Like blazing comets in the sky 101
That shake the stars of light,
Which drop like fruit unto the earth
Thro' the fierce burning night;
Like these did Gwin and Gordred meet, 105
And the first blow decides;
Down from the brow unto the breast
Gordred his head divides!
Gwin fell: the Sons of Norway fled, 109
All that remain'd alive;
The rest did fill the vale of death,
For them the eagles strive.
The river Dorman roll'd their blood 113
Into the northern sea;
Who mourn'd his sons, and overwhelm'd
The pleasant south country.
Golden Apollo, that thro' heaven wide 1
Scatter'st the rays of light, and truth's beams,
In lucent words my darkling verses dight,
And wash my earthy mind in thy clear streams,
That wisdom may descend in fairy dreams, 5
All while the jocund hours in thy train
Scatter their fancies at thy poet's feet;
And when thou yields to night thy wide domain,
Let rays of truth enlight his sleeping brain.
Poetical Sketches, pp. 24-26. This piece has not the air of being one of Blake's earliest efforts, in spite of its metrical faults. Representing the Spenserian stanza by the formula ababbcbcC, Blake's successive attempts are: ababbcbcc, ababbcbcB, aiabbcbB, ababbabb, ababbcbcb, ababbcbcbB—all different and all wrong.
Title] All edd. correct Spencer to Spenser.2 truth's] truth his all cold. 8 yields] yield'st all edd.
