Asia

    The howl rise up from Europe，

    And each ran out from his Web，

    From his ancient woven Den¹；

    For the darkness of Asia was startled

    At the thick-flaming， thought-creating fires of Orc.

    And the Kings of Asia stood

    And crièd in bitterness of soul：——

    `Shall not the King call for Famine from the heath，

    Nor the Priest for Pestilence² from the fen³，

    To restrain， to dismay， to thin

    The inhabitants of mountain and plain，

    In the day of full-feeding prosperity

    And the night of delicious songs？

    Shall not the Counsellor throw his curb⁴

    Of Poverty on the laborious⁵，

    To fix the price of labour，

    To invent allegoric riches？

    And the privy⁶ admonishers of men

    Call for Fires in the City，

    For heaps of smoking ruins，

    In the night of prosperity and wantonness，

    To turn man from his path，

    To restrain the child from the womb，

    To cut off the bread from the city；

    That the remnant may learn to obey，

    That the pride of the heart may fail，

    That the lust⁷ of the eyes may be quench'd，

    That the delicate ear in its infancy⁸

    May be dull'd， and the nostrils⁹ clos'd up，

    To teach Mortal Worms the path

    That leads from the gates of the Grave？'

    Urizen heard them cry，

    And his shudd'ring， waving wings

    Went enormous above the red flames，

    Drawing clouds of despair thro' the Heavens

    Of Europe as he went.

    And his Books of brass¹⁰， iron， and gold

    Melted over the land as he flew，

    Heavy-waving， howling， weeping.

    And he stood over Judaea，

    And stay'd in his ancient place，

    And stretch'd his clouds over Jerusalem；

    For Adam， a mouldering¹¹ skeleton，

    Lay bleach'd on the garden of Eden；

    And Noah， as white as snow，

    On the mountains of Ararat.

    Then the thunders of Urizen bellow'd aloud

    From his woven darkness above.

    Orc， raging in European darkness，

    Arose like a pillar of fire above the Alps，

    Like a serpent of fiery¹² flame！

    The sullen¹³ Earth

    Shrunk！

    Forth¹⁴ from the dead dust， rattling¹⁵ bones to bones

    Join. Shaking， convuls'd， the shiv'ring Clay breathes，

    And all Flesh naked stands： Fathers and Friends，

    Mothers and Infants， Kings and Warriors¹⁶.

    The Grave shrieks¹⁷ with delight， and shakes

    Her hollow womb， and clasps the solid stem：

    Her bosom¹⁸ swells¹⁹ with wild desire；

    And milk and blood and glandous wine

    In rivers rush， and shout and dance，

    On mountain， dale， and plain.