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
30 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
40 Doth Enion avoid the sight of thy blue watry eyes
Be not perswaded that the air knows this or the falling dew
Tharmas replid O Vala once I livd in a garden of delight
PAGE 94
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
10 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
20 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 [then furious] 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
30 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 on 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
40 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
50 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 [anguish for] rage against the dark despair, the howling Melancholy
PAGE 95 (FIRST PORTION)
For far & wide she stretchd thro all the worlds of Urizens journey
And was Ajoind to Beulah as the Polypus to the Rock
Mo[u]rning 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 B[r]other shall rise again
In golden letters ornamented with sweet labours of Love
Waiting with Patience [of] for the fulfilment of the Promise Divine
And all the Songs of Beulah sounded comfortable notes
10 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
End of the Seventh Night [b]
PAGE 99
VALA
NIGHT THE EIGHTH
Then All in Great Eternity [which is called] Met in the Council of God
[Met] as one Man Even Jesus upon Gilead & Hermon
Upon the Limit of Contraction to create the fallen Man
The [Eternal] 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 [but other wings
10 They had which clothd their bodies like a garment of soft down
Silvery white shining upon the dark blue sky in silence
Their wings touchd the heavens their fair feet hoverd above
The swelling tides they bent over the dead corse like an arch
Pointed at top in highest heavens of precious stones & pearl]
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
20 Then [first] Los [beheld] said I behold the Divine Vision thro the broken Gates
Of [Enitharmons] thy poor broken heart astonishd melted into Compassion & Love
And Enitharmon [saw] 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
Gates broken down, they descend thro the Gate of Pity
The broken heart Gate of Enitharmon She sighs them forth upon the wind
30 Of Golgonooza Los stood recieving them
For Los could enter into Enitharmons bosom & explore
Its intricate Labyrinths now the Obdurate heart was broken
PAGE 100 (FIRST PORTION)
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
10 And knew he was the Saviour Even Jesus & they worshipped
[Astonishd Comforted Delighted the Daughters of Beulah saw]
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
20 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 [One fold] 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
PAGE 101 (FIRST PORTION)
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 assumd 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
10 Beneath down to his eyelids scales of pearl then gold & silver
Immingled with the ruby overspread his Visage down
His furious neck writ[h]ing 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
[On the immortal fiend] 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
20 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 deceit his warlike preparations fabricated
And when all things were finishd sudden wavd [his hurtling hand] among the Stars
[Among the stars] His hurtling hand gave the dire signal thunderous Clarions blow
And all the hollow deep rebellowd with the wonderous war
PAGE 100 (SECOND PORTION)
[But thus] But Urizen his mighty rage let loose in the mid deep
Sparkles of Dire affliction issud [from] round his frozen limbs
Horrible hooks & nets he formd twisting the cords of iron
30 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
PAGE 101 (SECOND PORTION)
30 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 [male] 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
40 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
PAGE 102
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
10 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
20 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 fal[l]ing snows around
30 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
PAGE 103
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 assumd 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 [the human form] these terrors & with influences sweet
As once in those eternal fields in brotherhood & Love
10 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 [that] thou hast smitten him
And laid him in the Sepulcher Or if [that] 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
20 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 heaven thro all its meshes altering the Vortexes
Misplacing every Center hungry desire & lust began
Gathering the fruit of that Mysterious tree till Urizen
30 Sitting within his temple furious felt the num[m]ing 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
The Complete Poems Page 33