They bore a Net of Golden twine 9
To hang upon the Branches fine.
Pitying I wept to see the woe
That Love & Beauty undergo,
To be consum'd in burning Fires 13
And in ungratified desires,
And in tears cloth'd night & day
Melted all my Soul away.
When they saw my Tears, a Smile 17
That did Heaven itself beguile,
Bore the Golden Net aloft,
As on downy Pinions soft,
Over the Morning of my Day. 21
Underneath the Net I stray,
Now intreating Burning Fire,
Now intreating Iron Wire,
Now intreating Tears & Sighs. 25
O when will the morning rise?
9. Cp. the lines in 'How sweet I roam'd from field to field' (Poetical Sketches):—
'He caught me in his silken net
And shut me in his golden cage';
also the references to the 'silken net' in the Visions of the Daughters of Albion. In Blake's later mystical writings the simple idea of moral restrictions placed upon love, expressed by the silken net and golden cage of the earlier poems, is developed into the veil or net of Vala. Cp. Jerusalem, f. 20, ll. 30-32:—
'When Albion rent thy beautiful net of gold and silver twine,
Thou hadst woven it with art, thou hadst caught me in the bands
Of love: thou refusedst to let me go.'
9, 10 They . . . fine] R¹ places after l. 2, following Blake's revised order of lines in MS. Book.13 consum'd] clothed R¹, DGR, WMR, EY. burning Fires] flames of fire WBY. 14 ungratified desires] unsatisfied desire WBY.16 Melted] It melted R' and all edd.17 my Tears] me weep R¹.18 That] which R¹. did] might DGR, WMR, EY.20 on] by MS. Book, R¹, WBY.21 Over] O'er MS. Book, R¹.23 Burning Fire] flaming fire MS. Book; Flaming-fire R¹ and all edd. except Shep.24 Iron Wire] iron wire MS. Book; sweet desire ibid. 1st rdg. del.; Iron-wire R¹ and all edd. except Shep.25 Tears & sighs] Tears-and-Sighs R¹ and all edd. except Shep. and WBY.26 O . . . rise] When, O when, will Morning rise? MS. Book 1st rdg. del.
