Read The Complete Poems Page 25

  Hear ye the voice of Luvah from the furnaces of Urizen

  If I indeed am Valas King & ye O sons of Men

  The workmanship of Luvahs hands; in times of Everlasting

  When I called forth the Earth-worm from the cold & dark obscure

  I nurturd her I fed her with my rains & dews, she grew

  A scaled Serpent, yet I fed her tho’ she hated me

  10 Day after day she fed upon the mountains in Luvahs sight

  I brought her thro’ the Wilderness, a dry & thirsty land

  And I commanded springs to rise for her in the black desart

  Till she became a Dragon winged bright & poisonous

  I opend all the floodgates of the heavens to quench her thirst

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  And I commanded the Great deep to hide her in his hand

  Till she became a little weeping Infant a span long

  I carried her in my bosom as a man carries a lamb

  I loved her I gave her all my soul & my delight

  I hid her in soft gardens & in secret bowers of Summer

  Weaving mazes of delight along the sunny paradise

  Inextricable labyrinths, She bore me sons & daughters

  And they have taken her away & hid her from my sight

  They have surrounded me with walls of iron & brass, O Lamb

  10 Of God clothed in Luvahs garments little knowest thou

  Of death Eternal that we all go to Eternal Death

  To our Primeval Chaos in fortuitous concourse of incoherent

  Discordant principles of Love & Hate I suffer affliction

  Because I love. for I [am] was love [&] but hatred awakes in me

  And Urizen who was Faith & Certainty is changd to Doubt

  The hand of Urizen is upon me because I blotted out

  That Human [terror] delusion to deliver all the sons of God

  From bondage of the Human form, O first born Son of Light

  O Urizen my enemy I weep for thy stern ambition

  20 But weep in vain O when will you return Vala the Wanderer

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  These were the words of Luvah patient in afflictions

  Reasoning from the loins in the unreal forms of Ulros night

  And when Luvah age after age was quite melted with woe

  The fires of Vala faded like a shadow cold & pale

  An evanescent shadow. last she fell a heap of Ashes

  Beneath the furnaces a woful heap in living death

  Then were the furnaces unseald with spades & pickaxes

  Roaring let out the fluid, the molten metal ran in channels

  Cut by the plow of ages held in Urizens strong hand

  In many a valley, for the Bulls of Luvah dragd the Plow 10

  With trembling horror pale aghast the Children of [Men] Man

  Stood on the infinite Earth & saw these visions in the air

  In waters & in Earth beneath they cried to one another

  What are we terrors to one another. Come O brethren wherefore

  Was this wide Earth spread all abroad. not for wild beasts to roam

  But many stood silent & busied in their families

  And many said We see no Visions in the darksom air

  Measure the course of that sulphur orb that lights the

  [dismal] darksom day

  Set stations on this breeding Earth & let us buy & sell

  20 Others arose & schools Erected forming Instruments

  To measure out the course of heaven. Stern Urizen beheld

  In woe his brethren & his Sons in darkning woe lamenting

  Upon the winds in clouds involvd Uttering his voice in thunders

  Commanding all the work with care & power & severity

  Then siezd the Lions of Urizen their work, & heated in the forge

  Roar the bright masses, thund’ring beat the hammers, many a [Globe] pyramid

  Is form’d & thrown down thund’ring into the deeps of Non Entity

  Heated red hot they hizzing rend their way down many a league

  Till resting. each his [center/basement] finds; suspended there they stand

  30 Casting their sparkles dire abroad into the dismal deep

  For measurd out in orderd spaces the Sons of Urizen

  With compasses divide the deep; they the strong scales erect

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  That Luvah rent from the faint Heart of the [Eternal/Ancient] Fallen Man

  And weigh the massy [Globes] Cubes, then fix them in their awful stations

  And all the time in Caverns shut, the golden Looms erected

  First spun, then wove the Atmospheres, there the Spider & Worm

  Plied the wingd shuttle piping shrill thro’ all the list’ning threads

  Beneath the Caverns roll the weights of lead & spindles of iron

  The enormous warp & woof rage direful in the affrighted deep

  While far into the vast unknown, the strong wing’d Eagles bend

  Their venturous flight, in Human forms distinct; thro darkness deep

  10 They bear the woven draperies; on golden hooks they hang abroad

  The universal curtains & spread out from Sun to Sun

  The vehicles of light, they separate the furious particles

  Into mild currents as the water mingles with the wine.

  While thus the Spirits of strongest wing enlighten the dark deep

  The threads are spun & the cords twisted & drawn out; then the weak

  Begin their work; & many a net is netted; many a net

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  Spread & many a Spirit caught, innumerable the nets

  Innumerable the gins & traps; & many a soothing flute

  Is form’d & many a corded lyre, outspread over the immense

  In cruel delight they trap the listeners, & in cruel delight

  Bind them, [together] condensing the strong energies into little compass

  Some became seed of every plant that shall be planted; some

  The bulbous roots, thrown up together into barns & garners

  Then rose the Builders; First the Architect divine his plan

  Unfolds, The wondrous scaffold reard all round the infinite

  10 Quadrangular the building rose the heavens squared by a line.

  Trigons & cubes divide the elements in finite bonds

  Multitudes without number work incessant: the hewn stone

  Is placd in beds of mortar mingled with the ashes of Vala

  Severe the labour, female slaves the mortar trod oppressed

  Twelve halls after the names of his twelve sons composd

  The [golden] wondrous building & three Central

  Domes after the Names

  Of his three daughters were encompassed by the twelve bright halls

  Every hall surrounded by bright Paradises of Delight

  In which [were] are towns & Cities Nations Seas Mountains & Rivers

  20 Each Dome opend toward four halls & the Three

  Domes Encompassd

  The Golden Hall of Urizen whose western side glowd bright

  With ever streaming fires beaming from his awful limbs

  His Shadowy Feminine Semblance here reposd on a

  [bright] White Couch

  Or hoverd oer his Starry head & when he smild she brightend

  Like a bright Cloud in harvest. but when Urizen frownd she wept

  In mists over his carved throne & when he turnd his back

  Upon his Golden hall & sought the Labyrinthine porches

  Of his wide heaven Trembling, cold in paling fears she sat

  A shadow of Despair therefore toward the West Urizen formd

  30 A recess in the wall for fires to glow upon the pale

  Females limbs in his absence & her Daughters oft upon

  A Golden Altar burnt perfumes with Art Celestial formd

  Foursquare sculpturd & sweetly Engravd to please their

  shadowy mother

  Ascending into her [cloudy] misty garments th
e blue

  smoke rolld to revive

  Her cold limbs in the absence of her Lord. Also her sons

  With lives of Victims sacrificed upon an altar of brass

  On the East side. Revivd her Soul with lives of beasts & birds

  Slain on the Altar up ascending into her cloudy bosom

  Of terrible workmanship the Altar labour of ten thousand Slaves

  40 One thousand Men of wondrous power spent their lives in its formation

  It stood on twelve steps namd after the names of her twelve sons

  And was Erected at the chief entrance of Urizens hall

  When Urizen [descended] returnd from his immense labours & travels

  Descending she reposd beside him folding him around

  In her bright skirts. Astonished & Confounded he beheld

  Her shadowy form now Separate he shudderd & was silent

  Till her caresses & her tears revivd him to life & joy

  Two wills they had two intellects & not as in times of old

  This Urizen percievd & silent brooded in darkning Clouds

  50 To him his Labour was but Sorrow & his Kingdom was

  Repentance

  He drave the Male Spirits all away from Ahania

  And she drave all the Females from him away

  Los joyd & Enitharmon laughd, saying Let us go down

  And see this labour & sorrow; They went down to see the woes

  Of Vala & the woes of Luvah, to draw in their delights

  And Vala like a shadow oft appeard to Urizen

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  The King of Light beheld her mourning among the Brick kilns compelld

  To labour night & day among the fires, her lamenting voice

  Is heard when silent night returns & the labourers take their rest

  O Lord wilt thou not look upon our sore afflictions

  Among these flames incessant labouring, our hard masters laugh

  At all our sorrow. We are made to turn the wheel for water

  To carry the heavy basket on our scorched shoulders, to sift

  The sand & ashes, & to mix the clay with tears & repentance

  I see not Luvah as of old I only see his feet

  10 Like pillars of fire travelling thro darkness & non entity

  The times are now returnd upon us, we have given ourselves

  To scorn and now are scorned by the slaves of our enemies

  Our beauty is coverd over with clay & ashes, & our backs

  Furrowd with whips, & our flesh bruised with the heavy basket

  Forgive us O thou piteous one whom we have offended, forgive

  The weak remaining shadow of Vala that returns in sorrow to thee.

  Thus she lamented day & night, compelld to labour & sorrow

  Luvah in vain her lamentations heard; in vain his love

  Brought him in various forms before her still she knew him not

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  Still she despisd him, calling on his name & knowing him not

  Still hating still professing love, still labouring in the smoke

  And Los & Enitharmon joyd, they drank in tenfold joy

  From all the sorrow of Luvah & the labour of Urizen

  And Enitharmon joyd Plotting to rend the secret cloud

  To plant divisions in the Soul of Urizen & Ahania

  [For] But infinitely beautiful the wondrous work arose

  In [songs & joy] sorrow & care, a Golden World whose

  porches round the heavens

  And pillard halls & rooms recievd the eternal wandering stars

  10 A wondrous golden Building; many a window many a door

  And many a division let in & out into the vast unknown

  [Circled/Cubed] in [infinite orb/window square]

  immoveable, within its [arches all] walls & cielings

  The heavens were closd and spirits mournd their

  bondage night and day

  And the Divine Vision appeard in Luvahs robes of blood

  Thus was the Mundane shell builded by Urizens strong power

  [Then] Sorrowing went the Planters forth to plant, the

  Sowers [forth] to sow

  They dug the channels for the rivers & they pourd abroad

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  The seas & lakes, they reard the mountains & the rocks & hills

  On broad pavilions, on pillard roofs & porches & high towers

  In beauteous order, thence arose soft clouds & exhalations

  Wandering even to the sunny [orbs] Cubes of light & heat

  For many a window ornamented with sweet ornaments

  Lookd out into the World of Tharmas, where in ceaseless torrents

  His billows roll where monsters wander in the foamy paths

  On clouds the Sons of Urizen beheld Heaven walled round

  They weighd & orderd all & Urizen comforted saw

  10 The wondrous work flow forth like visible out of the invisible

  For the Divine Lamb Even Jesus who is the Divine Vision

  Permitted all lest Man should fall into Eternal Death

  For when Luvah sunk down himself put on the robes of blood

  Lest the state calld Luvah should cease. & the Divine Vision

  Walked in robes of blood till he who slept should awake

  Thus were the stars of heaven created. like a golden chain

  To bind the Body of Man to heaven from falling into

  the Abyss

  Each took his station, & his course began with [songs &

  joy] sorrow & care

  In sevens & tens & fifties, hundreds, thousands, numberd all

  20 According to their various powers. Subordinate to Urizen

  And to his sons in their degrees & to his beauteous daughters

  Travelling in silent majesty along their orderd ways

  In right lined paths outmeasurd by proportions of

  [weight & measure] number weight

  And measure, mathematic motion wondrous. along the deep

  In fiery pyramid. or Cube. or unornamented pillar square

  Of fire far shining. travelling along even to its destind end

  Then falling down. a terrible space recovring in winter dire

  Its wasted strength. it back returns upon a nether course

  Till fired with ardour fresh recruited in its humble

  [spring] season

  30 It rises up on high all summer till its wearied course

  Turns into autumn, such the periods of many worlds

  Others triangular [their] right angled course maintain. others obtuse

  Acute [& oblong] Scalene, in simple paths. but others move

  In intricate ways biquadrate. Trapeziums Rhombs Rhomboids

  Paralellograms. triple & quadruple. polygonic

  In their amazing [fructifying] hard subdued course in

  the vast deep

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  And Los & Enitharmon were drawn down by their desires

  Descending sweet upon the wind among soft harps & voices

  To plant divisions in the Soul of Urizen & Ahania

  To conduct the Voice of Enion to Ahanias midnight pillow

  Urizen saw & envied & his imagination was filled

  Repining he contemplated the past in his bright sphere

  Terrified with his heart & spirit at the visions of futurity

  That his dread fancy formd before him in the unformd void

  [Now] For Los & Enitharmon walkd forth on the dewy Earth

  10 Contracting or expanding their all flexible senses

  At will to murmur in the flowers small as the honey bee

  At will to stretch across the heavens & step from star to star

  Or standing on the Earth erect, or on the stormy waves

  Driving the storms before them or delighting in sunny beams

  While round their heads the Elemental Gods kept harmony

  And Los said. Lo the Lilly pale & the rose reddning fierce

  Reproach thee & the beamy garde
ns sicken at thy beauty

  I grasp thy vest in my strong hand in vain. like water springs

  In the bright sands of Los. evading my embrace. then I alone

  20 Wander among the virgins of the summer Look they cry

  The poor forsaken Los mockd by the worm the shelly snail

  The Emmet & the beetle hark they laugh & mock at Los

  Enitharmon answerd Secure now from the smitings of

  thy Power

  Demon of fury If the God enrapturd me infolds

  In clouds of sweet obscurity my beauteous form dissolving

  Howl thou over the body of death tis thine But if among the virgins

  Of summer I have seen thee sleep & turn thy cheek delighted

  Upon the rose or lilly pale. or on a bank where sleep

  The beamy daughters of the light starting they rise they flee

  30 From thy fierce love for tho I am dissolvd in the bright God

  My spirit still pursues thy false love over rocks & valleys

  Los answerd Therefore fade I thus dissolvd in rapturd trance

  70 Thou canst repose on clouds of secrecy while oer my limbs

  Cold dews & hoary frost creeps tho I lie on banks of summer

  Among the beauties of the World Cold & repining Los

  Still dies for Enitharmon nor a spirit springs from my dead corse

  Then I am dead till thou revivest me with thy sweet song

  Now taking on Ahanias form & now the form of Enion

  I know thee not as once I knew thee in those blessed fields

  40 Where memory wishes to repose among the flocks of Tharmas

  Enitharmon answerd Wherefore didst thou throw thine arms around

  Ahanias Image I decievd thee & will still decieve

  Urizen saw thy sin & hid his beams in darkning Clouds

  I still keep watch altho I tremble & wither across the heavens

  In strong vibrations of fierce jealousy for thou art mine

  Created for my will my slave tho strong tho I am weak

  Farewell the God calls me away I depart in my sweet bliss

  She fled vanishing on the wind And left a dead cold corse

  In Los’s arms howlings began over the body of death

  50 Los spoke. Thy God in vain shall call thee if by my strong power

  I can infuse my dear revenge into his glowing breast

  Then jealousy shall shadow all his mountains & Ahania

  Curse thee thou plague of woful Los & seek revenge on thee

  So saying in deep sobs he languishd till dead he also fell

  Night passd & Enitharmon eer the dawn returnd in bliss

  She sang Oer Los. reviving him to Life his groans were terrible

  But thus she sang I sieze the sphery harp I strike the strings