The Marriage of Heaven and Hell — A Song Of Liberty
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell — A Song Of Liberty
William Blake
1. The Eternal Female groan'd; it was heard over all the earth:
2. Albion's coast is sick silent; the American meadows faint.
3. Shadows of prophecy shiver along by the lakes and the rivers, and
mutter across the ocean. France, rend down thy dungeon!
4. Golden Spain, burst the barriers of old Rome!
5. Cast thy keys, O Rome, into the deep--down falling, even to eternity
down falling;
6. And weep!
7. In her trembling hands she took the new-born terror, howling.
8. On those infinite mountains of light now barr'd out by the Atlantic
sea, the new-born fire stood before the starry king.
9. Flagg'd with grey-brow'd snows and thunderous visages, the jealous
wings wav'd over the deep.
10. The speary hand burn'd aloft; unbuckled was the shield; forth went
the hand of jealousy among the flaming hair, and hurl'd the new-born
wonder through the starry night.
11. The fire, the fire is falling!
12. Look up! look up! O citizen of London, enlarge thy countenance! O
Jew, leave counting gold; return to thy oil and wine! O African, black
African! (Go, winged thought, widen his forehead.)
13. The fiery limbs, the flaming hair shot like the sinking sun into
the Western sea.
14. Wak'd from his eternal sleep, the hoary element roaring fled away.
15. Down rush'd, beating his wings in vain, the jealous king, his
grey-brow'd councillors, thunderous warriors, curl'd veterans, among
helms and shields, and chariots, horses, elephants, banners, castles,
slings, and rocks.
16. Falling, rushing, ruining; buried in the ruins, on Urthona's dens.
17. All night beneath the ruins; then their sullen flames, faded,
emerge round the gloomy king.
18. With thunder and fire, leading his starry hosts through the waste
wilderness, he promulgates his ten commandments, glancing his beamy
eyelids over the deep in dark dismay.
19. Where the Son of Fire in his Eastern cloud, while the Morning
plumes her golden breast,
20. Spurning the clouds written with curses, stamps the stony law
to dust, loosing the eternal horses from the dens of night, crying:
"Empire is no more! and now the lion and wolf shall cease."
Verse breaks and indentation are preserved. Wrapped lines have a hanging indent. Width adapts to your screen.
Complete poem text from the cited public-domain source edition.
Read the original source ↗
