle take a form Which he intended not a Shadowy hermaphrodite black & opake The Soldiers namd it Satan but he was yet unformd & vast Hermaphroditic it at length became hiding the Male Within as in a Tabernacle Abominable Deadly The battle howls the terrors fird rage in the work of death Enormous Works Los Contemplated inspird by the holy Spirit Los builds the Walls of Golgonooza against the stirring battle That only thro the Gates of Death they can enter to Enitharmon Raging they take the human visage & the human form Feeling the hand of Los in Golgonooza & the force Attractive of his hammers beating & the Silver looms Of Enitharmon singing lulling cadences on the wind They humanize in the fierce battle where in direful pain Troop by troop the beastial droves rend one another sounding loud The instruments of sound & troop by troop in human forms they urge The dire confusion till the battle faints those that remain Return in pangs & horrible convulsions to their beastial state For the monsters of the Elements Lions or Tygers or Wolves Sound loud the howling music inspird by Los & Enitharmon Sounding loud terrific men They seem to one another laughing terrible among the banners And when the revolution of their day of battles over Relapsing in dire torment they return to forms of woe To moping visages returning inanimate tho furious No more erect tho strong drawn out in length they ravin For senseless gratification & their visages thrust forth Flatten above & beneath & stretch out into beastial length Weakend they stretch beyond their power in dire droves till war begins Or Secret religion in their temples before secret shrines And Urizen gave life & sense by his immortal power To all his Engines of deceit that linked chains might run Thro ranks of war spontaneous & that hooks & boring screws Might act according to their forms by innate cruelty He formed also harsh instruments of sound To grate the soul into destruction or to inflame with fury The spirits of life to pervert all the faculties of sense Into their own destruction if perhaps he might avert His own despair even at the cost of every thing that breathes Thus in the temple of the Sun his books of iron & brass And silver & gold he consecrated reading incessantly To myriads of perturbed spirits thro the universe They propagated the deadly words the Shadowy Female absorbing The enormous Sciences of Urizen ages after ages exploring The fell destruction. And she said O Urizen Prince of Light What words of Dread pierce my faint Ear what falling snows around My feeble limbs infold my destind misery I alone dare the lash abide to sit beneath the blast Unhurt & dare the inclement forehead of the King of Light From dark abysses of the times remote fated to be The sorrower of Eternity in love with tears submiss I rear My Eyes to thy Pavilions hear my prayer for Luvahs sake I see the murderer of my Luvah clothd in robes of blood He who assured my Luvahs throne in times of Everlasting Where hast thou hid him whom I love in what remote Abyss Resides that God of my delight O might my eyes behold My Luvah then could I deliver all the sons of God From Bondage of these terrors & with influences sweet As once in those eternal fields in brotherhood & Love United we should live in bliss as those who sinned not The Eternal Man is seald by thee never to be deliverd We are all servants to thy will O King of Light relent Thy furious power be our father & our loved King But if my Luvah is no more If thou hast smitten him And laid him in the Sepulcher Or if thou wilt revenge His murder on another Silent I bow with dread But happiness can never come to thee O King nor me For he was source of every joy that this mysterious tree Unfolds in Allegoric fruit. When shall the dead revive Can that which has existed cease or can love & life Expire Urizen heard the Voice & saw the Shadow. underneath His woven darkness & in laws & deceitful religions Beginning at the tree of Mystery circling its root She spread herself thro all the branches in the power of Orc A shapeless & indefinite cloud in tears of sorrow incessant Steeping the Direful Web of Religion swagging heavy it fell From heaven to heavn thro all its meshes altering the Vortexes Misplacing every Center hungry desire & lust began Gathering the fruit of that Mysterious tree till Urizen Sitting within his temple furious felt the numming stupor Himself tangled in his own net in sorrow lust repentance Enitharmon wove in tears Singing Songs of Lamentations And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on the wind the spectres And wove them bodies calling them her belovd sons & daughters Employing the daughters in her looms & Los employd the Sons In Golgonoozas Furnaces among the Anvils of time & space Thus forming a Vast family wondrous in beauty & love And they appeard a Universal female form created From those who were dead in Ulro from the Spectres of the dead And Enitharmon namd the Female Jerusalem the holy Wondring she saw the Lamb of God within Jerusalems Veil The divine Vision seen within the inmost deep recess Of fair Jerusalems bosom in a gently beaming fire Then sang the Sons of Eden round the Lamb of God & said Glory Glory Glory to the holy Lamb of God Who now beginneth to put off the dark Satanic body Now we behold redemption Now we know that life Eternal Depends alone upon the Universal hand & not in us Is aught but death In individual weakness sorrow & pain We behold with wonder Enitharmons Looms & Los's Forges And the Spindles of Tirzah & Rahab and the Mills of Satan & Beelzeboul In Golgonooza Los's anvils stand & his Furnaces rage Ten thousand demons labour at the forges Creating Continually The times & spaces of Mortal Life the Sun the Moon the Stars In periods of Pulsative furor beating into wedges & bars Then drawing into wires the terrific Passions & Affections Of Spectrous dead. Thence to the Looms of Cathedron conveyd The Daughters of Enitharmon weave the ovarium & the integument In soft silk drawn from their own bowels in lascivious delight With songs of sweetest cadence to the turning spindle & reel Lulling the weeping spectres of the dead. Clothing their limbs With gifts & gold of Eden. Astonishd stupefied with delight The terrors put on their sweet clothing on the banks of Arnon Whence they plunge into the river of space for a period till The dread Sleep of Ulro is past. But Satan Og & Sihon Build Mills of resistless wheels to unwind the soft threads & reveal Naked of their clothing the poor spectres before the accusing heavens While Rahab & Tirzah far different mantles prepare webs of torture Mantles of despair girdles of bitter compunction shoes of indolence Veils of ignorance covering from head to feet with a cold web We look down into Ulro we behold the Wonders of the Grave Eastward of Golgonooza stands the Lake of Udan Adan In Entuthon Benithon a Lake not of Waters but of Spaces Perturbd black & deadly on its Islands & its Margins The Mills of Satan and Beelzeboul stand round the roots of Urizens tree For this Lake is formd from the tears & sighs & death sweat of the Victims Of Urizens laws. to irrigate the roots of the tree of Mystery They unweave the soft threads then they weave them anew in the forms Of dark death & despair & none from Eternity to Eternity could Escape But thou O Universal Humanity who is One Man blessed for Ever Receivest the Integuments woven Rahab beholds the Lamb of God She smites with her knife of flint She destroys her own work Times upon times thinking to destroy the Lamb blessed for Ever He puts off the clothing of blood he redeems the spectres from their bonds He awakes the sleepers in Ulro the Daughters of Beulah praise him They anoint his feet with ointment they wipe them with the hair of their head We now behold the Ends of Beulah & we now behold Where Death Eternal is put off Eternally Assume the dark Satanic body in the Virgins womb O Lamb divine it cannot thee annoy O pitying one Thy pity is from the foundation of the World & thy Redemption Begun Already in Eternity Come then O Lamb of God Come Lord Jesus come quickly So sang they in Eternity looking down into Beulah. The war roard round Jerusalems Gates it took a hideous form Seen in the aggregate a Vast Hermaphroditic form Heavd like an Earthquake labring with convulsive groans Intolerable at length an awful wonder burst From the Hermaphroditic bosom Satan he was namd Son of Perdition terrible his form dishumanizd monstrous A male without a female counterpart a howling fiend Forlorn of Eden & repugnant to the forms of life Yet hiding the shadowy female Vala as in an ark & Curtains Abhorrd accursed ever dying an Eternal death Being multitudes of tyrant Men in union blasphemous Against the divine image. Congregated Assemblies of wicked men Los said to Enitbarmon Pitying I saw Pitying the Lamb of God Descended thro Jerusalems gates To put off Mystery time after time & as a Man Is born on Earth so was he born of Fair Jerusalem In mysterys woven mantle & in the Robes of Luvah He stood in fair Jerusalem to awake up into Eden The fallen Man but first to Give his vegetated body To be cut off & separated that the Spiritual body may be Reveald The Lamb of God stood before Satan opposite In Entuthon Benithon in the shadows of torments & woe Upon the heights of Amalek taking refuge in his arms The Victims fled from punishment for all his words were peace Urizen calld together the Synagogue of Satan in dire Sanhedrim To Judge the Lamb of God to Death as a murderer & robber As it is written he was numberd among the transgressors Cold dark opake the Assembly met twelvefold in Amalek Twelve rocky unshapd forms terrific forms of torture & woe Such seemd the Synagogue to distant view amidst them beamd A False Feminine Counterpart Lovely of Delusive Beauty Dividing & Uniting at will in the Cruelties of Holiness Vala drawn down into a Vegetated body now triumphant The Synagogue of Satan Clothed her with Scarlet robes & Gems And on her forehead was her Dame written in blood Mystery When viewd remote She is One when viewd near she divides To multitude as it is in Eden so permitted because It was the best possible in the State called Satan to Save From Death Eternal & to put off Satan Eternally The Synagogue Created her from Fruit of Urizens tree By devilish arts abominable unlawful unutterable Perpetually vegetating in detestable births Of Female forms beautiful thro poisons hidden in secret Which give a tincture to false beauty then was hidden within The bosom of Satan The false Female as in an ark & veil Which christ must rend & her reveal Her Daughters are Calld Tirzah She is namd Rahab their various divisions are calld The Daughters of Amalek Canaan & Moab binding on the Stones Their victims & with knives tormenting them singing with tears Over their victims Hear ye the song of the Females of Amalek O thou poor human form O thou poor child of woe Why dost thou wander away from Tirzah why me compell to bind thee If thou dost go away from me I shall consume upon the rocks These fibres of thine eyes that used to wander in distant heavens Away from me I have bound down with a hot iron These nostrils that Expanded with delight in morning skies I have bent downward with lead molten in my roaring furnaces My soul is seven furnaces incessant roars the bellows Upon my terribly flaming heart the molten metal runs In channels thro my fiery limbs O love O pity O pain O the pangs the bitter pangs of love forsaken Ephraim was a wilderness of joy where all my wild beasts ran The river Kanah wanderd by my sweet Manassehs side Go Noah fetch the girdle of strong brass heat it red hot Press it around the loins of this expanding cruelty Shriek not so my only love Bind him down Sisters bind him down on Ebal mount of Cursing Malah come forth from Lebanon & Hoglah from Mount sinai Come circumscribe this tongue of sweets & with a Screw of iron Fasten this Ear into the Rock Milcah the task is thine Weep not so sisters weep not so our life depends on this Or mercy & truth are fled away from Shechem & Mount Gilead Unless my beloved is bound upon the Stems of Vegetation Such are the songs of Tirzah such the loves of Amalek The Lamb of God descended thro the twelve portions of Luvah Bearing his sorrows & recieving all his cruel wounds Thus was the Lamb of God condemnd to Death They naild him upon the tree of Mystery weeping over him And then mocking & then worshipping calling him Lord & King Sometimes as twelve daughters lovely & sometimes as five They stood in beaming beauty & sometimes as one even Rahab Who is Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots Jerusalem saw the Body dead upon the Cross She fled away Saying Is this Eternal Death Where shall I hide from Death Pity me Los pity me Urizen & let us build A Sepulcher & worship Death in fear while yet we live Death! God of All from whom we rise to whom we all return And Let all Nations of the Earth worship at the Sepulcher With Gifts & Spices with lamps rich embossd jewels & gold Los took the Body from the Cross Jerusalem weeping over They bore it to the Sepulcher which Los had hewn in the rock Of Eternity for himself he hewd it despairing of Life Eternal But when Rahab had cut off the Mantle of Luvah from The Lamb of God it rolld apart, revealing to all in heaven And all on Earth the Temple & the Synagogue of Satan & Mystery Even Rahab in all her turpitude Rahab divided herself She stood before Los in her Pride among the Furnaces Dividing & uniting in Delusive feminine pomp questioning him He answerd her with tenderness & love not uninspird Los sat upon his anvil stock they sat beside the forge Los wipd the sweat from his red brow & thus began To the delusive female forms shining among his furnaces I am that shadowy Prophet who six thousand years ago Fell from my station in the Eternal bosom. I divided To multitude & my multitudes are children of Care & Labour O Rahab I behold thee I was once like thee a Son Of Pride and I also have piercd the Lamb of God in pride & wrath Hear me repeat my Generations that thou mayst also repent And these are the Sons of Los & Enitharmon. Rintrah Palamabron Theotormon Bromion Antamon Ananton Ozoth Ohana Sotha Mydon Ellayol Natho Gon Harhath Satan Har Ochim Ijim Adam Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Joseph Benjamin David Solomon Paul Constantine Charlemaine Luther Milton These are our daughters Ocalythron Elynittria Oothoon Leutha Elythiria Enanto Manathu Vorcyon Ethinthus Moab Midian Adah Zillah Caina Naamah Tamar Rahab Tirzah Mary And myriads more of Sons & Daughters to whom our love increasd To each according to the multiplication of their multitudes But Satan accusd Palamabron before his brethren also he maddend The horses of palambrons harrow wherefore Rintrah & Palamabron Cut him off from Golgonooza. But Enitharmon in tears Wept over him Created him a Space closd with a tender moon And he rolld down beneath the fires of Orc a Globe immense Crusted with snow in a dim void. here by the Arts of Urizen He tempted many of the Sons & Daughters of Los to flee Away from Me first Reuben fled then Simeon then Levi then Judah Then Dan then Naphtali then Gad then Asher then Issachar Then Zebulun then Joseph then Benjamin twelve sons of Los And this is the manner in which Satan became the Tempter There is a State namd Satan learn distinct to know O Rahab The Difference between States & Individuals of those States The State namd Satan never can be redeemd in all Eternity But when Luvah in Orc became a Serpent he descended into That State calld Satan Enitharmon breathd forth on the Winds Of Golgonooza her well beloved knowing he was Orc's human remains She tenderly lovd him above all his brethren he grew up In mothers tenderness The Enormous worlds rolling in Urizens power Must have given Satan by these mild arts Dominion over all Wherefore Palamabron being accusd by Satan to Los Calld down a Great Solemn assembly Rintrah in fury & fire Defended Palamabron & rage filld the Universal Tent Because Palamabron was good naturd Satan supposd he feard him And Satan not having the Science of Wrath but only of Pity Was soon condemnd & wrath was left to wrath & Pity to Pity Rintrah & Palamabron Cut sheer off from Golgonooza Enitharmons Moony space & in it Satan & his companions They rolld down a dim world Crusted with Snow deadly & dark Jerusalem pitying them wove them mantles of life & death Times after times And those in Eden sent Lucifer for their Guard Lucifer refusd to die for Satan & in pride he forsook his charge Then they sent Molech Molech was impatient They sent Molech impatient They Sent Elohim who created Adam To die for Satan Adam refusd but was compelld to die By Satans arts. Then the Eternals Sent Shaddai Shaddai was angry Pachad descended Pachad was terrified And then they Sent Jehovah who leprous stretchd his hand to Eternity Then Jesus Came & Died willing beneath Tirzah & Rahab Thou art that Rahab Lo the Tomb what can we purpose more Lo Enitharmon terrible & beautiful in Eternal youth Bow down before her you her children & set Jerusalem free Rahab burning with pride & revenge departed from Los Los dropd a tear at her departure but he wipd it away in hope She went to Urizen in pride the Prince of Light beheld Reveald before the face of heaven his secret holiness Darkness & sorrow coverd all flesh Eternity was darkend Urizen sitting in his web of deceitful Religion felt the female death a dull & numming stupor such as neer Before assaulted the bright human form he felt his pores Drink in the deadly dull delusion horrors of Eternal death Shot thro him Urizen sat Stonied upon his rock Forgetful of his own Laws pitying he began to Embrace The Shadowly Female since life cannot be quenchd Life exuded His eyes shot outwards then his breathing nostrils drawn forth Scales coverd over a cold forehead & a neck outstretchd Into the deep to sieze the shadow scales his neck & bosom Coverd & scales his hands & feet upon his belly falling Outstretchd thro the immense his mouth wide opening tongueless His teeth a triple row he strove to sieze the shadow in vain And his immense tail lashd the Abyss his human form a Stone A form of Senseless Stone remaind in terrors on the rock Abominable to the eyes of mortals who explore his books His wisdom still remaind & all his memory stord with woe And still his stony form remaind in the Abyss immense Like the pale visage in its sheet of lead that cannot follow Incessant stern disdain his sealy form gnaws inwardly With deep repentance for the loss of that fair form of Man With Envy he saw Los with Envy Tharmas & the Spectre With Envy & in vain he swam around his stony form No longer now Erect the King of Light outstretchd in fury Lashes his tail in the wild deep his Eyelids like the Sun Arising in his pride enlighten all the Grizly deeps His scales transparent give forth light like windows of the morning His neck flames with wrath & majesty he lashes the Abyss Beating the Desarts & the rocks the desarts feel his power They shake their slumbers off. They wave in awful fear Calling the Lion & the Tyger the horse & the wild Stag The Elephant the wolf the Bear the Lamia the Satyr His Eyelids give their light around his folding tail aspires Among the stars the Earth & all the Abysses feel his fury When as the snow covers the mountain oft petrific hardness Covers the deeps at his vast fury moaning in his rock Hardens the Lion & the Bear trembling in the Solid mountain They view the light & wonder crying out in terrible existence Up bound the wild stag & the horse behold the King of Pride Oft doth his Eye emerge from the Abyss into the realms Of his Eternal day & memory strives to augment his ruthfulness Then weeping he descends in wrath drawing all things in his fury Into obedience to his will & now he finds in vain That not of his own power he bore the human form erect Nor of his own will gave his Laws in times of Everlasting For now fierce Orc in wrath & fury rises into the heavens A King of wrath & fury a dark enraged horror And Urizen repentant forgets his wisdom in the abyss In forms of priesthood in the dark delusions of repentance Repining in his heart & spirit that Orc reignd over all And that his wisdom servd but to augment the indefinite lust Then Tharmas & Urthona felt the stony stupor rise Into their limbs Urthona shot forth a Vast Fibrous form Tharmas like a pillar of sand rolld round by the whirlwind An animated Pillar rolling round & round in incessant rage Los felt the stony stupor & his head rolld down beneath Into the Abysses of his bosom the vessels of his blood Dart forth upon the wind in pipes writhing about in the Abyss And Enitharmon pale & cold in milky juices flowd Into a form of Vegetation living having a voice Moving in rootlike fibres trembling in fear upon the Earth And Tharmas gave his Power to Los Urthona gave his strength Into the youthful prophet for the Love of Enitharmon And of the nameless Shadowy female in the nether deep And for the dread of the dark terrors of Orc & Urizen Thus in a living Death the nameless shadow all things bound All mortal things made permanent that they may be put off Time after time by the Divine Lamb who died for all And all in him died. & he put off all mortality Tharmas on high rode furious thro the afflicted worlds Pursuing the Vain Shadow of Hope fleeing from identity In abstract false Expanses that he may not hear the Voice Of Ahania wailing on the winds in vain he flies for still The voice incessant calls on all the children of Men For she spoke of all in heaven & all upon the Earth Saw not as yet the Divine vision her Eyes are Toward Urizen And thus Ahania cries aloud to the Caverns of the Grave Will you keep a flock of wolves & lead them will you take the wintry blast For a covering to your limbs or the summer pestilence for a tent to abide in Will you erect a lasting habitation in the mouldering Church yard Or a pillar & palace of Eternity in the jaws of the hungry grave Will you seek pleasure from the festering wound or marry for a Wife The ancient Leprosy that the King & Priest may still feast on your decay And the grave mock & laugh at the plowd field saying I am the nourisher thou the destroyer in my bosom is milk & wine And a fountain from my breasts to me come all multitudes To my breath they obey they worship me I am a goddess & queen But listen to Ahania O ye sons of the Murderd one Listen to her whose memory beholds your ancient days Listen to her whose eyes behold the dark body of corruptible death Looking for Urizen in vain. in vain I seek for morning The Eternal Man sleeps in the Earth nor feels the vigrous sun Nor silent moon nor all the hosts of heaven move in his body His fiery halls are dark & round his limbs the Serpent Orc Fold without fold encompasses him And his corrupting members Vomit out the Scaly monsters of the restless deep They come up in the rivers & annoy the nether parts Of Man who lays upon the shores leaning his faded head Upon the Oozy rock inwrapped with the weeds of death His eyes sink hollow in his head his flesh coverd with slime And shrunk up to the bones alas that Man should come to this His strong bones beat with snows & bid within the caves of night Marrowless bloodless falling into dust driven by the winds O how the horrors of Eternal Death take hold on Man His faint groans shake the caves & issue thro the desolate rocks And the Strong Eagle now with numming cold blighted of feathers Once like the pride of the sun now flagging in cold night Hovers with blasted wings aloft watching with Eager Eye Till Man shall leave a corruptible body he famishd hears him groan And now he fixes his strong talons in the pointed rock And now he beats the heavy air with his enormous wings Beside him lies the Lion dead & in his belly worms Feast on his death till universal death devours all And the pale horse seeks for the pool to lie him down & die But finds the pools filled with serpents devouring one another He droops his head & trembling stands & his bright eyes decay These are the Visions of My Eyes the Visions of Ahania Thus cries Ahania Enion replies from the Caverns of the Grave Fear not O poor forsaken one O land of briars & thorns Where once the Olive flourishd & the Cedar spread his wings Once I waild desolate like thee my fallow fields in fear Cried to the Churchyards & the Earthworm came in dismal state I found him in my bosom & I said the time of Love Appears upon the rocks & hills in silent shades but soon A voice came in the night a midnight cry upon the mountains Awake the bridegroom cometh I awoke to sleep no more But an Eternal Consummation is dark Enion The watry Grave. O thou Corn field O thou Vegetater happy More happy is the dark consumer hope drowns all my torment For I am now surrounded by a shadowy vortex drawing The Spectre quite away from Enion that I die a death Of bitter hope altho I consume in these raging waters The furrowd field replies to the grave I hear her reply to me Behold the time approaches fast that thou shalt be as a thing Forgotten when one speaks of thee he will not be believd When the man gently fades away in his immortality When the mortal disappears in improved knowledge cast away The former things so shall the Mortal gently fade away And so become invisible to those who still remain Listen I will tell thee what is done in the caverns of the grave The Lamb of God has rent the Veil of Mystery soon to return In Clouds & Fires around the rock & the Mysterious tree As the seed waits Eagerly watching for its flower & fruit Anxious its little soul looks out into the clear expanse To see if hungry winds are abroad with their invisible army So Man looks out in tree & herb & fish & bird & beast Collecting up the scatterd portions of his immortal body Into the Elemental forms of every thing that grows He tries the sullen north wind riding on its angry furrows The sultry south when the sun rises & the angry east When the sun sets when the clods harden & the cattle stand Drooping & the birds hide in their silent nests. he stores his thoughts As in a store house in his memory he regulates the forms Of all beneath & all above & in the gentle West Reposes where the Suns heat dwells he rises to the Sun And to the Planets of the Night & to the stars that gild The Zodiac & the stars that sullen stand to north & south He touches the remotest pole & in the Center weeps That Man should Labour & sorrow & learn & forget & return To the dark valley whence he came to begin his labours anew In pain he sighs in pain he labours in his universe Screaming in birds over the deep & howling in the Wolf Over the slain & moaning in the cattle & in the winds And weeping over Orc & Urizen in clouds & flaming fires And in the cries of birth & in the groans of death his voice Is heard throughout the Universe whereever a grass grows Or a leaf buds The Eternal Man is seen is heard is felt And all his Sorrows till he reassumes his ancient bliss Such are the words of Ahania & Enion. Los hears & weeps And Los & Enitharmon took the Body of the Lamb Down from the Cross & placd it in a Sepulcher which Los had hewn For himself in the Rock of Eternity trembling & in despair Jerusalem wept over the Sepulcher two thousand Years Rahab triumphs over all she took Jerusalem Captive A Willing Captive by delusive arts impelld To worship Urizens Dragon form to offer her own Children Upon the bloody Altar. John Saw these things Reveald in Heaven On Patmos Isle & heard the Souls cry out to be deliverd He saw the Harlot of the Kings of Earth & saw her Cup Of fornication food of Orc & Satan pressd from the fruit of Mystery But when she saw the form of Ahania weeping on the Void And heard Enions voice sound from the caverns of the Grave No more spirit remained in her She secretly left the Synagogue of Satan She commund with Orc in secret She hid him with the flax That Enitharmon had numberd away from the Heavens She gatherd it together to consume her Harlot Robes In bitterest Contrition sometimes Self condemning repentant And Sometimes kissing her Robes & jewels & weeping over them Sometimes returning to the Synagogue of Satan in Pride And Sometimes weeping before Orc in humility & trembling The Synagogue of Satan therefore uniting against Mystery Satan divided against Satan resolvd in open Sanhedrim To burn Mystery with fire & form another from her ashes For God put it into their heart to fulfill all his will The Ashes of Mystery began to animate they calld it Deism And Natural Religion as of old so now anew began Babylon again in Infancy Calld Natural Religion | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE IMAGINED COPPERHEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL IMAGINARY TROUBLE by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS EVERYTHING THAT ACTS IS ACTUAL by DENISE LEVERTOV ON THE MEETING OF GARCIA LORCA AND HART CRANE by PHILIP LEVINE A CRADLE SONG by WILLIAM BLAKE |
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