Blake's Selected Poems Read online

  8

  And when the child began to swell

  He shouted out aloud

  Ive found the dropsy out & soon

  Shall do the world more good

  9

  He took up fever by the neck

  And cut out all its spots

  And thro the holes which he had made

  He first discoverd guts

  “Hail Matrimony made of Love”

  Hail Matrimony made of Love

  To thy wide gates how great a drove

  On purpose to be yok’d do come

  Widows & maids & Youths also

  That lightly trip on beauty’s toe

  Or sit on beauty’s bum

  Hail fingerfooted lovely Creatures

  The females of our human Natures

  Formed to suckle all Mankind

  Tis you that come in time of need

  Without you we shoud never Breed

  Or any Comfort find

  For if a Damsel’s blind or lame

  Or Nature’s hand has crooked her frame

  Or if she’s deaf or is wall eyed

  Yet if her heart is well inclined

  Some tender lover she shall find

  That panteth for a Bride

  The universal Poultice this

  To cure whatever is amiss

  In damsel or in Widow gay

  It makes them smile it makes them skip

  Like Birds just cured of the pip

  They chirp & hop away

  Then come ye Maidens come ye Swains

  Come & be eased of all your pains

  In Matrimony’s Golden cage —

  “To Be or Not to Be”

  To be or not to be

  Of great capacity

  Like Sir Isaac Newton

  Or Locke or Doctor South

  Or Sherlock upon death

  Id rather be Sutton

  For he did build a house

  For aged men & youth

  With walls of brick & stone

  He furnishd it within

  With whatever he could win

  And all his own

  He drew out of the Stocks

  His money in a box

  And sent his servant

  To Green the Bricklayer

  And to the Carpenter

  He was so fervent

  The chimneys were three score

  The windows many more

  And for convenience

  He sinks & gutters made

  And all the way he pavd

  To hinder pestilence

  Was not this a good man

  Whose life was but a span

  Whose name was Sutton

  As Locke or Doctor South

  Or Sherlock upon Death

  Or Sir Isaac Newton

  “This city & this country has brought forth many mayors”

  This city & this country has brought forth many mayors

  To sit in state & give forth laws out of their old oak chairs

  With face as brown as any nut with drinking of strong ale

  Good English hospitality O then it did not fail

  With scarlet gowns & broad gold lace would make a yeoman sweat

  With stockings rolld above their knees & shoes as black as jet

  With eating beef & drinking beer O they were stout & hale

  Good English hospitality O then it did not fail

  Thus sitting at the table wide the Mayor & Aldermen

  Were fit to give law to the city each eat as much as ten

  The hungry poor enterd the hall to eat good beef & ale

  Good English hospitality O then it did not fail

  “Upon a holy thursday their innocent faces clean”

  Upon a holy thursday their innocent faces clean

  The children walking two & two in grey & blue & green

  Grey headed beadles walkd before with wands as white as snow

  Till into the high dome of Pauls they like thames waters flow

  O what a multitude they seemd, these flowers of London town

  Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own

  The hum of multitudes were there but multitudes of lambs

  Thousands of little girls & boys raising their innocent hands

  Then like a mighty wind they raise to heavn the voice of song

  Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heavn among

  Beneath them sit the revrend men the guardians of the poor

  Then cherish pity lest you drive an angel from your door

  “When the tongues of children are heard on the green”

  When the tongues of children are heard on the green

  And laughing is heard on the hill

  My heart is at rest within my breast

  And every thing else is still

  Then come home my children the sun is gone down

  And the dews of night arise

  Come Come leave off play & let us away

  Till the morning appears in the skies

  No No let us play for it is yet day

  And we cannot go to sleep

  Besides in the Sky the little birds fly

  And the meadows are coverd with Sheep

  Well Well go & play till the light fades away

  And then go home to bed

  The little ones leaped & shouted & laughd

  And all the hills ecchoed

  “O father father where are you going”

  O father father where are you going

  O do not walk so fast

  O speak father speak to your little boy

  Or else I shall be lost

  The night it was dark & no father was there

  And the child was wet with dew

  The mire was deep & the child did weep

  And away the vapour flew

  “O I say you Joe”

  O I say you Joe

  Throw us the ball

  Ive a good mind to go

  And leave you all

  I never saw saw such a bowler

  To bowl the ball in a tansey

  And to clean it with my handkercher

  Without saying a word

  That Bills a foolish fellow

  He has given me a black eye

  He does not know how to handle a bat

  Any more than a dog or a cat

  He has knockd down the wicket

  And broke the stumps

  And runs without shoes to save his pumps

  “Theres Doctor Clash”

  Theres Doctor Clash

  And Signior Falalasole

  O they sweep in the cash

  Into their purse hole

  Fa me la sol La me fa Sol

  Great A little A

  Bouncing B

  Play away Play away

  Your out of the key

  Fa me la sol La me fa sol

  Musicians should have

  A pair of very good ears

  And Long fingers & thumbs

  And not like clumsy bears

  Fa me la sol La me fa sol

  Gentlemen Gentlemen

  Rap Rap Rap

  Fiddle Fiddle Fiddle

  Clap Clap Clap

  Fa me la sol La me fa sol

  The Book of Thel

  THEL’S MOTTO

  Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?

  Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:

  Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?

  Or Love in a golden bowl?

  THEL

  I

  The daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks.

  All but the youngest; she in paleness sought the secret air.

  To fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day:

  Down by the river of Adona her soft voice is heard:

  And thus her gentle lamentation falls like morning dew.

  O life of this our spring! why fades the lotus of the water?

  Why fade these children of the spring? born but to smile & fall.
/>   Ah! Thel is like a watry bow, and like a parting cloud.

  Like a reflection in a glass. like shadows in the water.

  Like dreams of infants. like a smile upon an infants face,

  Like the doves voice, like transient day, like music in the air;

  Ah! gentle may I lay me down, and gentle rest my head.

  And gentle sleep the sleep of death. and gentle hear the voice

  Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.

  The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass

  Answer’d the lovely maid and said; I am a watry weed,

  And I am very small, and love to dwell in lowly vales;

  So weak, the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head.

  Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all.

  Walks in the valley. and each morn over me spreads his hand

  Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lilly flower,

  Thou gentle maid of silent valleys. and of modest brooks;

  For thou shalt be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:

  Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs

  To flourish in eternal vales: then why should Thel complain,

  Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a sigh.

  She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.

  Thel answerd. 0 thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.

  Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o’ertired.

  Thy breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells thy milky

  garments,

  He crops thy flowers. while thou sittest smiling in his face,

  Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.

  Thy wine doth purify the golden honey, thy perfume,

  Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs

  Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.

  But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:

  I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.

  Queen of the vales the Lilly answerd, ask the tender cloud,

  And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky,

  And why it scatters its bright beauty thro’ the humid air.

  Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.

  The Cloud descended, and the Lilly bowd her modest head:

  And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.

  II

  O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee tell to me,

  Why thou complainest not when in one hour thou fade away:

  Then we shall seek thee but not find; ah Thel is like to thee.

  I pass away. yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.

  The Cloud then shew’d his golden head & his bright form emerg’d,

  Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.

  O virgin know‘st thou not. our steeds drink of the golden springs

  Where Luvah doth renew his horses: look’st thou on my youth,

  And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more.

  Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away,

  It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy:

  Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers;

  And court the fair eyed dew. to take me to her shining tent;

  The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun,

  Till we arise link’d in a golden band, and never part;

  But walk united, bearing food to all our tender flowers

  Dost thou O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee;

  For I walk through the vales of Har. and smell the sweetest flowers;

  But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds,

  But I feed not the warbling birds. they fly and seek their food;

  But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away,

  And all shall say, without a use this shining woman liv’d,

  Or did she only live. to be at death the food of worms.

  The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answer’d thus.

  Then if thou art the food of worms. O virgin of the skies,

  How great thy use. how great thy blessing; every thing that lives,

  Lives not alone, nor for itself: fear not and I will call

  The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.

  Come forth worm of the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.

  The helpless worm arose, and sat upon the Lillys leaf,

  And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.

  III

  Then Thel astonish’d view’d the Worm upon its dewy bed.

  Art thou a Worm? image of weakness. art thou but a Worm?

  I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lillys leaf:

  Ah weep not little voice, thou can‘st not speak. but thou can’st

  weep;

  Is this a Worm? I see thee lay helpless & naked: weeping,

  And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mothers smiles.

  The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice, & raisd her pitying head;

  She bow’d over the weeping infant, and her life exhal’d

  In milky fondness, then on Thel she fix’d her humble eyes.

  O beauty of the vales of Har. we live not for ourselves,

  Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed;

  My bosom of itself is cold. and of itself is dark,

  But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head.

  And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.

  And says; Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee.

  And I have given thee a crown that none can take away

  But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know,

  I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet I live and love.

  The daughter of beauty wip’d her pitying tears with her white veil,

  And said. Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep:

  That God would love a Worm I knew, and punish the evil foot

  That wilful, bruis’d its helpless form: but that he cherish’d it

  With milk and oil, I never knew; and therefore did I weep,

  And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away,

  And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.

  Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answerd; I heard thy sighs.

  And all thy moans flew o‘er my roof. but I have call’d them down:

  Wilt thou O Queen enter my house. ’tis given thee to enter,

  And to return; fear nothing. enter with thy virgin feet.

  IV

  The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:

  Thel enter’d in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;

  She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots

  Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:

  A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.

  She wanderd in the land of clouds thro’ valleys dark, listning

  Dolours & lamentations: waiting oft beside a dewy grave

  She stood in silence. listning to the voices of the ground,

  Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down.

  And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit.

  Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?

  Or the glistning Eye to the poison of a smile!

  Why are Eyelids stord with arrows ready drawn,

  Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie?

  Or an Eye of gifts & graces, show’ring fruits & coined gold!

  Why a Tongue impress’d with honey from every wind?

  Why an Ear, a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?

  Why a Nostril wid
e inhaling terror trembling & affright.

  Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy!

  Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?

  The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek.

  Fled back unhinderd till she came into the vales of Har

  A Divine Image

  [AN EARLY SONG OF EXPERIENCE INCLUDED IN ONE LATE COPY]

  Cruelty has a Human Heart

  And Jealousy a Human Face

  Terror, the Human Form Divine

  And Secrecy, the Human Dress

  The Human Dress, is forged Iron

  The Human Form, a fiery Forge.

  The Human Face, a Furnace seal’d

  The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge.

  Motto to the Songs of Innocence & of Experience

  The Good are attracted by Mens perceptions

  And Think not for themselves

  Till Experience teaches them to catch

  And to cage the Fairies & Elves

  And then the Knave begins to snarl

  And the Hypocrite to howl

  And all his good Friends shew their private ends

  And the Eagle is known from the Owl