Vala, or The Four Zoas/Night the Eighth

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Then All in Great Eternity Met in the Council of God as one Man Even Jesus upon Gilead & Hermon Upon the Limit of Contraction to create the fallen Man The Fallen Man stretchd like a Corse upon the oozy Rock t	 Washd with the tides Pale overgrown with weeds That movd with horrible dreams hovring high over his head Two winged immortal shapes one standing at his feet Toward the East one standing at his head toward the west Their wings joind in the Zenith over head t	 Such is a Vision of All Beulah hovring over the Sleeper The limit of Contraction now was fixd & Man began To wake upon the Couch of Death he sneezed seven times A tear of blood dropped from either eye again he reposd In the saviours arms, in the arms of tender mercy & loving kindness Then Los said I behold the Divine Vision thro the broken Gates t Of thy poor broken heart astonishd melted into Compassion & Love And Enitharmon said I see the Lamb of God upon Mount Zion t	Wondring with love & Awe they felt the divine hand upon them t	For nothing could restrain the dead in Beulah from descending Unto Ulros night tempted by the Shadowy females sweet	20 Delusive cruelty they descend away from the Daughters of Beulah And Enter Urizens temple Enitharmon pitying & her heart Gates broken down. they descend thro the Gate of Pity The broken heart Gate of Enitharmon She sighs them forth upon the wind t	Of Golgonooza Los stood recieving them t	25 For Los could enter into Enitharmons bosom & explore Its intricate Labyrinths now the Obdurate heart was broken

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From out the War of Urizen & Tharmas recieving them t	Into his hands. Then Enitharmon erected Looms in Lubans Gate And calld the Looms Cathedron in these Looms She wove the Spectres Bodies of Vegetation Singing lulling Cadences to drive away Despair from the poor wandering spectres and Los loved them	5 With a parental love for the Divine hand was upon him And upon Enitharmon & the Divine Countenance shone In Golgonooza Looking down the Daughters of Beulah saw With joy the bright Light & in it a Human form And knew he was the Saviour Even Jesus & they worshipped	10 Astonishd Comforted Delighted in notes of Rapturous Extacy t	All Beulah stood astonishd Looking down to Eternal Death They saw the Saviour beyond the Pit of death & destruction For whether they lookd upward they saw the Divine Vision Or whether they lookd downward still they saw the Divine Vision	15 Surrounding them on all sides beyond sin & death & hell Enitharmon wove in tears singing Songs of Lamentation And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on the wind the Spectres Also the Vegetated bodies which Enitharmon wove

Opend within their hearts & in their loins & in their brain	20 To Beulah & the Dead in Ulro descended from the War Of Urizen & Tharmas & from the Shadowy females clouds And some were woven single & some two fold & some three fold t	In Head or Heart or Reins according to the fittest order Of most merciful pity & compassion to the Spectrous dead t

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When Urizen saw the Lamb of God clothed in Luvahs robes Perplexd & terrifid he Stood tho well he knew that Orc Was Luvah But he now beheld a new Luvah. Or One Who assumed Luvahs form & stood before him opposite But he saw Orc a Serpent form augmenting times on times	5 In the fierce battle & he saw the Lamb of God & the World of Los Surrounded by his dark machines for Orc augmented swift In fury a Serpent wondrous among the Constellations of Urizen A crest of fire rose on his forehead red as the carbuncle Beneath down to his eyelids scales of pearl then gold & silver	10 Immingled with the ruby overspread his Visage down His furious neck writ[h]ing contortive in dire budding pains The scaly armour shot out. Stubborn down his back & bosom The Emerald Onyx Sapphire jasper beryl amethyst Strove in terrific emulation which should gain a place	15 Upon the mighty Fiend the fruit of the mysterious tree t	Kneaded in Uveths kneading trough. Still Orc devourd the food In raging hunger Still the pestilential food in gems & gold Exuded round his awful limbs Stretching to serpent length His human bulk While the dark shadowy female brooding over t	20 Measurd his food morning & evening in cups & baskets of iron With tears of sorrow incessant she labourd the food of Orc Compelld by the iron hearted sisters Daughters of Urizen Gathring the fruit of that mysterious tree circling its roo t	She spread herself thro all the branches in the power of Orc	25 Thus Urizen in self deci[e]t his warlike preparations fabricated And when all things were finishd sudden wavd among the Stars t	His hurtling hand gave the dire signal thunderous Clarions blow t	And all the hollow deep rebellowd with the wonderous war t

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But Urizen his mighty rage let loose in the mid deep t	Sparkles of Dire affliction issud round his frozen limbs t	Horrible hooks & nets he formd twisting the cords of iron And brass & molten metals cast in hollow globes & bor'd	Tubes in petrific steel & rammd combustibles & wheels	30 And chains & pullies fabricated all round the heavens of Los Communing with the Serpent of Orc in dark dissimulation [Begin Page 374] And with the Synagogue of Satan in dark Sanhedrim t	To undermine the World of ]Los & tear bright Enitharmon

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To the four winds hopeless of future. All futurity	30 Seems teeming with Endless Destruction never to be repelld t	Desperate remorse swallows the present in a quenchless rage Terrified & astonishd Urizen beheld the battle take a form t	Which he intended not a Shadowy hermaphrodite black & opake t	The Soldiers namd it Satan but he was yet unformd & vast	35 Hermaphroditic it at length became hiding the Male Within as in a Tabernacle Abominable Deadly The battle howls the terrors fird rage in the work of death Enormous Works Los Contemplated inspird by the holy Spirit Los builds the Walls of Golgonooza against the stirring battle	40 That only thro the Gates of Death they can enter to Enitharmon Raging they take the human visage & the human form Feeling the hand of Los in Golgonooza & the force Attractive of his hammers beating & the Silver looms Of Enitharmon singing lulling cadences on the wind	45 They humanize in the fierce battle where in direful pain Troop by troop the beastial droves rend one another sounding loud The instruments of sound & troop by troop in human forms they urge

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The dire confusion till the battle faints those that remain Return in pangs & horrible convulsions to their beastial state For the monsters of the Elements Lions or Tygers or Wolves Sound loud the howling music inspird by Los & Enitharmon Sounding loud terrific men They seem to one another laughing terrible among the banners	5 And when the revolution of their day of battles over Relapsing in dire torment they return to forms of woe t	To moping visages returning inanimate tho furious No more erect tho strong drawn out in length they ravin For senseless gratification & their visages thrust forth	10 Flatten above & beneath & stretch out into beastial length Weakend they stretch beyond their power in dire droves till war begins Or Secret religion in their temples before secret shrines And Urizen gave life & sense by his immortal power To all his Engines of deceit that linked chains might run	15 Thro ranks of war spontaneous & that hooks & boring screws Might act according to their forms by innate cruelty He formed also harsh instruments of sound [Begin Page 375]

To grate the soul into destruction or to inflame with fury The spirits of life to pervert all the faculties of sense	20 Into their own destruction if perhaps he might avert t	His own despair even at the cost of every thing that breathes Thus in the temple of the Sun his books of iron & brass And silver & gold he consecrated reading incessantly To myriads of perturbed spirits thro the universe	25 They propagated the deadly words the Shadowy Female absorbing t	The enormous Sciences of Urizen ages after ages exploring The fell destruction. And she said O Urizen Prince of Light What words of Dread pierce my faint Ear what fal[l]ing snows around My feeble limbs infold my destind misery	30 I alone dare the lash abide to sit beneath the blast Unhurt & dare the inclement forehead of the King of Light From dark abysses of the times remote fated to be

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The sorrower of Eternity in love with tears submiss I rear My Eyes to thy Pavilions hear my prayer for Luvahs sake I see the murderer of my Luvah clothd in robes of blood He who assured my Luvahs throne in times of Everlasting Where hast thou hid him whom I love in what remote Abyss	5 Resides that God of my delight O might my eyes behold My Luvah then could I deliver all the sons of God From Bondage of these terrors & with influences sweet t	As once in those eternal fields in brotherhood & Love United we should live in bliss as those who sinned not	10 The Eternal Man is seald by thee never to be deliverd We are all servants to thy will O King of Light relent Thy furious power be our father & our loved King But if my Luvah is no more If thou hast smitten him t	And laid him in the Sepulcher Or if thou wilt revenge t	15 His murder on another Silent I bow with dread But happiness can never [come] to thee O King nor me For he was source of every joy that this mysterious tree Unfolds in Allegoric fruit. When shall the dead revive Can that which has existed cease or can love & life Expire	20 Urizen heard the Voice & saw the Shadow. underneath His woven darkness & in laws & deceitful religions Beginning at the tree of Mystery circling its root She spread herself thro all the branches in the power of Orc A shapeless & indefinite cloud in tears of sorrow incessant	25 Steeping the Direful Web of Religion swagging heavy it fell From heaven to heavn thro all its meshes altering the Vortexes t	Misplacing every Center hungry desire & lust began [Begin Page 376]

Gathering the fruit of that Mysterious tree till Urizen Sitting within his temple furious felt the num[m]ing stupor	30 Himself tangled in his own net in sorrow lust repentance Enitharmon wove in tears Singing Songs of Lamentations And pitying comfort as she sighd forth on the wind the spectres And wove them bodies calling them her belovd sons & daughters Employing the daughters in her looms & Los employd the Sons	35 In Golgonoozas Furnaces among the Anvils of time & space Thus forming a Vast family wondrous in beauty & love And they appeard a Universal female form created From those who were dead in Ulro from the Spectres of the dead

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And Enitharmon namd the Female Jerusa[le]m the holy Wondring she saw the Lamb of God within Jerusalems Veil The divine Vision seen within the inmost deep recess Of fair Jerusalems bosom in a gently beaming fire Then sang the Sons of Eden round the Lamb of God & said	5 Glory Glory Glory to the holy Lamb of God Who now beginneth to put off the dark Satanic body Now we behold redemption Now we know that life Eternal Depends alone upon the Universal hand & not in us Is aught but death In individual weakness sorrow & pain t

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We behold with wonder Enitharmons Looms & Los's Forges t	And the Spindles of Tirzah & Rahab and the Mills of Satan & Beelzeboul t	In Golgonooza Los's anvils stand & his Furnaces rage t	Ten thousand demons labour at the forges Creating Continually The times & spaces of Mortal Life the Sun the Moon the Stars	5 In periods of Pulsative furor beating into wedges & bars t	Then drawing into wires the terrific Passions & Affections Of Spectrous dead. Thence to the Looms of Cathedron conveyd The Daughters of Enitharmon weave the ovarium & the integument In soft silk drawn from their own bowels in lascivious delight	10 With songs of sweetest cadence to the turning spindle & reel Lulling the weeping spectres of the dead. Clothing their limbs With gifts & gold of Eden. Astonishd stupefied with delight The terrors put on their sweet clothing on the banks of Arnon t	Whence they plunge into the river of space for a period till	15 The dread Sleep of Ulro is past. But Satan Og & Sihon t	Build Mills of resistless wheels to unwind the soft threads & reveal Naked of their clothing the poor spectres before the accusing heavens While Rahab & Tirzah far different mantles prepare webs of torture [Begin Page 377]

Mantles of despair girdles of bitter compunction shoes of indolence	20 Veils of ignorance covering from head to feet with a cold web We look down into Ulro we behold the Wonders of the Grave Eastward of Golgonooza stands the Lake of Udan Adan In t	Entuthon Benithon a Lake not of Waters but of Spaces t	Perturbd black & deadly on its Islands & its Margins t	25 The Mills of Satan and Beelzeboul stand round the roots of Urizens tree For this Lake is formd from the tears & sighs & death sweat of the Victims Of Urizens laws. to irrigate the roots of the tree of Mystery They unweave the soft threads then they weave them anew in the forms Of dark death & despair & none from Eternity to Eternity could Escape t	30 But thou O Universal Humanity who is One Man blessed for Ever t	Recievest the Integuments woven Rahab beholds the Lamb of God She smites with her knife of flint She destroys her own work Times upon times thinking to destroy the Lamb blessed for Ever He puts off the clothing of blood he redeems the spectres from their bonds	35 He awakes the sleepers in Ulro the Daughters of Beulah praise him They anoint his feet with ointment they wipe them with the hair of their head