Engraved 1795

    He sung it to four harps¹， at the tables of Eternity²，

    In heart-formèd Africa.

    Urizen faded！ Ariston shudder'd！

    And thus the Song began；——

    Adam stood in the garden of Eden，

    And Noah on the mountains of Ararat；

    They saw Urizen give his Laws to the Nations

    By the hands of the children of Los.

    Adam shudder'd！ Noah faded！ Black grew the sunny African

    When Rintrah gave Abstract Philosophy to Brahma in the East.

    （Night spoke³ to the Cloud：

    `Lo！ these Human-form'd spirits， in smiling hypocrisy⁴， war

    Against one another； so let them war on， slaves to the eternal elements.'）

    Noah shrunk beneath the waters，

    Abram fled in fires from Chaldaea；

    Moses beheld⁵ upon Mount Sinai forms of dark delusion⁶.

    To Trismegistus， Palamabron gave an abstract Law；

    To Pythagoras， Socrates， and Plato.

    Times rollèd on o'er all the sons of Har： time after time

    Orc on Mount Atlas⁷ howl'd， chain'd down with the Chain of Jealousy⁸；

    Then Oothoon hover'd over Judah and Jerusalem，

    And Jesus heard her voice —— a Man of Sorrows！ —— He receiv'd

    A Gospel from wretched Theotormon.

    The human race began to wither⁹； for the healthy built

    Secluded¹⁰ places， fearing the joys of Love，

    And the diseasèd only propagated.

    So Antamon call'd up Leutha from her valleys of delight，

    And to Mahomet a loose Bible gave；

    But in the North， to Odin， Sotha gave a Code of War，

    Because of Diralada， thinking to reclaim¹¹ his joy.

    These were the Churches， Hospitals， Castles， Palaces，

    Like nets and gins and traps， to catch the joys of Eternity，

    And all the rest a desert；

    Till， like a dream， Eternity was obliterated¹² and erasèd，

    Since that dread¹³ day when Har and Heva fled，

    Because their brethren and sisters liv'd in War and Lust¹⁴；

    And， as they fled， they shrunk

    Into two narrow doleful forms，

    Creeping in reptile¹⁵ flesh upon

    The bosom¹⁶ of the ground；

    And all the vast of Nature shrunk

    Before their shrunken eyes.

    Thus the terrible race of Los and Enitharmon gave

    Laws and Religions to the sons of Har， binding¹⁷ them more

    And more to Earth， closing and restraining；

    Till a Philosophy of Five Senses was complete：

    Urizen wept， and gave it into the hands of Newton and Locke.

    Clouds roll heavy upon the Alps round Rousseau and Voltaire，

    And on the mountains of Lebanon round the deceasèd Gods

    Of Asia， and on the deserts of Africa round the Fallen Angels.

    The Guardian¹⁸ Prince of Albion burns in his nightly tent.