The Book Of Urizen: Chapter 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