Page:Works of William Blake; poetic, symbolic, and critical (1893) Volume 2.djvu/188

174 of the five senses (Night), and in their region (North), keep their horses (intellectual activities) in the stable and busy  themselves with the poetic dreams of Beulah—"consolation of sleepers—land of shades." (156-193, 198.)

In the joys of the senses, in the sports of night, the stars  of Urizen, the watchers of darkened intellect, awake to desire  and life as Urizen did when Orc was chained to the rock (see "Urizen"). (194.)

Till imagination—the dawn of the East—suddenly begining, Red Orc shot from the heights of dream down to the level of fact, and his first performance was the French Revolution. (199-201.) Violence rejoiced, sweet pleasure wept. (202-207.)  At this Los, as the spirit of prophecy, called all his powers to strive with blood (268-210), and in strife was Blake's mental warfare all his life long.

The meteorological symbolism of the poem may be pieced together as follows:—Night comes on, darkness; the secret child descends first in the east. The sun, Urizen, sheds a faint light along the northern horizon. "Fleecy clouds" float in the air. Orc rises in the form of the northern lights or of a shooting star. The feminine powers long