Vala, or The Four Zoas/Night the Eighth


Vala
Night the Eighth



[ page 99 ]

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
5 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
10 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

[ page 100 FIRST PORTION ]

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

[ page 101 FIRST PORTION ]


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

[ page 100 SECOND PORTION ]

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

[ page 101 SECOND PORTION ]

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

[ page 102 ]

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

[ page 103 ]

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

[ page 104 FIRST PORTION ]

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

[ page 113 FIRST PORTION ]

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