Page:The Poems of William Blake (Shepherd, 1887).djvu/46

 The armies stand, like balances
 * Held in the Almighty's hand;—

"Gwin, thou hast fill'd thy measure up,
 * "Thou'rt swept from out the land."

And now the raging armies rush'd
 * Like warring mighty seas;

The heavens are shook with roaring war,
 * The dust ascends the skies!

Earth smokes with blood, and groans and shakes,
 * To drink her children's gore,

A sea of blood; nor can the eye
 * See to the trembling shore!

And on the verge of this wild sea
 * Famine and death doth cry;

The cries of women and of babes
 * Over the field doth fly.

The king is seen raging afar,
 * With all his men of might;

Like blazing comets scattering death
 * Thro' the red feverous night.

Beneath his arm like sheep they die,
 * And groan upon the plain;

The battle faints, and bloody men
 * Fight upon hills of slain.