SAS}
First he beheld the body of Man pale, cold, the horrors of death
Beneath his feet shot thro' him as he stood in the Human Brain
And all its golden porches grew pale with his
sickening
light
No more Exulting for he saw Eternal Death beneath
Pale he beheld futurity; pale he beheld the Abyss
Where Enion blind & age bent wept in direful hunger craving
All rav'ning like the hungry worm, & like the silent grave
PAGE 24
Mighty was the draught of Voidness to draw Existence in
Terrific Urizen strode above, in fear & pale dismay
He saw the indefinite space beneath & his soul shrunk with horror
His feet upon the verge of Non Existence; his voice went forth {According to Erdman, this line was at one time followed by a line that has been erased.
Blake - Zoas
LFS}
Rising upon his Couch of Death Albion beheld his Sons
Turning his Eyesoutward to Self. losing the Divine Vision
[The] Albion Man calld Urizen & said. Behold these sickning Spheres {The Man is erased from the 1st rendition and Albion is set in its place. SAS}
Whence is this Voice of Enion that soundeth in my ears Porches
Take thou possession! take this Scepter! go forth in my might
For I am weary, & must sleep in the dark sleep of Death {According to Erdman's notes this line was crossed out in pencil for deletion and a replacement was written in the right margin, then the deleting lines and the replacement were thoroughly erased. The line leavess these traces: ??Remember? O ?Urizen/ Cxxxg / xxdxding / xxxvns? SAS}
Thy brother Luvah hath smitten me but pity thou his youth
Tho thou hast not pitid my Age O Urizen Prince of Light {According to Erdman, "Blake first wrote and erased a different text for 8, ending ?of fallen man?;" SAS}
Urizen rose from the bright Feast like a star thro' the evening sky
Exulting at the voice that calld him from the Feast of envy {"Indignant" and "Feast of envy" were in both the first and final rendition of this line. Blake considered altering "Exulting" to "Indignant" and "Feast of envy" to "Feast of love" in the second rendition, but later changed his mind and returned to the original.
SAS}
First he beheld the body of Man pale, cold, the horrors of death
Beneath his feet shot thro' him as he stood in the Human Brain
And all its golden porches grew pale with his
sickening
light
No more Exulting for he saw Eternal Death beneath
Pale he beheld futurity; pale he beheld the Abyss
Where Enion blind & age bent wept in direful hunger craving
All rav'ning like the hungry worm, & like the silent grave
PAGE 24
Mighty was the draught of Voidness to draw Existence in
Terrific Urizen strode above, in fear & pale dismay
He saw the indefinite space beneath & his soul shrunk with horror
His feet upon the verge of Non Existence; his voice went forth {According to Erdman, this line was at one time followed by a line that has been erased.
Erdman has recoverd a portion of the line, reading: Above him he xxx Jerusalem ?in ?the bloody ?Heaven as xxx xxx his eyes. SAS}
Luvah & Vala trembling & shrinking, beheld the great Work master {According to Erdman, the first rendition of the line read "beheld the lord of ?day" rather than "beheld the great Work master". SAS}
And heard his Word! Divide ye bands influence by influence
Build we a Bower for heavens darling in the grizly deep
Build we the Mundane Shell around the Rock of Albion {Blake's rendering of this line is distinctly different from the surrounding text in form, though no indication of why is apparent. SAS}
The Bands of Heaven flew thro the air singing & shouting to Urizen [the lord ]
Some fix'd the anvil, some the loom erected, some the plow
And harrow formd & framd the harness of silver & ivory
The golden compasses, the quadrant & the rule & balance
They erected the furnaces, they formd the anvils of gold beaten in mills
Where winter beats incessant, fixing them firm on their base
The bellows began to blow & the Lions of Urizen stood round the anvil
PAGE 25
And the leopards coverd with skins of beasts tended the roaring fires
Sublime distinct their lineaments divine of human beauty {Erdman notes that there is a pencil line here followed by erased pencil lines in the right margin." SAS}
The tygers of wrath called the horses of instruction from their mangers
They unloos'd them & put on the harness of gold & silver & ivory
In human forms distinct they stood round Urizen prince of Light
Petrifying all the Human Imagination into rock & sand {Erdman notes here that the insertion from line 6-33 begins in a stanza break and continues in the right margin. SAS}
Groans ran along Tyburns brook and along the River of Oxford
Among the Druid Temples. Albion groand on Tyburns brook
Albion gave his loud death groan The Atlantic Mountains trembled
Aloft the Moon fled with a cry the Sun with streams of blood
From Albions Loins fled all Peoples and Nations of the Earth Fled {Erdman's notes indicate that "Blake first wrote ?Fled? at the end of this line, then deleted it and began his new line with this word". SAS}
Fled with the noise of Slaughter & the stars of heaven Fled
Jerusalem came down in a dire ruin over all the Earth
She fell cold from Lambeths Vales in groans & Dewy death
The dew of anxious souls the death-sweat of the dying
In every pillard hall & arched roof of Albions skies
The brother & the brother bathe in blood upon the Severn
The Maiden weeping by.
