1.
Earth was not: nor globes of attraction;
The will of the Immortal expanded
Or contracted his all flexible senses;
Death was not, but eternal life sprung.
2.
The sound of a trumpet the heavens
Awoke, & vast clouds of blood roll'd
Round the dim rocks of Urizen, so nam'd
That solitary one in Immensity.
3.
Shrill the trumpet: & myriads of Eternity
Muster around the bleak desarts,
Now fill'd with clouds, darkness, & waters,
That roll'd perplex'd, lab'ring; & utter'd
Words articulate bursting in thunders
Thar roll'd on the tops of his mountains:
4.
«From the depths of dark solitude, From
«The eternal abode in my holiness,
«Hidden, set apart, in my stern counsels,
«Reserv'd for the days of futurity,
«I have sought for a joy without pain,
«For a solid without fluctuation.
«Why will you die, O Eternals?
«Why live in unquenchable burnings?
5.
«First I fought with the fire, consum'd
«Inwards into a deep world within:
«A void immense, wild, dark & deep,
«Where nothing was: Nature's wide womb;
«And self balanc'd, stretch'd o'er the void,
«I alone, even I! the winds merciless
«Bound; but condensing in torrents
«They fall & fall; strong I repell'd
«The vast waves, & arose on the waters
«A wide world of solid obstruction.
6.
«Here alone I, in books form'd of metals,
«Have written the secrets of wisdom,
«The secrets of dark contemplation,
«By fightings and conflicts dire
«With terrible monsters Sin-bred
«Which the bosoms of all inhabit,
«Seven deadly Sins of the soul.
7.
«Lo! I unfold my darknesss, and on
«This rock place with strong hand the Book
«Of eternal brass, written in my solitude:
8.
«Laws of peace, of love, of unity,
«Of pity, compassion, forgiveness;
«Let each chuse one habitation,
«His ancient infinite mansion,
«One command, one joy, one desire,
«One curse, one weight, one measure,
«One King, one God, one Law.»
___________________________________
Chap: II
in The first book of Urizen
1794
[Primeiro livro de Urizen | 1993 |
bilingual | ed: Assírio & Alvim|
transl: João Almeida Flor]
William Blake
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