The Book of Urizen
Lines:561Movement:Romanticism
center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818: Title-page [Plate 2] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 2 }} Of the primeval Priests assum'd power,When Eternals spurn'd back his religion;And gave him a place in the north,Obscure, shadowy, void, solitary.Eternals I hear your call gladly,Dictate swift winged words, & fear notTo unfold your dark visions of torment. [Plate 3] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 3 }} 1. Lo, a shadow of horror is risenIn Eternity! Unknown, unprolific!Self-closd, all-repelling: what DemonHath form'd this abominable voidThis soul-shudd'ring vacuum? — Some said"It is Urizen", But unknown, abstractedBrooding secret, the dark power hid. 2. Times on times he divided, & measur'dSpace by space in his ninefold darknessUnseen, unknown! changes appeardIn his desolate mountains rifted furiousBy the black winds of perturbation 3. For he strove in battles direIn unseen conflictions with shapesBred from his forsaken wilderness,Of beast, bird, fish, serpent & elementCombustion, blast, vapour and cloud. 4. Dark revolving in silent activity:Unseen in tormenting passions;An activity unknown and horrible;A self-contemplating shadow,In enormous labours occupied 5. But Eternals beheld his vast forestsAge on ages he lay, clos'd, unknownBrooding shut in the deep; all avoidThe petrific abominable chaos 6. His cold horrors silent, dark UrizenPrepar'd: his ten thousands of thundersRang'd in gloom'd array stretch out acrossThe dread world, & the rolling of wheelsAs of swelling seas, sound in his cloudsIn his hills of stor'd snows, in his mountainsOf hail & ice; voices of terror,Are heard, like thunders of autumn,When the cloud blazes over the harvests }} 1. Earth was not: nor globes of attractionThe will of the Immortal expandedOr contracted his all flexible senses.Death was not, but eternal life sprung 2. The sound of a trumpet the heavensAwoke & vast clouds of blood roll'dRound the dim rocks of Urizen, so nam'dThat solitary one in Immensity 3. Shrill the trumpet: & myriads of Eternity, [Plate 4] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 4 Muster around the bleak desartsNow fill'd with clouds, darkness & watersThat roll'd perplex'd labring & utter'dWords articulate, bursting in thundersThat roll'd on the tops of his mountains 4: From the depths of dark solitude. FromThe eternal abode in my holiness,Hidden set apart in my stern counselsReserv'd for the days of futurity,I have sought for a joy without pain, For a solid without fluctuationWhy will you die O Eternals?Why live in unquenchable burnings? 5 First I fought with the fire; consum'dInwards, into a deep world within:A void immense, wild dark & deep,Where nothing was: Natures wide womb And self balanc'd stretch'd o'er the voidI alone, even I! the winds mercilessBound; but condensing, in torrentsThey fall & fall; strong I repell'dThe vast waves, & arose on the watersA wide world of solid obstruction 6. Here alone I in books formd of metalsHave written the secrets of wisdomThe secrets of dark contemplationBy fightings and conflicts dire,With terrible monsters Sin-bred:Which the bosoms of all inhabit;Seven deadly Sins of the soul. 7. Lo! I unfold my darkness: and onThis rock, place with strong hand the BookOf eternal brass, written in my solitude. 8. Laws of peace, of love, of unity:Of pity, compassion, forgiveness.Let each chuse one habitation:His ancient infinite mansion:One command, one joy one desire,One curse, one weight, one measureOne King, one God, one Law. }} 1. The voice ended, they saw his pale visageEmerge from the darkness; his handOn the rock of eternity unclaspingThe Book of brass. Rage siez'd the strong 2. Rage, fury, intense indignationIn cataracts of fire blood & gallIn whirlwinds of sulphurous smoke:And enormous forms of energy;All the seven deadly sins of the soul [Plate 5] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 5 In living creations appear'dIn the flames of eternal fury. 3. Sund'ring, dark'ning, thund'ring!Rent away with a terrible crashEternity roll'd wide apart Wide asunder rollingMountainous all aroundDeparting; departing; departing:Leaving ruinous fragments of lifeHanging frowning cliffs & all betweenAn ocean of voidness unfathomable. 4. The roaring fires ran o'er the heav'nsIn whirlwinds & cataracts of bloodAnd o'er the dark desarts of UrizenFires pour thro' the void on all sidesOn Urizens self-begotten armies. 5. But no light from the fires. all was darknessIn the flames of Eternal fury 6. In fierce anguish & quenchless flamesTo the desarts and rocks He ran ragingTo hide, but He could not: combiningHe dug mountains & hills in vast strength,He piled them in incessant labour,In howlings & pangs & fierce madnessLong periods in burning fires labouringTill hoary, and age-broke, and aged,In despair and the shadows of death. 7. And a roof, vast petrific around,On all sides He fram'd: like a womb;Where thousands of rivers in veinsOf blood pour down the mountains to coolThe eternal fires beating withoutFrom Eternals; & like a black globeView'd by sons of Eternity, standingOn the shore of the infinite oceanLike a human heart strugling & beatingThe vast world of Urizen appear'd. 8. And Los round the dark globe of Urizen,Kept watch for Eternals to confine,The obscure separation alone;For Eternity stood wide apart, [Plate 6] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 6 As the stars are apart from the earth 9. Los wept howling around the dark Demon:And cursing his lot; for in anguish, Urizen was rent from his side;And a fathomless void for his feet;And intense fires for his dwelling. 10. But Urizen laid in a stony sleepUnorganiz'd, rent from Eternity 11. The Eternals said: What is this? DeathUrizen is a clod of clay. [Plate 7] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. Plate 7 12: Los howld in a dismal stupor,Groaning! gnashing! groaning!Till the wrenching apart was healed thumb|center|300px|12: Los howld in a dismal stupor,Groaning! gnashing! groaning!Till the wrenching apart was healedThe Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818: Plate 9 13: But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd notCold, featureless, flesh or clay,Rifted with direful changesHe lay in a dreamless night 14: Till Los rouz'd his fires, affrightedAt the formless unmeasurable death. [Plate 8] }} 1: Los smitten with astonishmentFrightend at the hurtling bones 2: And at the surging sulphureousPerturbed Immortal mad raging 3: In whirlwinds & pitch & nitreRound the furious limbs of Los 4: And Los formed nets & ginsAnd threw the nets round about 5: He watch'd in shuddring fearThe dark changes & bound every changeWith rivets of iron & brass; 6. And these were the changes of Urizen. [Plate 10] }} 1. Ages on ages roll'd over him!In stony sleep ages roll'd over him!Like a dark waste stretching chang'ableBy earthquakes riv'n, belching sullen firesOn ages roll'd ages in ghastly Sick torment; around him in whirlwindsOf darkness the eternal Prophet howl'dBeating still on his rivets of ironPouring sodor of iron; dividingThe horrible night into watches. 2. And Urizen (so his eternal name)His prolific delight obscurd more & moreIn dark secresy hiding in surgeingSulphureous fluid his phantasies.The Eternal Prophet heavd the dark bellows,And turn'd restless the tongs; and the hammerIncessant beat; forging chains new & newNumb'ring with links. hours, days & years 3. The eternal mind bounded began to rollEddies of wrath ceaseless round & round,And the sulphureous foam surgeing thickSettled, a lake, bright, & shining clear:White as the snow on the mountains cold. 4. Forgetfulness, dumbness, necessity!In chains of the mind locked up,Like fetters of ice shrinking togetherDisorganiz'd, rent from Eternity,Los beat on his fetters of iron;And heated his furnaces & pour'dIron sodor and sodor of brass 5. Restless turnd the immortal inchain'dHeaving dolorous! anguish'd! unbearableTill a roof shaggy wild inclos'dIn an orb, his fountain of thought. 6. In a horrible dreamful slumber;Like the linked infernal chain;A vast Spine writh'd in tormentUpon the winds; shooting pain'dRibs, like a bending cavernAnd bones of solidness, frozeOver all his nerves of joy.And a first Age passed over,And a state of dismal woe. [Plate 11] 7. From the caverns of his jointed Spine,Down sunk with fright a redRound globe hot burning deepDeep down into the Abyss: Panting: Conglobing, TremblingShooting out ten thousand branchesAround his solid bones.And a second Age passed over,And a state of dismal woe. 8. In harrowing fear rolling round;His nervous brain shot branchesRound the branches of his heart.On high into two little orbsAnd fixed in two little cavesHiding carefully from the wind,His Eyes beheld the deep,And a third Age passed over:And a state of dismal woe. 9. The pangs of hope began,In heavy pain striving, struggling.Two Ears in close volutions.From beneath his orbs of visionShot spiring out and petrifiedAs they grew. And a fourth Age passedAnd a state of dismal woe. 10. In ghastly torment sick;Hanging upon the wind; [Plate 13] Two Nostrils bent down to the deep.And a fifth Age passed over;And a state of dismal woe. 11. In ghastly torment sick;Within his ribs bloated round,A craving Hungry Cavern;Thence arose his channeld Throat,And like a red flame a TongueOf thirst & of hunger appeard.And a sixth Age passed over:And a state of dismal woe. 12. Enraged & stifled with tormentHe threw his right Arm to the northHis left Arm to the southShooting out in anguish deep,And his Feet stampd the nether AbyssIn trembling & howling & dismay.And a seventh Age passed over:And a state of dismal woe. }} I. In terrors Los shrunk from his task:His great hammer fell from his hand:His fires beheld, and sickening,Hid their strong limbs in smoke.For with noises ruinous loud;With hurtlings & clashings & groansThe Immortal endur'd his chains,Tho' bound in a deadly sleep. 2. All the myriads of Eternity:All the wisdom & joy of life:Roll like a sea around him,Except what his little orbsOf sight by degrees unfold. 3. And now his eternal lifeLike a dream was obliterated 4. Shudd'ring, the Eternal Prophet smoteWith a stroke, from his north to south regionThe bellows & hammer are silent nowA nerveless silence, his prophetic voiceSiez'd; a cold solitude & dark voidThe Eternal Prophet & Urizen clos'd 5. Ages on ages rolld over themCut off from life & light frozenInto horrible forms of deformityLos suffer'd his fires to decayThen he look'd back with anxious desireBut the space undivided by existenceStruck horror into his soul. 6. Los wept obscur'd with mourning:His bosom earthquak'd with sighs;He saw Urizen deadly black,In his chains bound, & Pity began, 7. In anguish dividing & dividingFor pity divides the soulIn pangs eternity on eternityLife in cataracts pourd down his cliffsThe void shrunk the lymph into NervesWand'ring wide on the bosom of nightAnd left a round globe of bloodTrembling upon the Void thumb|center|300px|6. Los wept obscur'd with mourning...The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818: Plate 14 [Plate 15] Thus the Eternal Prophet was dividedBefore the death-image of UrizenFor in changeable clouds and darknessIn a winterly night beneath,The Abyss of Los stretch'd immense:And now seen, now obscur'd, to the eyesOf Eternals, the visions remoteOf the dark seperation appear'd.As glasses discover WorldsIn the endless Abyss of space,So the expanding eyes of ImmortalsBeheld the dark visions of Los,And the globe of life blood trembling. [plate 18] thumb|center|300px|8. The globe of life blood trembledBranching out into roots...The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818: Plate 18 8. The globe of life blood trembledBranching out into roots;Fib'rous, writhing upon the winds;Fibres of blood, milk and tears;In pangs, eternity on eternity.At length in tears & cries imbodiedA female form trembling and paleWaves before his deathy face 9. All Eternity shudderd at sightOf the first female now separatePale as a cloud of snowWaving before the face of Los 10. Wonder, awe, fear, astonishment,Petrify the eternal myriads;At the first female form now separate [Plate 19] They call'd her Pity, and fled 11. "Spread a Tent, with strong curtains around them"Let cords & stakes bind in the VoidThat Eternals may no more behold them" 12. They began to weave curtains of darknessThey erected large pillars round the VoidWith golden hooks fastend in the pillarsWith infinite labour the EternalsA woof wove, and called it Science }} 1. But Los saw the Female & pitiedHe embrac'd her, she wept, she refus'dIn perverse and cruel delightShe fled from his arms, yet he followd 2. Eternity shudder'd when they saw,Man begetting his likeness,On his own divided image. 3. A time passed over, the EternalsBegan to erect the tent;When Enitharmon sick,Felt a Worm within her womb. 4. Yet helpless it lay like a WormIn the trembling wombTo be moulded into existence 5. All day the worm lay on her bosomAll night within her wombThe worm lay till it grew to a serpentWith dolorous hissings & poisonsRound Enitharmons loins folding, 6. Coild within Enitharmons wombThe serpent grew casting its scales,With sharp pangs the hissings beganTo change to a grating cry,Many sorrows and dismal throes,Many forms of fish, bird & beast,Brought forth an Infant formWhere was a worm before. 7. The Eternals their tent finishedAlarm'd with these gloomy visionsWhen Enitharmon groaningProduc'd a man Child to the light. 8. A shriek ran thro' Eternity:And a paralytic stroke;At the birth of the Human shadow. 9. Delving earth in his resistless way;Howling, the Child with fierce flamesIssu'd from Enitharmon. 10. The Eternals, closed the tentThey beat down the stakes the cords Stretch'd for a work of eternity;No more Los beheld Eternity. 11. In his hands he siez'd the infantHe bathed him in springs of sorrowHe gave him to Enitharmon. }} 1. They named the child Orc, he grewFed with milk of Enitharmon 2. Los awoke her; O sorrow & pain!A tight'ning girdle grew,Around his bosom. In sobbingsHe burst the girdle in twain,But still another girdleOpressd his bosom, In sobbingsAgain he burst it. AgainAnother girdle succeedsThe girdle was form'd by day;By night was burst in twain. 3. These falling down on the rockInto an iron ChainIn each other link by link lock'd 4. They took Orc to the top of a mountain.O how Enitharmon wept!They chain'd his young limbs to the rockWith the Chain of JealousyBeneath Urizens deathful shadow 5. The dead heard the voice of the childAnd began to awake from sleepAll things. heard the voice of the childAnd began to awake to life. 6. And Urizen craving with hungerStung with the odours of NatureExplor'd his dens around 7. He form'd a line & a plummetTo divide the Abyss beneath.He form'd a dividing rule: 8. He formed scales to weigh;He formed massy weights;He formed a brazen quadrant; He formed golden compassesAnd began to explore the AbyssAnd he planted a garden of fruits 9. But Los encircled EnitharmonWith fires of ProphecyFrom the sight of Urizen & Orc. 10. And she bore an enormous race }} 1. Urizen explor'd his densMountain, moor, & wilderness,With a globe of fire lighting his journeyA fearful journey, annoy'dBy cruel enormities: forms Of life on his forsaken mountains 2. And his world teemd vast enormitiesFrightning; faithless; fawningPortions of life; similitudesOf a foot, or a hand, or a headOr a heart, or an eye, they swam mischevousDread terrors! delighting in blood 3. Most Urizen sicken'd to seeHis eternal creations appearSons & daughters of sorrow on mountainsWeeping! wailing! first Thiriel appear'dAstonish'd at his own existenceLike a man from a cloud born, & UthaFrom the waters emerging, laments!Grodna rent the deep earth howlingAmaz'd! his heavens immense cracksLike the ground parch'd with heat; then FuzonFlam'd out! first begotten, last born.All his eternal sons in like mannerHis daughters from green herbs & cattleFrom monsters, & worms of the pit. 4. He in darkness clos'd, view'd all his race,And his soul sicken'd! he curs'dBoth sons & daughters; for he sawThat no flesh nor spirit could keepHis iron laws one moment. 5. For he saw that life liv'd upon death The Ox in the slaughter house moansThe Dog at the wintry doorAnd he wept, & he called it PityAnd his tears flowed down on the winds 6. Cold he wander'd on high, over their citiesIn weeping & pain & woe!And where-ever he wanderd in sorrowsUpon the aged heavensA cold shadow follow'd behind himLike a spiders web, moist, cold, & dimDrawing out from his sorrowing soulThe dungeon-like heaven dividing.Where ever the footsteps of UrizenWalk'd over the cities in sorrow. 7. Till a Web dark & cold, throughout allThe tormented element stretch'dFrom the sorrows of Urizens soulAnd the Web is a Female in embrioNone could break the Web, no wings of fire. 8. So twisted the cords, & so knottedThe meshes: twisted like to the human brain 9. And all calld it, The Net of Religion }} 1. Then the Inhabitants of those Cities:Felt their Nerves change into MarrowAnd hardening Bones beganIn swift diseases and torments,In throbbings & shootings & grindingsThro' all the coasts; till weaken'dThe Senses inward rush'd shrinking,Beneath the dark net of infection. 2. Till the shrunken eyes clouded overDiscernd not the woven hipocrisyBut the streaky slime in their heavensBrought together by narrowing perceptionsAppeard transparent air; for their eyesGrew small like the eyes of a manAnd in reptile forms shrinking togetherOf seven feet stature they remaind 3. Six days they shrunk up from existenceAnd on the seventh day they restedAnd they bless'd the seventh day, in sick hope:And forgot their eternal life 4. And their thirty cities dividedIn form of a human heartNo more could they rise at willIn the infinite void, but bound downTo earth by their narrowing perceptions [Plate 28] center|thumb|300px|The Book of Urizen, copy G, c. 1818. They lived a period of yearsThen left a noisom bodyTo the jaws of devouring darkness 5. And their children wept, & builtTombs in the desolate places,And form'd laws of prudence, and call'd themThe eternal laws of God 6. And the thirty cities remaindSurrounded by salt floods, now call'dAfrica: its name was then Egypt. 7. The remaining sons of UrizenBeheld their brethren shrink togetherBeneath the Net of Urizen;Perswasion was in vain;For the ears of the inhabitants,Were wither'd, & deafen'd, & cold:And their eyes could not discern,Their brethren of other cities. 8. So Fuzon call'd all togetherThe remaining children of Urizen:And they left the pendulous earth:They called it Egypt, & left it. 9. And the salt ocean rolled englob'd The End of the [first] book of Urizen