The Book of Urizen: Preludium
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 not
To unfold your dark visions of torment.
poem by William Blake
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The Book of Urizen: Chapter V
1. 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 & groans
The 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 orbs
Of sight by degrees unfold.
3. And now his eternal life
Like a dream was obliterated
4. Shudd'ring, the Eternal Prophet smote
With a stroke, from his north to south region
The bellows & hammer are silent now
A nerveless silence, his prophetic voice
Siez'd; a cold solitude & dark void
The Eternal Prophet & Urizen clos'd
5. Ages on ages rolld over them
Cut off from life & light frozen
Into horrible forms of deformity
Los suffer'd his fires to decay
Then he look'd back with anxious desire
But the space undivided by existence
Struck 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 & dividing
For pity divides the soul
In pangs eternity on eternity
Life in cataracts pourd down his cliffs
The void shrunk the lymph into Nerves
Wand'ring wide on the bosom of night
And left a round globe of blood
Trembling upon the Void
Thus the Eternal Prophet was divided
Before the death-image of Urizen
For in changeable clouds and darkness
In a winterly night beneath,
The Abyss of Los stretch'd immense:
And now seen, now obscur'd, to the eyes
Of Eternals, the visions remote
Of the dark seperation appear'd.
As glasses discover Worlds
In the endless Abyss of space,
So the expanding eyes of Immortals
Beheld the dark visions of Los,
And the globe of life blood trembling
8. The globe of life blood trembled
Branching 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 imbodied
A female form trembling and pale
Waves before his deathy face
9. All Eternity shudderd at sight
Of the first female now separate
Pale as a cloud of snow
Waving before the face of Los
10. Wonder, awe, fear, astonishment,
Petrify the eternal myriads;
At the first female form now separate
They call'd her Pity, and fled
11. "Spread a Tent, with strong curtains around them
"Let cords & stakes bind in the Void
That Eternals may no more behold them"
12. They began to weave curtains of darkness
They erected large pillars round the Void
With golden hooks fastend in the pillars
With infinite labour the Eternals
A woof wove, and called it Science
poem by William Blake
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The Book of Urizen: Chapter VI
1. But Los saw the Female & pitied
He embrac'd her, she wept, she refus'd
In perverse and cruel delight
She 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 Eternals
Began to erect the tent;
When Enitharmon sick,
Felt a Worm within her womb.
4. Yet helpless it lay like a Worm
In the trembling womb
To be moulded into existence
5. All day the worm lay on her bosom
All night within her womb
The worm lay till it grew to a serpent
With dolorous hissings & poisons
Round Enitharmons loins folding,
6. Coild within Enitharmons womb
The serpent grew casting its scales,
With sharp pangs the hissings began
To change to a grating cry,
Many sorrows and dismal throes,
Many forms of fish, bird & beast,
Brought forth an Infant form
Where was a worm before.
7. The Eternals their tent finished
Alarm'd with these gloomy visions
When Enitharmon groaning
Produc'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 flames
Issu'd from Enitharmon.
10. The Eternals, closed the tent
They beat down the stakes the cords
Stretch'd for a work of eternity;
No more Los beheld Eternity.
11. In his hands he seiz'd the infant
He bathed him in springs of sorrow
He gave him to Enitharmon.
poem by William Blake
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The Book of Urizen
PRELUDIUM TO THE [FIRST] BOOK OF URIZEN
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 not
To unfold your dark visions of torment.
Chap: I
1. Lo, a shadow of horror is risen
In Eternity! Unknown, unprolific!
Self-closd, all-repelling: what Demon
Hath form'd this abominable void
This soul-shudd'ring vacuum? — Some said
"It is Urizen", But unknown, abstracted
Brooding secret, the dark power hid.
2. Times on times he divided, & measur'd
Space by space in his ninefold darkness
Unseen, unknown! changes appeard
In his desolate mountains rifted furious
By the black winds of perturbation
3. For he strove in battles dire
In unseen conflictions with shapes
Bred from his forsaken wilderness,
Of beast, bird, fish, serpent & element
Combustion, 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 forests
Age on ages he lay, clos'd, unknown
Brooding shut in the deep; all avoid
The petrific abominable chaos
6. His cold horrors silent, dark Urizen
Prepar'd: his ten thousands of thunders
Rang'd in gloom'd array stretch out across
The dread world, & the rolling of wheels
As of swelling seas, sound in his clouds
In his hills of stor'd snows, in his mountains
Of hail & ice; voices of terror,
Are heard, like thunders of autumn,
When the cloud blazes over the harvests
Chap: II
1. Earth was not: nor globes of attraction
The will of the Immortal expanded
Or contracted his all flexible senses.
Death was not, but eternal life sprung
2. The sound of a trumpet the heavens
Awoke & vast clouds of blood roll'd
Round the dim rocks of Urizen, so nam'd
That solitary one in Immensity
3. Shrill the trumpet: & myriads of Eternity,
Muster around the bleak desarts
Now fill'd with clouds, darkness & waters
That roll'd perplex'd labring & utter'd
Words articulate, bursting in thunders
That roll'd on the tops of his mountains
4: From the depths of dark solitude. From
The eternal abode in my holiness,
Hidden set apart in my stern counsels
Reserv'd for the days of futurity,
I have sought for a joy without pain,
For a solid without fluctuation
Why will you die O Eternals?
Why live in unquenchable burnings?
5 First I fought with the fire; consum'd
Inwards, 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 void
I alone, even I! the winds merciless
Bound; but condensing, in torrents
They fall & fall; strong I repell'd
The vast waves, & arose on the waters
A wide world of solid obstruction
6. Here alone I in books formd of metals
Have written the secrets of wisdom
The secrets of dark contemplation
By 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 on
This rock, place with strong hand the Book
Of 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 measure
One King, one God, one Law.
Chap: III
1. The voice ended, they saw his pale visage
Emerge from the darkness; his hand
On the rock of eternity unclasping
The Book of brass. Rage siez'd the strong
2. Rage, fury, intense indignation
In cataracts of fire blood & gall
In whirlwinds of sulphurous smoke:
And enormous forms of energy;
All the seven deadly sins of the soul
In living creations appear'd
In the flames of eternal fury.
3. Sund'ring, dark'ning, thund'ring!
Rent away with a terrible crash
Eternity roll'd wide apart
Wide asunder rolling
Mountainous all around
Departing; departing; departing:
Leaving ruinous fragments of life
Hanging frowning cliffs & all between
An ocean of voidness unfathomable.
4. The roaring fires ran o'er the heav'ns
In whirlwinds & cataracts of blood
And o'er the dark desarts of Urizen
Fires pour thro' the void on all sides
On Urizens self-begotten armies.
5. But no light from the fires. all was darkness
In the flames of Eternal fury
6. In fierce anguish & quenchless flames
To the desarts and rocks He ran raging
To hide, but He could not: combining
He dug mountains & hills in vast strength,
He piled them in incessant labour,
In howlings & pangs & fierce madness
Long periods in burning fires labouring
Till 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 veins
Of blood pour down the mountains to cool
The eternal fires beating without
From Eternals; & like a black globe
View'd by sons of Eternity, standing
On the shore of the infinite ocean
Like a human heart strugling & beating
The 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,
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 sleep
Unorganiz'd, rent from Eternity
11. The Eternals said: What is this? Death
Urizen is a clod of clay.
12: Los howld in a dismal stupor,
Groaning! gnashing! groaning!
Till the wrenching apart was healed
13: But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not
Cold, featureless, flesh or clay,
Rifted with direful changes
He lay in a dreamless night
14: Till Los rouz'd his fires, affrighted
At the formless unmeasurable death.
Chap: IV[a]
1: Los smitten with astonishment
Frightend at the hurtling bones
2: And at the surging sulphureous
Perturbed Immortal mad raging
3: In whirlwinds & pitch & nitre
Round the furious limbs of Los
4: And Los formed nets & gins
And threw the nets round about
5: He watch'd in shuddring fear
The dark changes & bound every change
With rivets of iron & brass;
6. And these were the changes of Urizen.
Chap: IV[b]
1. Ages on ages roll'd over him!
In stony sleep ages roll'd over him!
Like a dark waste stretching chang'able
By earthquakes riv'n, belching sullen fires
On ages roll'd ages in ghastly
Sick torment; around him in whirlwinds
Of darkness the eternal Prophet howl'd
Beating still on his rivets of iron
Pouring sodor of iron; dividing
The horrible night into watches.
2. And Urizen (so his eternal name)
His prolific delight obscurd more & more
In dark secresy hiding in surgeing
Sulphureous fluid his phantasies.
The Eternal Prophet heavd the dark bellows,
And turn'd restless the tongs; and the hammer
Incessant beat; forging chains new & new
Numb'ring with links. hours, days & years
3. The eternal mind bounded began to roll
Eddies of wrath ceaseless round & round,
And the sulphureous foam surgeing thick
Settled, 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 together
Disorganiz'd, rent from Eternity,
Los beat on his fetters of iron;
And heated his furnaces & pour'd
Iron sodor and sodor of brass
5. Restless turnd the immortal inchain'd
Heaving dolorous! anguish'd! unbearable
Till a roof shaggy wild inclos'd
In an orb, his fountain of thought.
6. In a horrible dreamful slumber;
Like the linked infernal chain;
A vast Spine writh'd in torment
Upon the winds; shooting pain'd
Ribs, like a bending cavern
And bones of solidness, froze
Over all his nerves of joy.
And a first Age passed over,
And a state of dismal woe.
7. From the caverns of his jointed Spine,
Down sunk with fright a red
Round globe hot burning deep
Deep down into the Abyss:
Panting: Conglobing, Trembling
Shooting out ten thousand branches
Around 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 branches
Round the branches of his heart.
On high into two little orbs
And fixed in two little caves
Hiding 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 vision
Shot spiring out and petrified
As they grew. And a fourth Age passed
And a state of dismal woe.
10. In ghastly torment sick;
Hanging upon the wind;
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 Tongue
Of thirst & of hunger appeard.
And a sixth Age passed over:
And a state of dismal woe.
12. Enraged & stifled with torment
He threw his right Arm to the north
His left Arm to the south
Shooting out in anguish deep,
And his Feet stampd the nether Abyss
In trembling & howling & dismay.
And a seventh Age passed over:
And a state of dismal woe.
Chap: V
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 & groans
The 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 orbs
Of sight by degrees unfold.
3. And now his eternal life
Like a dream was obliterated
4. Shudd'ring, the Eternal Prophet smote
With a stroke, from his north to south region
The bellows & hammer are silent now
A nerveless silence, his prophetic voice
Siez'd; a cold solitude & dark void
The Eternal Prophet & Urizen clos'd
5. Ages on ages rolld over them
Cut off from life & light frozen
Into horrible forms of deformity
Los suffer'd his fires to decay
Then he look'd back with anxious desire
But the space undivided by existence
Struck 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 & dividing
For pity divides the soul
In pangs eternity on eternity
Life in cataracts pourd down his cliffs
The void shrunk the lymph into Nerves
Wand'ring wide on the bosom of night
And left a round globe of blood
Trembling upon the Void
Thus the Eternal Prophet was divided
Before the death-image of Urizen
For in changeable clouds and darkness
In a winterly night beneath,
The Abyss of Los stretch'd immense:
And now seen, now obscur'd, to the eyes
Of Eternals, the visions remote
Of the dark seperation appear'd.
As glasses discover Worlds
In the endless Abyss of space,
So the expanding eyes of Immortals
Beheld the dark visions of Los,
And the globe of life blood trembling.
8. The globe of life blood trembled
Branching 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 imbodied
A female form trembling and pale
Waves before his deathy face
9. All Eternity shudderd at sight
Of the first female now separate
Pale as a cloud of snow
Waving before the face of Los
10. Wonder, awe, fear, astonishment,
Petrify the eternal myriads;
At the first female form now separate
11. "Spread a Tent, with strong curtains around them
"Let cords & stakes bind in the Void
That Eternals may no more behold them"
12. They began to weave curtains of darkness
They erected large pillars round the Void
With golden hooks fastend in the pillars
With infinite labour the Eternals
A woof wove, and called it Science
Chap: VI
1. But Los saw the Female & pitied
He embrac'd her, she wept, she refus'd
In perverse and cruel delight
She 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 Eternals
Began to erect the tent;
When Enitharmon sick,
Felt a Worm within her womb.
4. Yet helpless it lay like a Worm
In the trembling womb
To be moulded into existence
5. All day the worm lay on her bosom
All night within her womb
The worm lay till it grew to a serpent
With dolorous hissings & poisons
Round Enitharmons loins folding,
6. Coild within Enitharmons womb
The serpent grew casting its scales,
With sharp pangs the hissings began
To change to a grating cry,
Many sorrows and dismal throes,
Many forms of fish, bird & beast,
Brought forth an Infant form
Where was a worm before.
7. The Eternals their tent finished
Alarm'd with these gloomy visions
When Enitharmon groaning
Produc'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 flames
Issu'd from Enitharmon.
10. The Eternals, closed the tent
They 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 infant
He bathed him in springs of sorrow
He gave him to Enitharmon.
Chap: VII
1. They named the child Orc, he grew
Fed with milk of Enitharmon
2. Los awoke her; O sorrow & pain!
A tight'ning girdle grew,
Around his bosom. In sobbings
He burst the girdle in twain,
But still another girdle
Opressd his bosom, In sobbings
Again he burst it. Again
Another girdle succeeds
The girdle was form'd by day;
By night was burst in twain.
3. These falling down on the rock
Into an iron Chain
In 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 rock
With the Chain of Jealousy
Beneath Urizens deathful shadow
5. The dead heard the voice of the child
And began to awake from sleep
All things. heard the voice of the child
And began to awake to life.
6. And Urizen craving with hunger
Stung with the odours of Nature
Explor'd his dens around
7. He form'd a line & a plummet
To 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 compasses
And began to explore the Abyss
And he planted a garden of fruits
9. But Los encircled Enitharmon
With fires of Prophecy
From the sight of Urizen & Orc.
10. And she bore an enormous race
Chap: VIII
1. Urizen explor'd his dens
Mountain, moor, & wilderness,
With a globe of fire lighting his journey
A fearful journey, annoy'd
By cruel enormities: forms
Of life on his forsaken mountains
2. And his world teemd vast enormities
Frightning; faithless; fawning
Portions of life; similitudes
Of a foot, or a hand, or a head
Or a heart, or an eye, they swam mischevous
Dread terrors! delighting in blood
3. Most Urizen sicken'd to see
His eternal creations appear
Sons & daughters of sorrow on mountains
Weeping! wailing! first Thiriel appear'd
Astonish'd at his own existence
Like a man from a cloud born, & Utha
From the waters emerging, laments!
Grodna rent the deep earth howling
Amaz'd! his heavens immense cracks
Like the ground parch'd with heat; then Fuzon
Flam'd out! first begotten, last born.
All his eternal sons in like manner
His daughters from green herbs & cattle
From monsters, & worms of the pit.
4. He in darkness clos'd, view'd all his race,
And his soul sicken'd! he curs'd
Both sons & daughters; for he saw
That no flesh nor spirit could keep
His iron laws one moment.
5. For he saw that life liv'd upon death
The Ox in the slaughter house moans
The Dog at the wintry door
And he wept, & he called it Pity
And his tears flowed down on the winds
6. Cold he wander'd on high, over their cities
In weeping & pain & woe!
And where-ever he wanderd in sorrows
Upon the aged heavens
A cold shadow follow'd behind him
Like a spiders web, moist, cold, & dim
Drawing out from his sorrowing soul
The dungeon-like heaven dividing.
Where ever the footsteps of Urizen
Walk'd over the cities in sorrow.
7. Till a Web dark & cold, throughout all
The tormented element stretch'd
From the sorrows of Urizens soul
And the Web is a Female in embrio
None could break the Web, no wings of fire.
8. So twisted the cords, & so knotted
The meshes: twisted like to the human brain
9. And all calld it, The Net of Religion
Chap: IX
1. Then the Inhabitants of those Cities:
Felt their Nerves change into Marrow
And hardening Bones began
In swift diseases and torments,
In throbbings & shootings & grindings
Thro' all the coasts; till weaken'd
The Senses inward rush'd shrinking,
Beneath the dark net of infection.
2. Till the shrunken eyes clouded over
BDiscernd not the woven hipocrisy
But the streaky slime in their heavens
Brought together by narrowing perceptions
Appeard transparent air; for their eyes
Grew small like the eyes of a man
And in reptile forms shrinking together
Of seven feet stature they remaind
3. Six days they shrunk up from existence
And on the seventh day they rested
And they bless'd the seventh day, in sick hope:
And forgot their eternal life
4. And their thirty cities divided
In form of a human heart
No more could they rise at will
In the infinite void, but bound down
To earth by their narrowing perceptions
They lived a period of years
Then left a noisom body
To the jaws of devouring darkness
5. And their children wept, & built
Tombs in the desolate places,
And form'd laws of prudence, and call'd them
The eternal laws of God
6. And the thirty cities remaind
Surrounded by salt floods, now call'd
Africa: its name was then Egypt.
7. The remaining sons of Urizen
Beheld their brethren shrink together
Beneath 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 together
The 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
poem by William Blake (1794)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Book of Urizen: Chapter II
1. Earth was not: nor globes of attraction
The will of the Immortal expanded
Or contracted his all flexible senses.
Death was not, but eternal life sprung
2. The sound of a trumpet the heavens
Awoke & vast clouds of blood roll'd
Round the dim rocks of Urizen, so nam'd
That solitary one in Immensity
3. Shrill the trumpet: & myriads of Eternity,
Muster around the bleak desarts
Now fill'd with clouds, darkness & waters
That roll'd perplex'd labring & utter'd
Words articulate, bursting in thunders
That roll'd on the tops of his mountains
4. From the depths of dark solitude. From
The eternal abode in my holiness,
Hidden set apart in my stern counsels
Reserv'd for the days of futurity,
I have sought for a joy without pain,
For a solid without fluctuation
Why will you die O Eternals?
Why live in unquenchable burnings?
5. First I fought with the fire; consum'd
Inwards, 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 void
I alone, even I! the winds merciless
Bound; but condensing, in torrents
They fall & fall; strong I repell'd
The vast waves, & arose on the waters
A wide world of solid obstruction
6. Here alone I in books formd of metals
Have written the secrets of wisdom
The secrets of dark contemplation
By 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 on
This rock, place with strong hand the Book
Of 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 measure
One King, one God, one Law.
poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Book of Urizen: Chapter III
1. The voice ended, they saw his pale visage
Emerge from the darkness; his hand
On the rock of eternity unclasping
The Book of brass. Rage siez'd the strong
2. Rage, fury, intense indignation
In cataracts of fire blood & gall
In whirlwinds of sulphurous smoke:
And enormous forms of energy;
All the seven deadly sins of the soul
In living creations appear'd
In the flames of eternal fury.
3. Sund'ring, dark'ning, thund'ring!
Rent away with a terrible crash
Eternity roll'd wide apart
Wide asunder rolling
Mountainous all around
Departing; departing; departing:
Leaving ruinous fragments of life
Hanging frowning cliffs & all between
An ocean of voidness unfathomable.
4. The roaring fires ran o'er the heav'ns
In whirlwinds & cataracts of blood
And o'er the dark desarts of Urizen
Fires pour thro' the void on all sides
On Urizens self-begotten armies.
5. But no light from the fires. all was darkness
In the flames of Eternal fury
6. In fierce anguish & quenchless flames
To the desarts and rocks He ran raging
To hide, but He could not: combining
He dug mountains & hills in vast strength,
He piled them in incessant labour,
In howlings & pangs & fierce madness
Long periods in burning fires labouring
Till 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 veins
Of blood pour down the mountains to cool
The eternal fires beating without
From Eternals; & like a black globe
View'd by sons of Eternity, standing
On the shore of the infinite ocean
Like a human heart strugling & beating
The 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,
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 sleep
Unorganiz'd, rent from Eternity
11. The Eternals said: What is this? Death
Urizen is a clod of clay.
12. Los howld in a dismal stupor,
Groaning! gnashing! groaning!
Till the wrenching apart was healed
13. But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not
Cold, featureless, flesh or clay,
Rifted with direful changes
He lay in a dreamless night
14. Till Los rouz'd his fires, affrighted
At the formless unmeasurable death.
poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Are We Growing Wise
Of National security we so often hear
Just one more example of power held through fear
We may be growing older but are we growing wise
We trust the power hungry and swallow their lies?
We only believe what we want to believe
And for to cling to power us they gladly deceive
For their love of power they create us and they
Why must we believe what these liars to us say?
About people we don't know from a bar of soap
When we vote people like them to power for peace can we dare to hope?
'Tis time we voted out the war men and give those for peace a go
'Tis from concilitary words not war words peace can only grow.
For to cling to their power only fear they create
And they tell us who to trust and they tell us who to hate
And for our choice of leaders on Election Day
In wars caused by hatred we all have to pay.
poem by Francis Duggan
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You Dont Pull No Punches But You Dont Push The River
(da da da....)
When you were a child, you were a tomboy
Gimme soul satisfaction
Way back in shady lane
Do you remember darlin?
And its the woman in you, and its the woman in you
Gimme soul satisfaction
And it takes the child in you to know
The woman an you are one
Were goin out in the country to get down to the real soul,
I mean the real soul, people,
Were goin out in the country, get down to the real soul
Were gettin out to the west coast
Shining our light into the days of bloomin wonder
Goin as much with the river as not, as not, yeah, yeah
An Im goin as much with the river as not
Yeah, yeah, right, yeah
Blake and the eternals oh standin with the sisters of mercy
Looking for the veedon fleece, yeah
William blake and the eternals oh standin with the sisters of mercy
Looking for the veedon fleece, yeah
You dont pull no punches, but you dont push the river
You dont pull no punches, and you dont push the river
You dont pull no punches, and you dont push the river, no, no
Goin as much with the river as not
Were goin out in the west, down to the cathedrals
Were goin out in the west (alright), down to the beaches
And the sisters of mercy, behind the sun
Oh behind the sun
And william blake and the sisters of mercy looking for the veedon fleece,
Yeah
You dont pull no punches, goin west, goin as much with the river as not
With the river as not, with the river as not, goin as much,
Goin as much with the river as not, no, ah
You dont pull no punches, and you dont push the river, no
You dont pull no punches, but you dont push the river, no
You dont pull no punches, but you dont push the river, no
You dont pull no punches, but you dont push the river
And we was contemplating baba, william blake and the eternals
Goin down to the sisters of mercy
Looking for the veedon fleece
Looking for the veedon fleece
Looking for the veedon fleece
Looking for the veedon fleece
You dont pull no punches, but ya, you dont push the river
You dont pull no punches, but ya, you dont push the river, no
You dont pull no punches, but ya, you dont push the river
You dont push the river, you dont push the river
song performed by by Van Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Its That Fear
It's that fear
Ooo very scary! !
I bet you don't know it
Keeps you worried
It's that fear...
Very loud in your ear..
But not everyone could hear
It's that fear
Why? Y u even here
Leaving people in tears..
It's that fear
Born and raised
Can be of denial
Struggles, family or revival
It's that fear
That keeps consuming..
Consuming us in out! !
Eating us away...
It's that fear
The fear we hate
Come to us in pace
In life circumstance
It's that fear
Can anyone hear?
Like a monster or dear?
I wish it was fair..
it's that fear
Some say never fear
But in the back they tear
Overwhelmed can't even dare
Trying to overcome the fear..
It's that fear
The fear which keep us
Us alive and awake
Awake from unexpected
Awake to fight against
It's that fear
I want all to hear..
You and me here..
We need to chase Mr. Fear
We could make it
Make this a better world
Without the fear
The fear of loss
The fear of famine
The fear of war
The fear of poverty
The fear of religion
The fear of recognition
Why are we in fear...?
Can't it be there not here..
It's time to chase him out there
Leaving us in peace in here
It's that fear
The fear which is not only mine
It's that fear for all
The fear we both hear
Hear from different angles
Hear in different times
We all just don't want him here...
The fear we both imagine
An illusion body..
Could affect your goals
Never entertain that fear.
Fear Of Falling
(false trust)
Ive been standing here
Waiting for you
But I dont quite know
What Im gonna do
So I drag my heels and
I scratch the dust
And I rub my hands
So I can feel my blood
I see the rain clouds forming
The dream is disappearing
And I need it more than you
But youve got the power with you
You told me lies to protect the truth
But you wont admit
What youre really gonna do
So you hold me to ransom
Every chance you get
And you tie me down
So Im a broken man
I see the future fading
The dream is disappearing
And I need it more than you
But youve got the power with you
Your words are out of touch
But they dont help me much
cause I fear the fear of falling
You seem to hear no warning
Your words are out of touch
This dream wont come to much
cause I fear the fear of falling
Why cant you hear me calling
Forever calling
You change the rules
The colour of your skin
And then slam the door
So I cant reach in
Ive tried so hard to be heard
So you think you know it all
But Ill steal the last word
Ive watched the daylight fading
The dream is disappearing
And I need it more than you
But youve got the power with you
Your words are out of touch
But they dont help me much
cause I fear the fear of falling
You seem to hear no warning
Your words are out of touch
Your dream wont come to much
cause I fear the fear of falling
Why cant you hear my warning
Your words are out of touch
This dream wont come to much
cause I fear the fear of falling
Dont you hear my warning
Your words are out of touch
This dream wont come to much
cause I fear the fear of falling
Dont you hear me calling
The dream is disappearing
cause youve got
The power with you
So here we are
This dream has gone too far ...
song performed by by Uriah Heep
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Cynics view a rant
Religion is about control.
Although they claim to save your soul.
The truth is it’s a power game
the priests of all creeds are the same.
Although the priests may well protest.
Your soul’s of little interest.
They want to tell you what to do.
If you believe their words are true
you will obey like silly sheep
Instead of walking you will creep.
Obey the rules they give to you
Exactly as they want you to
I am quite certain some believe
that what they promise they achieve
Because for you they intercede
Your place in heaven’s guaranteed
Another trick which they all use
The threat of Hell if you refuse
tobelieve all the words they say
That their way is the only way.
They label me a heretic
Because I know what makes them tick.
To most it’s just a power game
a way to achieve lasting fame.
They do not practice what they preach
and disbelieve the things they teach.
you may say I am cynical
but I reply I’m practical.
Their prime objective is to rise
as high up in their hierarchies
as it is possible to do.
Except perhaps for very few.
The godly men of every creed
Who do their best to meet the need
Of those who follow faithfully
and count no man an enemy.
11-Jan-09
http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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They become the keepers of the mystery. They place themselves between the communicants of the religion, and the immediate experience. And then they dictate the terms on which you can have contact with this wonderful mystery. We don't dictate those terms.
quote by Larry Harvey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Don't Fear the Dream
Don't fear the dream, children, as I once did
Don't fear the dream in the stillness of night
Follow that call, given in the darkness
For it will lead you into that bright light
Don't fear the emotions that well within
Don't fear the emotions as the tears fall
Follow your conscience, speaking deep inside
For life with no heart, is no life at all
Don't fear the power that you've been given
Don't fear the power when your moment comes
Follow the Giver who gives you your strength
For there's reason you are who you've become
Don't fear the dream, so bold, as I once did
Don't fear the dream or the visions by night
Follow that call, as given by your King
For reward awaits those who fear, yet fight
And, even when your struggle seems hopeless
And, even when your heart begins to fail
Don't fear the impending evil ahead
For if He is with you, you will prevail
((January 19th,2006))
poem by Danny Speicher
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The Book of Urizen (excerpts)
Lo, a shadow of horror is risen
In Eternity! Unknown, unprolific,
Self-clos'd, all-repelling: what demon
Hath form'd this abominable void,
This soul-shudd'ring vacuum? Some said
'It is Urizen.' But unknown, abstracted,
Brooding, secret, the dark power hid.
Times on times he divided and measur'd
Space by space in his ninefold darkness,
Unseen, unknown; changes appear'd
Like desolate mountains, rifted furious
By the black winds of perturbation.
For he strove in battles dire,
In unseen conflictions with shapes
Bred from his forsaken wilderness
Of beast, bird, fish, serpent and element,
Combustion, blast, vapour and cloud.
Dark, revolving in silent activity:
Unseen in tormenting passions:
An activity unknown and horrible,
A self-contemplating shadow,
In enormous labours occupied.
But Eternals beheld his vast forests;
Age on ages he lay, clos'd, unknown,
Brooding shut in the deep; all avoid
The petrific, abominable chaos.
His cold horrors silent, dark Urizen
Prepar'd; his ten thousands of thunders,
Rang'd in gloom'd array, stretch out across
The dread world; and the rolling of wheels,
As of swelling seas, sound in his clouds,
In his hills of stor'd snows, in his mountains
Of hail and ice; voices of terror
Are heard, like thunders of autumn
When the cloud blazes over the harvests
poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Book of Urizen: Chapter I
1. Lo, a shadow of horror is risen
In Eternity! Unknown, unprolific!
Self-closd, all-repelling: what Demon
Hath form'd this abominable void
This soul-shudd'ring vacuum?--Some said
"It is Urizen", But unknown, abstracted
Brooding secret, the dark power hid.
2. Times on times he divided, & measur'd
Space by space in his ninefold darkness
Unseen, unknown! changes appeard
In his desolate mountains rifted furious
By the black winds of perturbation
3. For he strove in battles dire
In unseen conflictions with shapes
Bred from his forsaken wilderness,
Of beast, bird, fish, serpent & element
Combustion, 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 forests
Age on ages he lay, clos'd, unknown
Brooding shut in the deep; all avoid
The petrific abominable chaos
6. His cold horrors silent, dark Urizen
Prepar'd: his ten thousands of thunders
Rang'd in gloom'd array stretch out across
The dread world, & the rolling of wheels
As of swelling seas, sound in his clouds
In his hills of stor'd snows, in his mountains
Of hail & ice; voices of terror,
Are heard, like thunders of autumn,
When the cloud blazes over the harvests
poem by William Blake
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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What is fear?
Fear is stormy weather
Fear is light as a feather
Fear is rain
Fear is pain
Fear is hiding in the dark
Fear is lingering at the park
Fear is not your friend
Fear is hard to comprehend
Fear is not knowing what to do
Fear is what ever he wants to
Fear is turning out the lights
Fear is having no sight
Fear is going to give you a thrill
Fear is also going to make you kill
Fear is never fun
Fear is going to make you run
Fear is that scary little voice
Fear is going to give you no other choice
Fear is losing someone
Fear is like a loaded gun
Fear is something you can't control
Fear is something you can't unfold
Fear is the opposite of love
Fear is what we're made of
Fear is not going to please
Fear is always me...
poem by Mrunal Nandankar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Fear is...
Fear is stormy weather
Fear is light as a feather
Fear is rain
Fear is pain
Fear is hiding in the dark
Fear is lingering at the park
Fear is not your friend
Fear is hard to comprehend
Fear is not knowing what to do
Fear is what ever he wants to
Fear is turning out the lights
Fear is having no sight
Fear is going to give you a thrill
Fear is also going to make you kill
Fear is never fun
Fear is going to make you run
Fear is that scary little voice
Fear is going to give you no other choice
Fear is losing someone
Fear is like a loaded gun
Fear is something you can't control
Fear is something you can't unfold
Fear is the opposite of love
Fear is what we're made of
Fear is not going to plea
Fear is always me...
poem by Nolan Holland
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Power
Sometimes a smile can deceive the one who has made you promise
Suddenly you can't believe, the truth only leaves you cold
Sometimes the answers you fear are there on the face in the mirror
Something the world needs to hear but no one is even listening
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To back up the things you say
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To cut through the chains Breakaway
Fortune can wear a disguise Pride is a grand illusion
And when it's your name up in lights fate proves this one conclusion
Sometimes the answers you fear are there on the face in the mirror
Something the world needs to hear the truth only leaves you cold
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To back up the things you say
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To cut through the chains Breakaway
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To fight back and not be afraid
Power It takes Power Power It takes Power
To cut through the chains Breakaway
All that you see someday will be
Lost in the shadows of time
Mountains must fall someday this all
Will be darkness where light used to shine
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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From the Depth of Ethereal
Such heavenly beauty beyond my human reach,
but a lowly soul this world does 'seech.
Lost in a time of tragedy and flutter;
there is a pain-so utter.
The Epiphany came in an instant and blinded me,
from the fear and rage that I now see.
I lay there in torment as time now fall,
night is the victim to this nature's call.
A haunting of melody that will not dispel;
Souls in torment as their lore now tell.
A perfect light arises from the shadows realm below,
the hidden world so far away where thoughts unspoken go.
And from the depth of Ethereal, I could still hear her heart beating;
one after another, the dark clouds are fleeting.
The dreams are real and time stands still if only you believe,
all things that test reality; the visions fools and children see.
From the Depth of Ethereal came howls of former corporeal,
as a soft gentle breeze now makes my heart feel at ease.
The wails of the dead now brings forth shudders of dread;
but this one lowly soul, peace is all she said.
poem by Adam M. Snow
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We Give Them Our Power
From them only negative stuff we do hear
They tell us who to trust and tell us who to fear
We want to believe the lies to us they tell
They promise Utopia and give us Earthly Hell.
We want to believe every word that they say
And for to cling to power they create us and they
We help to create our own reality
The blind in the light of day never do see.
Their pre election promises they never do keep
We give them our power and we follow like sheep
They tell us who to fear and them we believe
And they laugh behind our backs and us they deceive.
Through false patriotism to power they do cling
And the praises of war heroes they gladly do sing
They cling on to power and they cheat and they lie
Whilst in the wars they created the innocents die.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Religion Of The Heart
His hair was Bible black, face like a priest
His fingers clutched the precious box and silent as a dream
He hid behind the dark sunglasses
You caught your breath
You thought he was beautiful
You didnt hear his silent scream
As he spread the dead mans ashes
Your always trying to find your worth
In the eyes of someone new
You may not think you need this baby but I think you do
You need religion of the heart, religion of the heart
(deep in your system)
Youre just searching in the dark
For a reason to believe
You need religion of the heart
You raise your glass, you drink their wine
But youre still thirsty all the time
No miracles tonight, and youll skip the midnight masses
Itll be okay in the cool clear, bright light of the day
But you just seem so scattered
As though nothing mattered baby
Youre always trying to heal yourself in someone elses skin
Turn the thieves out of the temple baby and let it in
You need religion of the heart, religion of the heart
(deep in your system)
Youre just searching in the dark
For a reason to believe
You need religion of the heart
Oh, you think that I am only joking, and it all comes down to nothing
And Im just talking to your fear but I m not
No, Im not, and you stand in the field of fire
You need religion of the heart, religion of the heart
(deep in your system)
Youre just searching in the dark
For a reason to believe
You need religion of the heart
Religion of the heart
song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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