Title;
E45| VISIONS of the Daughters
of Albion t152
VDAepigraph;
E45| The Eye sees more than the
Heart knows.
VDAcolophon;
E45| Printed by Will:m Blake:
1793.
VDA; E45|
The Argument
VDAargument1;
E45| I loved Theotormon
VDAargument2;
E45| And I was not ashamed
VDAargument3;
E45| I trembled in my virgin
fears
VDAargument4;
E45| And I hid in Leutha's
vale!
VDAargument5;
E45| I plucked Leutha's flower,
VDAargument6;
E45| And I rose up from the
vale;
VDAargument7;
E45| But the terrible thunders
tore
VDAargument8;
E45| My virgin mantle in twain.
ED; E45|
VISIONS of the Daughters of Albion PLATE 1
VDA1title;
E45| Visions
VDA1.2;
E45| ENSLAV'D, the Daughters of
Albion weep: a trembling lamentation
VDA1.3;
E45| Upon their mountains; in
their valleys. sighs toward America.
VDA1.4;
E45| For the soft soul of
America, Oothoon wanderd in woe,
VDA1.5;
E45| Along the vales of Leutha
seeking flowers to comfort her;
VDA1.6;
E45| And thus she spoke to the
bright Marygold of Leutha's vale
VDA1.7;
E46| Art thou a flower! art
thou a nymph! I see thee now a flower;
VDA1.8;
E46| Now a nymph! I dare not
pluck thee from thy dewy bed!
VDA1.9;
E46| The Golden nymph replied;
pluck thou my flower Oothoon the mild
VDA1.10;
E46| Another flower shall
spring, because the soul of sweet delight
VDA1.11;
E46| Can never pass away. she
ceas'd & closd her golden shrine.
VDA1.12;
E46| Then Oothoon pluck'd the
flower saying, I pluck thee from thy bed
VDA1.13;
E46| Sweet flower. and put thee
here to glow between my breasts
VDA1.14;
E46| And thus I turn my face to
where my whole soul seeks.
VDA1.15;
E46| Over the waves she went in
wing'd exulting swift delight;
VDA1.16;
E46| And over Theotormons
reign, took her impetuous course.
VDA1.17;
E46| Bromion rent her with his
thunders. on his stormy bed
VDA1.18;
E46| Lay the faint maid, and
soon her woes appalld his thunders hoarse
VDA1.19;
E46| Bromion spoke. behold this
harlot here on Bromions bed,
VDA1.20;
E46| And let the jealous
dolphins sport around the lovely maid;
VDA1.21;
E46| Thy soft American plains
are mine, and mine thy north & south:
VDA1.22;
E46| Stampt with my signet are
the swarthy children of the sun:
VDA1.23;
E46| They are obedient, they
resist not, they obey the scourge:
VDA1.24;
E46| Their daughters worship
terrors and obey the violent:
VDA2.1;
E46| Now thou maist marry
Bromions harlot, and protect the child
VDA2.2;
E46| Of Bromions rage, that
Oothoon shall put forth in nine moons time
VDA2.3;
E46| Then storms rent
Theotormons limbs; he rolld his waves around.
VDA2.4;
E46| And folded his black
jealous waters round the adulterate pair
VDA2.5;
E46| Bound back to back in
Bromions caves terror & meekness dwell
VDA2.6;
E46| At entrance Theotormon
sits wearing the threshold hard
VDA2.7;
E46| With secret tears; beneath
him sound like waves on a desart shore
VDA2.8;
E46| The voice of slaves
beneath the sun, and children bought with money.
VDA2.9;
E46| That shiver in religious
caves beneath the burning fires
VDA2.10;
E46| Of lust, that belch
incessant from the summits of the earth
VDA2.11;
E46| Oothoon weeps not: she
cannot weep! her tears are locked up;
VDA2.12;
E46| But she can howl incessant
writhing her soft snowy limbs.
VDA2.13;
E46| And calling Theotormons
Eagles to prey upon her flesh.
VDA2.14;
E46| I call with holy voice!
kings of the sounding air,
VDA2.15;
E46| Rend away this defiled
bosom that I may reflect.
VDA2.16;
E46| The image of Theotormon on
my pure transparent breast.
VDA2.17;
E46| The Eagles at her call
descend & rend their bleeding prey;
VDA2.18;
E46| Theotormon severely
smiles. her soul reflects the smile;
VDA2.19;
E46| As the clear spring mudded
with feet of beasts grows pure & smiles.
VDA2.20;
E46| The Daughters of Albion
hear her woes. & eccho back her sighs.
ED; E46|
VISIONS of the Daughters of Albion PLATE 6
VDA2.21;
E47| Why does my Theotormon sit
weeping upon the threshold;
VDA2.22;
E47| And Oothoon hovers by his
side, perswading him in vain:
VDA2.23;
E47| I cry arise O Theotormon
for the village dog
VDA2.24;
E47| Barks at the breaking day.
the nightingale has done lamenting.
VDA2.25;
E47| The lark does rustle in
the ripe corn, and the Eagle returns
VDA2.26;
E47| From nightly prey, and
lifts his golden beak to the pure east;
VDA2.27;
E47| Shaking the dust from his
immortal pinions to awake
VDA2.28;
E47| The sun that sleeps too
long. Arise my Theotormon I am pure.
VDA2.29;
E47| Because the night is gone
that clos'd me in its deadly black.
VDA2.30;
E47| They told me that the
night & day were all that I could see;
VDA2.31;
E47| They told me that I had
five senses to inclose me up.
VDA2.32;
E47| And they inclos'd my
infinite brain into a narrow circle,
VDA2.33;
E47| And sunk my heart into the
Abyss, a red round globe hot burning
VDA2.34;
E47| Till all from life I was
obliterated and erased.
VDA2.35;
E47| Instead of morn arises a
bright shddow, like an eye
VDA2.36;
E47| In the eastern cloud:
instead of night a sickly charnel house;
VDA2.37;
E47| That Theotormon hears me
not! to him the night and morn
VDA2.38;
E47| Are both alike: a night of
sighs, a morning of fresh tears;
ED; E47|
VISIONS of the Daughters of Albion PLATE 3
VDA3.1;
E47| And none but Bromion can
hear my lamentations.
VDA3.2;
E47| With what sense is it that
the chicken shuns the ravenous hawk?
VDA3.3;
E47| With what sense does the
tame pigeon measure out the expanse?
VDA3.4;
E47| With what sense does the
bee form cells? have not the mouse & frog
VDA3.5;
E47| Eyes and ears and sense of
touch? yet are their habitations.
VDA3.6;
E47| And their pursuits, as
different as their forms and as their joys:
VDA3.7;
E47| Ask the wild ass why he
refuses burdens: and the meek camel
VDA3.8;
E47| Why he loves man: is it
because of eye ear mouth or skin
VDA3.9;
E47| Or breathing nostrils? No.
for these the wolf and tyger have.
VDA3.10;
E47| Ask the blind worm the
secrets of the grave, and why her spires
VDA3.11;
E47| Love to curl round the
bones of death; and ask the rav'nous snake
VDA3.12;
E47| Where she gets poison:
& the wing'd eagle why he loves the sun
VDA3.13;
E47| And then tell me the
thoughts of man, that have been hid of old.
VDA3.14;
E47| Silent I hover all the
night, and all day could be silent.
VDA3.15;
E47| If Theotormon once would
turn his loved eyes upon me;
VDA3.16;
E47| How can I be defild when I
reflect thy image pure?
VDA3.17;
E47| Sweetest the fruit that
the worm feeds on. & the soul prey'd on by woe
VDA3.18;
E47| The new wash'd lamb ting'd
with the village smoke & the bright swan
VDA3.19;
E47| By the red earth of our
immortal river: I bathe my wings.
VDA3.20;
E47| And I am white and pure to
hover round Theotormons breast.
VDA3.21;
E47| Then Theotormon broke his
silence. and he answered.
VDA3.22;
E47| Tell me what is the night
or day to one o'erflowd with woe?
VDA3.23;
E47| Tell me what is a thought?
& of what substance is it made?
VDA3.24;
E47| Tell me what is a joy?
& in what gardens do joys grow?
VDA3.25;
E47| And in what rivers swim
the sorrows? and upon what mountains
ED; E48|
VISIONS of the Daughters of AlbionPLATE 4
VDA4.1;
E48| Wave shadows of
discontent? and in what houses dwell the wretched
VDA4.2;
E48| Drunken with woe
forgotten. and shut up from cold despair.
VDA4.3;
E48| Tell me where dwell the
thoughts forgotten till thou call them forth
VDA4.4;
E48| Tell me where dwell the
joys of old! & where the ancient loves?
VDA4.5;
E48| And when will they renew
again & the night of oblivion past? t153
VDA4.6;
E48| That I might traverse
times & spaces far remote and bring
VDA4.7;
E48| Comforts into a present
sorrow and a night of pain
VDA4.8;
E48| Where goest thou O
thought? to what remote land is thy flight?
VDA4.9;
E48| If thou returnest to the
present moment of affliction
VDA4.10;
E48| Wilt thou bring comforts
on thy wings. and dews and honey and balm;
VDA4.11;
E48| Or poison from the desart
wilds, from the eyes of the envier.
VDA4.12;
E48| Then Bromion said: and
shook the cavern with his lamentation
VDA4.13;
E48| Thou knowest that the
ancient trees seen by thine eyes have fruit;
VDA4.14;
E48| But knowest thou that
trees and fruits flourish upon the earth
VDA4.15;
E48| To gratify senses unknown?
trees beasts and birds unknown:
VDA4.16;
E48| Unknown, not unpercievd,
spread in the infinite microscope,
VDA4.17;
E48| In places yet unvisited by
the voyager. and in worlds
VDA4.18;
E48| Over another kind of seas,
and in atmospheres unknown:
VDA4.19;
E48| Ah! are there other wars,
beside the wars of sword and fire!
VDA4.20;
E48| And are there other
sorrows, beside the sorrows of poverty!
VDA4.21;
E48| And are there other joys,
beside the joys of riches and ease?
VDA4.22;
E48| And is there not one law
for both the lion and the ox?
VDA4.23;
E48| And is there not eternal
fire, and eternal chains?
VDA4.24;
E48| To bind the phantoms of
existence from eternal life?
VDA4.25;
E48| Then Oothoon waited silent
all the day. and all the night,
ED; E48|
VISIONS of the Daughters of Albion PLATE 5
VDA5.1;
E48| But when the morn arose,
her lamentation renewd,
VDA5.2;
E48| The Daughters of Albion
hear her woes, & eccho back her sighs.
VDA5.3;
E48| O Urizen! Creator of men!
mistaken Demon of heaven:
VDA5.4;
E48| Thy joys are tears! thy
labour vain, to form men to thine image.
VDA5.5;
E48| How can one joy absorb
another? are not different joys
VDA5.6;
E48| Holy, eternal, infinite!
and each joy is a Love.
VDA5.7;
E48| Does not the great mouth
laugh at a gift? & the narrow eyelids mock
VDA5.8;
E48| At the labour that is
above payment, and wilt thou take the ape
VDA5.9;
E48| For thy councellor? or the
dog, for a schoolmaster to thy children?
VDA5.10;
E48| Does he who contemns
poverty, and he who turns with abhorrence
VDA5.11;
E48| From usury: feel the same
passion or are they moved alike?
VDA5.12;
E48| How can the giver of gifts
experience the delights of the merchant?
VDA5.13;
E48| How the industrious
citizen the pains of the husbandman.
VDA5.14;
E48| How different far the fat
fed hireling with hollow drum;
VDA5.15;
E48| Who buys whole corn fields
into wastes, and sings upon the heath:
VDA5.16;
E49| How different their eye
and ear! how different the world to them!
VDA5.17;
E49| With what sense does the
parson claim the labour of the farmer?
VDA5.18;
E49| What are his nets &
gins & traps. & how does he surround him
VDA5.19;
E49| With cold floods of
abstraction, and with forests of solitude,
VDA5.20;
E49| To build him castles and
high spires. where kings & priests may dwell.
VDA5.21;
E49| Till she who burns with
youth. and knows no fixed lot; is bound
VDA5.22;
E49| In spells of law to one
she loaths: and must she drag the chain
VDA5.23;
E49| Of life, in weary lust!
must chilling murderous thoughts. obscure
VDA5.24;
E49| The clear heaven of her
eternal spring? to bear the wintry rage
VDA5.25;
E49| Of a harsh terror driv'n
to madness, bound to hold a rod
VDA5.26;
E49| Over her shrinking
shoulders all the day; & all the night
VDA5.27;
E49| To turn the wheel of false
desire: and longings that wake her womb
VDA5.28;
E49| To the abhorred birth of
cherubs in the human form
VDA5.29;
E49| That live a pestilence
& die a meteor & are no more.
VDA5.30;
E49| Till the child dwell with
one he hates. and do the deed he loaths
VDA5.31;
E49| And the impure scourge
force his seed into its unripe birth
VDA5.32;
E49| E'er yet his eyelids can
behold the arrows of the day.
VDA5.33;
E49| Does the whale worship at
thy footsteps as the hungry dog?
VDA5.34;
E49| Or does he scent the
mountain prey, because his nostrils wide
VDA5.35;
E49| Draw in the ocean? does
his eye discern the flying cloud
VDA5.36;
E49| As the ravens eye? or does
he measure the expanse like the vulture?
VDA5.37;
E49| Does the still spider view
the cliffs where eagles hide their young?
VDA5.38;
E49| Or does the fly rejoice.
because the harvest is brought in?
VDA5.39;
E49| Does not the eagle scorn
the earth & despise the treasures beneath?
VDA5.40;
E49| But the mole knoweth what
is there, & the worm shall tell it thee.
VDA5.41;
E49| Does not the worm erect a
pillar in the mouldering church yard?
VDA6.1;
E49| And a palace of eternity
in the jaws of the hungry grave
VDA6.2;
E49| Over his porch these words
are written. Take thy bliss O Man!
VDA6.3;
E49| And sweet shall be thy
taste & sweet thy infant joys renew!
VDA6.4;
E49| Infancy, fearless,
lustful, happy! nestling for delight
VDA6.5;
E49| In laps of pleasure;
Innocence! honest, open, seeking
VDA6.6;
E49| The vigorous joys of
morning light; open to virgin bliss.
VDA6.7;
E49| Who taught thee modesty,
subtil modesty! child of night & sleep
VDA6.8;
E49| When thou awakest, wilt
thou dissemble all thy secret joys
VDA6.9;
E49| Or wert thou not awake
when all this mystery was disclos'd!
VDA6.10;
E49| Then com'st thou forth a
modest virgin knowing to dissemble
VDA6.11;
E49| With nets found under thy
night pillow, to catch virgin joy,
VDA6.12;
E49| And brand it with the name
of whore; & sell it in the night,
VDA6.13;
E49| In silence. ev'n without a
whisper, and in seeming sleep:
VDA6.14;
E49| Religious dreams and holy
vespers, light thy smoky fires:
VDA6.15;
E49| Once were thy fires
lighted by the eyes of honest morn
VDA6.16;
E49| And does my Theotormon
seek this hypocrite modesty!
VDA6.17;
E49| This knowing, artful,
secret, fearful, cautious, trembling hypocrite.
VDA6.18;
E50| Then is Oothoon a whore
indeed! and all the virgin joys
VDA6.19;
E50| Of life are harlots: and
Theotormon is a sick mans dream
VDA6.20;
E50| And Oothoon is the crafty
slave of selfish holiness.
VDA6.21;
E50| But Oothoon is not so, a
virgin fill'd with virgin fancies
VDA6.22;
E50| Open to joy and to delight
where ever beauty appears
VDA6.23;
E50| If in the morning sun I
find it: there my eyes are fix'd
VDA7.1;
E50| In happy copulation; if in
evening mild. wearied with work;
VDA7.2;
E50| Sit on a bank and draw the
pleasures of this free born joy.
VDA7.3;
E50| The moment of desire! the
moment of desire! The virgin
VDA7.4;
E50| That pines for man; shall
awaken her womb to enormous joys
VDA7.5;
E50| In the secret shadows of
her chamber; the youth shut up from
VDA7.6;
E50| The lustful joy. shall
forget to generate. & create an amorous image
VDA7.7;
E50| In the shadows of his
curtains and in the folds of his silent pillow.
VDA7.8;
E50| Are not these the places
of religion? the rewards of continence?
VDA7.9;
E50| The self enjoyings of self
denial? Why dost thou seek religion?
VDA7.10;
E50| Is it because acts are not
lovely, that thou seekest solitude,
VDA7.11;
E50| Where the horrible
darkness is impressed with reflections of desire.
VDA7.12;
E50| Father of jealousy. be
thou accursed from the earth!
VDA7.13;
E50| Why hast thou taught my
Theotormon this accursed thing?
VDA7.14;
E50| Till beauty fades from off
my shoulders darken'd and cast out,
VDA7.15;
E50| A solitary shadow wailing
on the margin of non-entity.
VDA7.16;
E50| I cry, Love! Love! Love!
happy happy Love! free as the mountain wind!
VDA7.17;
E50| Can that be Love, that
drinks another as a sponge drinks water?
VDA7.18;
E50| That clouds with jealousy
his nights, with weepings all the day:
VDA7.19;
E50| To spin a web of age
around him. grey and hoary! dark!
VDA7.20;
E50| Till his eyes sicken at
the fruit that hangs before his sight.
VDA7.21;
E50| Such is self-love that
envies all! a creeping skeleton
VDA7.22;
E50| With lamplike eyes
watching around the frozen marriage bed.
VDA7.23;
E50| But silken nets and traps
of adamant will Oothoon spread,
VDA7.24;
E50| And catch for thee girls
of mild silver, or of furious gold;
VDA7.25;
E50| I'll lie beside thee on a
bank & view their wanton play
VDA7.26;
E50| In lovely copulation bliss
on bliss with Theotormon:
VDA7.27;
E50| Red as the rosy morning,
lustful as the firstborn beam,
VDA7.28;
E50| Oothoon shall view his
dear delight, nor e'er with jealous cloud
VDA7.29;
E50| Come in the heaven of
generous love; nor selfish blightings bring.
VDA7.30;
E50| Does the sun walk in
glorious raiment. on the secret floor
VDA8.1;
E50| Where the cold miser
spreads his gold? or does the bright cloud drop
VDA8.2;
E50| On his stone threshold?
does his eye behold the beam that brings
VDA8.3;
E50| Expansion to the eye of
pity? or will he bind himself
VDA8.4;
E50| Beside the ox to thy hard
furrow? does not that mild beam blot
VDA8.5;
E51| The bat, the owl, the
glowing tyger, and the king of night.
VDA8.6;
E51| The sea fowl takes the
wintry blast. for a cov'ring to her limbs:
VDA8.7;
E51| And the wild snake, the
pestilence to adorn him with gems & gold.
VDA8.8;
E51| And trees. & birds.
& beasts. & men. behold their eternal joy.
VDA8.9;
E51| Arise you little glancing
wings, and sing your infant joy!
VDA8.10;
E51| Arise and drink your
bliss, for every thing that lives is holy!
VDA8.11;
E51| Thus every morning wails
Oothoon. but Theotormon sits
VDA8.12;
E51| Upon the margind ocean
conversing with shadows dire.
VDA8.13;
E51| The Daughters of Albion
hear her woes, & eccho back her sighs.
VDAend;
E51| The End