The Complete Poems

  And build a World of Phantasy upon my Great Abyss!

  A World of Shapes in craving lust & devouring appetite

  So spoke the hard cold constrictive Spectre he is named Arthur

  Constricting into Druid Rocks round Canaan Agag & Aram & Pharoh

  Then Albion drew England into his bosom in groans & tears

  But she stretchd out her starry Night in Spaces against him, like

  A long Serpent, in the Abyss of the Spectre which augmented

  30 The Night with Dragon wings coverd with stars & in the Wings

  Jerusalem & Vala appeard: & above between the Wings magnificent

  The Divine Vision dimly appeard in clouds of blood weeping.

  PLATE 55

  When those who disregard all Mortal Things, saw a Mighty-One

  Among the Flowers of Beulah still retain his awful strength

  They wonderd: checking their wild flames & Many gathering

  Together into an Assembly; they said, let us go down

  And see these changes! Others said, If you do so prepare

  For being driven from our fields, what have we to do with the Dead?

  To be their inferiors or superiors we equally abhor;

  Superior, none we know: inferior none: all equal share

  Divine Benevolence & joy, for the Eternal Man

  10 Walketh among us, calling us his Brothers & his Friends:

  Forbidding us that Veil which Satan puts between Eve & Adam

  By which the Princes of the Dead enslave their Votaries

  Teaching them to form the Serpent of precious stones & gold

  To sieze the Sons of Jerusalem & plant them in One Mans Loins

  To make One Family on Contraries: that Joseph may be sold

  Into Egypt: for Negation; a Veil the Saviour born & dying rends.

  But others said: Let us to him who only Is, & who

  Walketh among us, give decision, bring forth all your fires!

  So saying, an eternal deed was done: in fiery flames

  20 The Universal Conc[l]ave raged, such thunderous sounds as never

  Were sounded from a mortal cloud, nor on Mount Sinai old

  Nor in Havilah where the Cherub rolld his redounding flame.

  Loud! loud! the Mountains lifted up their voices, loud the Forests

  Rivers thunderd against their banks, loud Winds furious fought

  Cities & Nations contended in fires & clouds & tempests.

  The Seas raisd up their voices & lifted their hands on high

  The Stars in their courses fought, the Sun! Moon! Heaven: Earth.

  Contending for Albion & for Jerusalem his Emanation

  And for Shiloh, the Emanation of France & for lovely Vala.

  30 Then far the greatest number were about to make a Separation

  And they Elected Seven, calld the Seven Eyes of God;

  Lucifer, Molech, Elohim, Shaddai, Pahad, Jehovah, Jesus.

  They namd the Eighth, he came not, he hid in Albions Forests

  But first they said: (& their Words stood in Chariots in array

  Curbing their Tygers with golden bits & bridles of silver & ivory)

  Let the Human Organs be kept in their perfect Integrity

  At will Contracting into Worms, or Expanding into Gods

  And then behold! what are these Ulro Visions of Chastity[?]

  Then as the moss upon the tree: or dust upon the plow:

  40 Or as the sweat upon the labouring shoulder: or as the chaff

  Of the wheat-floor or as the dregs of the sweet wine-press

  Such are these Ulro Visions, for tho we sit down within

  The plowed furrow, listning to the weeping clods till we

  Contract or Expand Space at will: or if we raise ourselves

  Upon the chariots of the morning, Contracting or Expanding Time:

  Every one knows, we are One Family: One Man blessed for ever

  Silence remaind & every one resumd his Human Majesty

  And many conversed on these things as they labourd at the furrow

  Saying: It is better to prevent misery, than to release from misery

  50 It is better to prevent error, than to forgive the criminal:

  Labour well the Minute Particulars, attend to the Little-ones:

  And those who are in misery cannot remain so long

  If we do but our duty: labour well the teeming Earth.

  They Plow’d in tears, the trumpets sounded before the golden Plow

  And the voices of the Living Creatures were heard in the clouds of heaven

  Crying: Compell the Reasoner to Demonstrate with unhewn Demonstrations

  Let the Indefinite be explored, and let every Man be Judged

  By his own Works. Let all Indefinites be thrown into Demonstrations

  To be pounded to dust & melted in the Furnaces of Affliction:

  60 He who would do good to another, must do it in Minute Particulars

  General Good is the plea of the scoundrel hypocrite & flatterer:

  For Art & Science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars

  And not in generalizing Demonstrations of the Rational Power.

  The Infinite alone resides in Definite & Determinate Identity

  Establishment of Truth depends on destruction of Falshood continually

  On Circumcision: not on Virginity, O Reasoners of Albion

  So cried they at the Plow. Albions Rock frowned above

  And the Great Voice of Eternity rolled above terrible in clouds

  Saying Who will go forth for us! & Who shall we send before our face?

  PLATE 56

  Then Los heaved his thund’ring Bellows on the Valley of Middlesex

  And thus he chaunted his Song: the Daughters of Albion reply.

  What may Man be? who can tell! But what may Woman be?

  To have power over Man from Cradle to corruptible Grave.

  He who is an Infant, and whose Cradle is a Manger

  Knoweth the Infant sorrow: whence it came, and where it goeth:

  And who weave it a Cradle of the grass that withereth away.

  This World is all a Cradle for the erred wandering Phantom:

  Rock’d by Year, Month, Day & Hour; and every two Moments

  10 Between, dwells a Daughter of Beulah, to feed the Human Vegetable

  Entune: Daughters of Albion, your hymning Chorus mildly!

  Cord of affection thrilling extatic on the iron Reel:

  To the golden Loom of Love! to the moth-labourd Woof

  A Garment and Cradle weaving for the infantine Terror:

  For fear; at entering the gate into our World of cruel

  Lamentation: it flee back & hide in Non-Entitys dark wild

  Where dwells the Spectre of Albion: destroyer of Definite Form.

  The Sun shall be a Scythed Chariot of Britain: the Moon: a Ship

  In the British Ocean! Created by Los’s Hammer; measured out

  20 Into Days & Nights & Years & Months, to travel with my feet

  Over these desolate rocks of Albion: O daughters of despair:

  Rock the Cradle, and in mild melodies tell me where found

  What you have enwoven with so much tears & care? so much

  Tender artifice: to laugh: to weep: to learn: to know;

  Remember! recollect! what dark befel in wintry days

  O it was lost for ever! and we found it not: it came

  And wept at our wintry Door: Look! look! behold! Gwendolen

  Is become a Clod of Clay! Merlin is a Worm of the Valley!

  Then Los uttered with Hammer & Anvil: Chaunt! revoice!

  30 I mind not your laugh: and your frown I not fear! and

  You must my dictate obey from your gold-beam’d Looms; trill

  Gentle to Albions Watchman, on Albions mountains; reeccho

  And rock the Cradle while! Ah me! Of that Eternal Man

  And of the cradled Infancy in his bowels of compassion:

  Who fell bene
ath his instruments of husbandry & became

  Subservient to the clods of the furrow! the cattle and even

  The emmet and earth-Worm are his superiors & his lords.

  Then the response came warbling from trilling Looms in Albion

  We Women tremble at the light therefore: hiding fearful

  40 The Divine Vision with Curtain & Veil & fleshly Tabernacle

  Los utter’d: swift as the rattling thunder upon the mountains

  Look back into the Church Paul! Look! Three Women around

  The Cross! O Albion why didst thou a Female Will Create?

  PLATE 57

  And the voices of Bath & Canterbury & York & Edinburgh, Cry

  Over the Plow of Nations in the strong hand of Albion thundering along

  Among the Fires of the Druid & the deep black rethundering Waters

  Of the Atlantic which poured in impetuous loud loud, louder & louder.

  And the Great Voice of the Atlantic howled over the Druid Altars:

  Weeping over his Children in Stone-henge in Malden & Colchester.

  Round the Rocky Peak of Derbyshire London Stone & Rosamonds Bower

  What is a Wife & what is a Harlot? What is a Church & What

  Is a Theatre? are they Two & not One? can they Exist Separate?

  10 Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing? Brotherhood is Religion

  O Demonstrations of Reason Dividing Families in Cruelty & Pride!

  But Albion fled from the Divine Vision, with the Plow of Nations enflaming

  The Living Creatures maddend and Albion fell into the Furrow, and

  The Plow went over him & the Living was Plowed in among the Dead

  But his Spectre rose over the starry Plow. Albion fled beneath the Plow

  Till he came to the Rock of Ages. & he took his Seat upon the Rock.

  Wonder siezd all in Eternity! to behold the Divine Vision, open

  The Center into an Expanse, & the Center rolled out into an Expanse.

  PLATE 58

  In beauty the Daughters of Albion divide & unite at will

  Naked & drunk with blood Gwendolen dancing to the timbrel

  Of War: reeling up the Street of London she divides in twain

  Among the Inhabitants of Albion, the People fall around[.]

  The Daughters of Albion, divide & unite in jealousy & cruelty

  The Inhabitants of Albion at the Harvest & the Vintage

  Feel their Brain cut round beneath the temples shrieking

  Bonifying into a Scull, the Marrow exuding in dismal pain.

  They flee over the rocks bonifying: Horses: Oxen: feel the knife.

  10 And while the Sons of Albion by severe War & Judgment, bonify[,]

  The Hermaphroditic Condensations are divided by the Knife

  The obdurate Forms are cut asunder by Jealousy & Pity.

  Rational Philosophy and Mathematic Demonstration

  Is divided in the intoxications of pleasure & affection

  Two Contraries War against each other in fury & blood,

  And Los fixes them on his Anvil, incessant his blows:

  He fixes them with strong blows. placing the stones & timbers.

  To Create a World of Generation from the World of Death:

  Dividing the Masculine & Feminine: for the comingling

  20 Of Albions & Luvahs Spectres was Hermaphroditic

  Urizen wrathful strode above directing the awful Building:

  As a Mighty Temple; delivering Form out of confusion

  Jordan sprang beneath its threshold bubbling from beneath

  Its pillars: Euphrates ran under its arches: white sails

  And silver oars reflect on its pillars, & sound on its ecchoing

  Pavements: where walk the Sons of Jerusalem who remain Ungenerate

  But the revolving Sun and Moon pass thro its porticoes,

  Day & night, in sublime majesty & silence they revolve

  And shine glorious within: Hand & Koban archd over the Sun

  30 In the hot noon, as he traveld thro his journey: Hyle & Skofield

  Archd over the Moon at midnight & Los Fixd them there,

  With his thunderous Hammer; terrified the Spectres rage & flee

  Canaan is his portico; Jordan is a fountain in his porch;

  A fountain of milk & wine to relieve the traveller:

  Egypt is the eight steps within, Ethiopia supports his pillars;

  Lybia & the Lands unknown, are the ascent without;

  Within is Asia & Greece, ornamented with exquisite art:

  Persia & Media are his halls: his inmost hall is Great Tartary.

  China & India & Siberia are his temples for entertainment

  40 Poland & Russia & Sweden, his soft retired chambers

  France & Spain & Italy & Denmark & Holland & Germany

  Are the temples among his pillars. Britain is Los’s Forge;

  America North & South are his baths of living waters.

  Such is the Ancient World of Urizen in the Satanic Void

  Created from the Valley of Middlesex by Londons River

  From Stone-henge and from London Stone, from Cornwall to Cathnes

  The Four Zoa’s rush around on all sides in dire ruin

  Furious in pride of Selfhood the terrible Spectres of Albion

  Rear their dark Rocks among the Stars of God: stupendous

  50 Works! A World of Generation continually Creating; out of

  The Hermaphroditic Satanic World of rocky destiny.

  PLATE 59

  And formed into Four precious stones, for enterance from Beulah

  For the Veil of Vala which Albion cast into the Atlantic Deep

  To catch the Souls of the Dead: began to Vegetate & Petrify

  Around the Earth of Albion, among the Roots of his Tree

  This Los formed into the Gates & mighty Wall, between the Oak

  Of Weeping & the Palm of Suffering beneath Albions Tomb.

  Thus in process of time it became the beautiful Mundane Shell,

  The Habitation of the Spectres of the Dead & the Place

  Of Redemption & of awaking again into Eternity

  10 For Four Universes round the Mundane Egg remain Chaotic

  One to the North; Urthona: One to the South; Urizen:

  One to the East: Luvah: One to the West, Tharmas;

  They are the Four Zoas that stood around the Throne Divine.

  Verulam: London: York & Edinburgh: their English names

  But when Luvah assumed the World of Urizen Southward

  And Albion was slain upon his Mountains & in his Tent,

  All fell towards the Center, sinking downwards in dire ruin,

  In the South remains a burning Fire: in the East, a Void

  In the West, a World of raging Waters: in the North; solid Darkness

  20 Unfathomable without end: but in the midst of these

  Is Built eternally the sublime Universe of Los & Enitharmon

  And in the North Gate, in the West of the North, toward Beulah

  Cathedrons Looms are builded. and Los’s Furnaces in the South[.]

  A wondrous golden Building immense with ornaments sublime

  Is bright Cathedrons golden Hall, its Courts Towers & Pinnacles

  And one Daughter of Los sat at the fiery Reel & another

  Sat at the shining Loom with her Sisters attending round

  Terrible their distress & their sorrow cannot be utterd

  And another Daughter of Los sat at the Spinning Wheel

  30 Endless their labour, with bitter food, void of sleep,

  Tho hungry they labour: they rouze themselves anxious

  Hour after hour labouring at the whirling Wheel

  Many Wheels & as many lovely Daughters sit weeping

  Yet the intoxicating delight that they take in their work

  Obliterates every other evil; none pities their tears

  Yet they regard not pity & they expect no one to pity

  For they labour
for life & love, regardless of any one

  But the poor Spectres that they work for, always incessantly

  They are mockd, by every one that passes by, they regard not

  40 They labour; & when their Wheels are broken by scorn & malice

  They mend them sorrowing with many tears & afflictions.

  Other Daughters Weave on the Cushion & Pillow, Network fine

  That Rahab & Tirzah may exist & live & breathe & love

  Ah, that it could be as the Daughters of Beulah wish!

  Other Daughters of Los, labouring at Looms less fine

  Create the Silk-worm & the Spider & the Catterpiller

  To assist in their most grievous work of pity & compassion

  And others Create the wooly Lamb & the downy Fowl

  To assist in the work: the Lamb bleats: the Sea-fowl cries

  50 Men understand not the distress & the labour & sorrow

  That in the Interior Worlds is carried on in fear & trembling

  Weaving the shuddring fears & loves of Albions Families

  Thunderous rage the Spindles of iron, & the iron Distaff

  Maddens in the fury of their hands, weaving in bitter tears

  The Veil of Goats-hair & Purple & Scarlet & fine twined Linen

  PLATE 60

  The clouds of Albions Druid Temples rage in the eastern heaven

  While Los sat terrified beholding Albions Spectre who is Luvah

  Spreading in bloody veins in torments over Europe & Asia;

  Not yet formed but a wretched torment unformed & abyssal

  In flaming fire; within the Furnaces the Divine Vision appeard

  On Albions hills: often walking from the Furnaces in clouds

  And flames among the Druid Temples & the Starry Wheels

  Gatherd Jerusalems Children in his arms & bore them like

  A Shepherd in the night of Albion which overspread all the Earth

  10 I gave thee liberty and life O lovely Jerusalem

  And thou hast bound me down upon the Stems of Vegetation

  I gave thee Sheep-walks upon the Spanish Mountains Jerusalem

  I gave thee Priams City and the Isles of Grecia lovely!

  I gave thee Hand & Scofield & the Counties of Albion:

  They spread forth like a lovely root into the Garden of God:

  They were as Adam before me: united into One Man,

  They stood in innocence & their skiey tent reachd over Asia

  To Nimrods Tower to Ham & Canaan walking with Mizraim

  Upon the Egyptian Nile, with solemn songs to Grecia

  20 And sweet Hesperia even to Great Chaldea & Tesshina

  Following thee as a Shepherd by the Four Rivers of Eden

  Why wilt thou rend thyself apart, Jerusalem?