EJC}
Farewell the God calls me away I depart in my sweet bliss
She fled vanishing on the wind And left a dead cold corse
In Los's arms howlings began over the body of death {Line written over erased text.
Farewell the God calls me away I depart in my sweet bliss
She fled vanishing on the wind And left a dead cold corse
In Los's arms howlings began over the body of death {Line written over erased text.
Blake - Zoas
This group of erased lines, which appeared in pencil under lines 2-4 and, partially obscured by a note by Ellis, in the right margin, are written here with Erdman's suppositions and unrecoverable sections so marked EJC}
To plant divisions in the Soul of Urizen & Ahania
To conduct the Voice of Enion to Ahanias midnight pillow
Urizen saw & envied & his imagination was filled
Repining he contemplated the past in his bright sphere
Terrified with his heart & spirit at the visions of futurity
That his dread fancy formd before him in the unformd void
For Now Los & Enitharmon walkd forth on the dewy Earth
Contracting or expanding their all flexible senses
At will to murmur in the flowers small as the honey bee
At will to stretch across the heavens & step from star to star
Or standing on the Earth erect, or on the stormy waves
Driving the storms before them or delighting in sunny beams
While round their heads the Elemental Gods kept harmony
Thus livd Los driving Enion far into the deathful infinite {According to Erdman, there is some partially recoverable erased material written above this line and in the margin: '? From ? Ahanias woe all XXX XXX only wrath & Envy follows in XXX their fXXXds / Urizen saw and aXXX. ' EJC}
That he may also draw Ahania's spirit into her Vortex {This line appears to have been inserted between 2 previously written lines EJC}
Ah happy blindness [she] Enion sees not the terrors of the uncertain
And oft thus she wails from the dark deep, the golden heavens tremble {Of the 100 lines that make up p. 34, only 19 comprise the standard text block; the rest are marginal additions, with 2 sizeable columns at the foot of the page, a 5-line stanza written up the lower righthand side of the page, and 2 additional larger stanzas appearing in the lefthand margin. Although Erdman does not address this issue in his notes, he does make some silent decisions regarding the order of the text, the most significant being his placement of this 4-line stanza at the very end of his transcription of p. 34. Given his lack of explanation, this in particular would seem somewhat arbitrary; although there do appear to be some markings on the page which could be suggestions for the re-ordering of the material, these do not seem conclusive enough to justify this silent alteration to the text as it appears in the Erdman edition. Instead, the text is shown here in the order in which it appears on the page; in agreement with Erdman, the marginal material seems to flow most logically as the bottom of the page, moving to the stanza in the right margin and then concluding with the material in the left margin EJC}
And Los said. Lo the Lilly pale & the rose reddning fierce
Reproach thee & the beamy gardens sicken at thy beauty {According to Erdman, beneath and below these 2 lines are about 11 erased pencil lines, the first [partially recovered] beginning 'XXX she wails,' the following 2 the same as the existing lines, and the remainder apparently different from the final text EJC}
I grasp thy vest in my strong hand in vain. like water springs
In the bright sands of Los. evading my embrace. then I alone
Wander among the virgins of the summer Look they cry
The poor forsaken Los mockd by the worm the shelly snail
The Emmet & the beetle hark they laugh & mock at Los
Secure now from the smitings of thy Power Demon of Fury {The beginning of this inserted line is set well in from the heads of the accompanying lines, but there seems no reason not to bring it into line with them EJC}
Enitharmon answerd If the God enrapturd me infolds
In clouds of sweet obscurity my beauteous form dissolving
Howl thou over the body of death tis thine But if among the virgins {The inserted material is clearly written over erased material EJC}
Of summer I have seen thee sleep & turn thy cheek delighted
Upon the rose or lilly pale. or on a bank where sleep
The beamy daughters of the light starting they rise they flee
From thy fierce love for tho I am dissolvd in the bright God
My spirit still pursues thy false love over rocks & valleys
Los answerd Therefore fade I thus dissolvd in rapturd trance
Thou canst repose on clouds of secrecy while oer my limbs
Cold dews & hoary frost creeps tho I lie on banks of summer
Among the beauties of the World Cold & repining Los
Still dies for Enitharmon nor a spirit springs from my dead corse {Clearly written over erased material. EJC}
Then I am dead till thou revivest me with thy sweet song
Now taking on Ahanias form & now the form of Enion
I know thee not as once I knew thee in those blessed fields
Where memory wishes to repose among the flocks of Tharmas
Enitharmon answerd Wherefore didst thou throw thine arms around
Ahanias Image I decievd thee & will still decieve
Urizen saw thy sin & hid his beams in darkning Clouds
I still keep watch altho I tremble & wither across the heavens
In strong vibrations of fierce jealousy for thou art mine
Created for my will my slave tho strong tho I am weak {This line appears to have been inserted between 2 existing lines.
EJC}
Farewell the God calls me away I depart in my sweet bliss
She fled vanishing on the wind And left a dead cold corse
In Los's arms howlings began over the body of death {Line written over erased text. EJC}
Los spoke. Thy God in vain shall call thee if by my strong power
I can infuse my dear revenge into his glowing breast
Then jealousy shall shadow all his mountains & Ahania
Curse thee thou plague of woful Los & seek revenge on thee
So saying in deep sobs he languishd till dead he also fell
Night passd & Enitharmon eer the dawn returnd in bliss
She sang Oer Los reviving him to Life his groans were terrible
But thus she sang. I seize the sphery harp I strike the strings {As Erdman notes, these 2 lines began as 1, 'She sang Oer Los. I seize the sphery harp I strike the strings. ' Above the 2nd part, Blake added 'reviving. . . terrible,' while below the 1st part he added 'But thus she sang,' making the present 2 lines. It makes sense to concur with Erdman in assuming that Blake forgot to move the stop after 'Los' to position it after 'sang' when making these changes, and to alter the punctuation accordingly. EJC}
At the first Sound the Golden sun arises from the Deep
And shakes his awful hair
The Eccho wakes the moon to unbind her silver locks
The golden sun bears on my song
And nine bright spheres of harmony rise round the fiery King
The joy of woman is the Death of her most best beloved
Who dies for Love of her
In torments of fierce jealousy & pangs of adoration
The Lovers night bears on my song
And the nine Spheres rejoice beneath my powerful controll
They sing unceasing to the notes of my immortal hand
The solemn silent moon
Reverberates the living harmony upon my limbs
The birds & beasts rejoice & play
And every one seeks for his mate to prove his inmost joy
Furious & terrible they sport & rend the nether deeps
The deep lifts up his rugged head
And lost in infinite huming wings vanishes with a cry
The fading cry is ever dying
The living voice is ever living in its inmost joy
Arise you little glancing wings & sing your infant joy
Arise & drink your bliss
For every thing that lives is holy for the source of life
Descends to be a weeping babe
For the Earthworm renews the moisture of the sandy plain
Now my left hand I stretch to earth beneath
And strike the terrible string
I wake sweet joy in dens of sorrow & I plant a smile
In forests of affliction
And wake the bubbling springs of life in regions of dark death
O I am weary lay thine hand upon me or I faint
I faint beneath these beams of thine
For thou hast touchd my five senses & they answerd thee
Now I am nothing & I sink
And on the bed of silence sleep till thou awakest me
Thus sang the Lovely one in Rapturous delusive trance
Los heard delighted reviving he siezd her in his arms delusive hopes
Kindling She led him into Shadows & thence fled outstretchd
Upon the immense like a bright rainbow weeping & smiling & fading
PAGE 35
I am made to sow the thistle for wheat; the nettle for a nourishing dainty
I have planted a false oath in the earth, it has brought forth a poison tree
I have chosen the serpent for a councellor & the dog
For a schoolmaster to my children
I have blotted out from light & living the dove & nightingale
And I have caused the earth worm to beg from door to door
I have taught the thief a secret path into the house of the just
I have taught pale artifice to spread his nets upon the morning
My heavens are brass my earth is iron my moon a clod of clay
My sun a pestilence burning at noon & a vapour of death in night
What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price
Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy
And in the witherd field where the farmer plows for bread in vain
It is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun
And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with corn
It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted
To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer
PAGE 36
To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season
When the red blood is filld with wine & with the marrow of lambs
It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements
To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughter house moan
To see a god on every wind & a blessing on every blast
To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies house
To rejoice in the blight that covers his field, & the sickness that cuts off his children
While our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door & our children bring fruits & flowers
Then the groan & the dolor are quite forgotten & the slave grinding at the mill
And the captive in chains & the poor in the prison, & the soldier in the field
When the shatterd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier dead
It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity
Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me!
[End of the Second Night]
Ahania heard the Lamentation & a swift Vibration
Spread thro her Golden frame. She rose up eer the dawn of day
When Urizen slept on his couch.
To plant divisions in the Soul of Urizen & Ahania
To conduct the Voice of Enion to Ahanias midnight pillow
Urizen saw & envied & his imagination was filled
Repining he contemplated the past in his bright sphere
Terrified with his heart & spirit at the visions of futurity
That his dread fancy formd before him in the unformd void
For Now Los & Enitharmon walkd forth on the dewy Earth
Contracting or expanding their all flexible senses
At will to murmur in the flowers small as the honey bee
At will to stretch across the heavens & step from star to star
Or standing on the Earth erect, or on the stormy waves
Driving the storms before them or delighting in sunny beams
While round their heads the Elemental Gods kept harmony
Thus livd Los driving Enion far into the deathful infinite {According to Erdman, there is some partially recoverable erased material written above this line and in the margin: '? From ? Ahanias woe all XXX XXX only wrath & Envy follows in XXX their fXXXds / Urizen saw and aXXX. ' EJC}
That he may also draw Ahania's spirit into her Vortex {This line appears to have been inserted between 2 previously written lines EJC}
Ah happy blindness [she] Enion sees not the terrors of the uncertain
And oft thus she wails from the dark deep, the golden heavens tremble {Of the 100 lines that make up p. 34, only 19 comprise the standard text block; the rest are marginal additions, with 2 sizeable columns at the foot of the page, a 5-line stanza written up the lower righthand side of the page, and 2 additional larger stanzas appearing in the lefthand margin. Although Erdman does not address this issue in his notes, he does make some silent decisions regarding the order of the text, the most significant being his placement of this 4-line stanza at the very end of his transcription of p. 34. Given his lack of explanation, this in particular would seem somewhat arbitrary; although there do appear to be some markings on the page which could be suggestions for the re-ordering of the material, these do not seem conclusive enough to justify this silent alteration to the text as it appears in the Erdman edition. Instead, the text is shown here in the order in which it appears on the page; in agreement with Erdman, the marginal material seems to flow most logically as the bottom of the page, moving to the stanza in the right margin and then concluding with the material in the left margin EJC}
And Los said. Lo the Lilly pale & the rose reddning fierce
Reproach thee & the beamy gardens sicken at thy beauty {According to Erdman, beneath and below these 2 lines are about 11 erased pencil lines, the first [partially recovered] beginning 'XXX she wails,' the following 2 the same as the existing lines, and the remainder apparently different from the final text EJC}
I grasp thy vest in my strong hand in vain. like water springs
In the bright sands of Los. evading my embrace. then I alone
Wander among the virgins of the summer Look they cry
The poor forsaken Los mockd by the worm the shelly snail
The Emmet & the beetle hark they laugh & mock at Los
Secure now from the smitings of thy Power Demon of Fury {The beginning of this inserted line is set well in from the heads of the accompanying lines, but there seems no reason not to bring it into line with them EJC}
Enitharmon answerd If the God enrapturd me infolds
In clouds of sweet obscurity my beauteous form dissolving
Howl thou over the body of death tis thine But if among the virgins {The inserted material is clearly written over erased material EJC}
Of summer I have seen thee sleep & turn thy cheek delighted
Upon the rose or lilly pale. or on a bank where sleep
The beamy daughters of the light starting they rise they flee
From thy fierce love for tho I am dissolvd in the bright God
My spirit still pursues thy false love over rocks & valleys
Los answerd Therefore fade I thus dissolvd in rapturd trance
Thou canst repose on clouds of secrecy while oer my limbs
Cold dews & hoary frost creeps tho I lie on banks of summer
Among the beauties of the World Cold & repining Los
Still dies for Enitharmon nor a spirit springs from my dead corse {Clearly written over erased material. EJC}
Then I am dead till thou revivest me with thy sweet song
Now taking on Ahanias form & now the form of Enion
I know thee not as once I knew thee in those blessed fields
Where memory wishes to repose among the flocks of Tharmas
Enitharmon answerd Wherefore didst thou throw thine arms around
Ahanias Image I decievd thee & will still decieve
Urizen saw thy sin & hid his beams in darkning Clouds
I still keep watch altho I tremble & wither across the heavens
In strong vibrations of fierce jealousy for thou art mine
Created for my will my slave tho strong tho I am weak {This line appears to have been inserted between 2 existing lines.
EJC}
Farewell the God calls me away I depart in my sweet bliss
She fled vanishing on the wind And left a dead cold corse
In Los's arms howlings began over the body of death {Line written over erased text. EJC}
Los spoke. Thy God in vain shall call thee if by my strong power
I can infuse my dear revenge into his glowing breast
Then jealousy shall shadow all his mountains & Ahania
Curse thee thou plague of woful Los & seek revenge on thee
So saying in deep sobs he languishd till dead he also fell
Night passd & Enitharmon eer the dawn returnd in bliss
She sang Oer Los reviving him to Life his groans were terrible
But thus she sang. I seize the sphery harp I strike the strings {As Erdman notes, these 2 lines began as 1, 'She sang Oer Los. I seize the sphery harp I strike the strings. ' Above the 2nd part, Blake added 'reviving. . . terrible,' while below the 1st part he added 'But thus she sang,' making the present 2 lines. It makes sense to concur with Erdman in assuming that Blake forgot to move the stop after 'Los' to position it after 'sang' when making these changes, and to alter the punctuation accordingly. EJC}
At the first Sound the Golden sun arises from the Deep
And shakes his awful hair
The Eccho wakes the moon to unbind her silver locks
The golden sun bears on my song
And nine bright spheres of harmony rise round the fiery King
The joy of woman is the Death of her most best beloved
Who dies for Love of her
In torments of fierce jealousy & pangs of adoration
The Lovers night bears on my song
And the nine Spheres rejoice beneath my powerful controll
They sing unceasing to the notes of my immortal hand
The solemn silent moon
Reverberates the living harmony upon my limbs
The birds & beasts rejoice & play
And every one seeks for his mate to prove his inmost joy
Furious & terrible they sport & rend the nether deeps
The deep lifts up his rugged head
And lost in infinite huming wings vanishes with a cry
The fading cry is ever dying
The living voice is ever living in its inmost joy
Arise you little glancing wings & sing your infant joy
Arise & drink your bliss
For every thing that lives is holy for the source of life
Descends to be a weeping babe
For the Earthworm renews the moisture of the sandy plain
Now my left hand I stretch to earth beneath
And strike the terrible string
I wake sweet joy in dens of sorrow & I plant a smile
In forests of affliction
And wake the bubbling springs of life in regions of dark death
O I am weary lay thine hand upon me or I faint
I faint beneath these beams of thine
For thou hast touchd my five senses & they answerd thee
Now I am nothing & I sink
And on the bed of silence sleep till thou awakest me
Thus sang the Lovely one in Rapturous delusive trance
Los heard delighted reviving he siezd her in his arms delusive hopes
Kindling She led him into Shadows & thence fled outstretchd
Upon the immense like a bright rainbow weeping & smiling & fading
PAGE 35
I am made to sow the thistle for wheat; the nettle for a nourishing dainty
I have planted a false oath in the earth, it has brought forth a poison tree
I have chosen the serpent for a councellor & the dog
For a schoolmaster to my children
I have blotted out from light & living the dove & nightingale
And I have caused the earth worm to beg from door to door
I have taught the thief a secret path into the house of the just
I have taught pale artifice to spread his nets upon the morning
My heavens are brass my earth is iron my moon a clod of clay
My sun a pestilence burning at noon & a vapour of death in night
What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price
Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy
And in the witherd field where the farmer plows for bread in vain
It is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun
And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with corn
It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted
To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer
PAGE 36
To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season
When the red blood is filld with wine & with the marrow of lambs
It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements
To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughter house moan
To see a god on every wind & a blessing on every blast
To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies house
To rejoice in the blight that covers his field, & the sickness that cuts off his children
While our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door & our children bring fruits & flowers
Then the groan & the dolor are quite forgotten & the slave grinding at the mill
And the captive in chains & the poor in the prison, & the soldier in the field
When the shatterd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier dead
It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity
Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me!
[End of the Second Night]
Ahania heard the Lamentation & a swift Vibration
Spread thro her Golden frame. She rose up eer the dawn of day
When Urizen slept on his couch.
