[But upon the nettly ground
20 No delight was to be found]
And I saw before me shine
Clusters of the wandring vine
[And beyond a mirtle tree]
And many a lovely flower and tree
Stretchd [its] their blossoms out to me
[But a Priest/But many a] My father then with holy look
In [his/their] hands a holy book
Pronouncd curses on [his] my head
[Who the fruit or blossoms shed]
And bound me in a mirtle shade
30 [I beheld the (Priest) Priests by night
(He) They embracd (my mirtle) the blossoms bright
Like a serpent in the] Like to holy men by day
Underneath [my] the vines [he] they lay
So I smote [him] them & [his] their gore
Staind the roots my mirtle bore
But the time of youth is fled
And grey hairs are on my head
*
Silent Silent Night
Quench the holy light
Of thy torches bright
For possessd of Day
Thousand spirits stray
That sweet joys betray
Why should joys be sweet
10 Used with deceit
Nor with sorrows meet
But an honest joy
Does itself destroy
For a harlot coy
*
O lapwing thou fliest around the heath
Nor seest the net that is spread beneath
Why dost thou not fly among the corn fields
They cannot spread nets where a harvest yields
*
Thou hast a lap full of seed
And this is a fine country
Why dost thou not cast thy seed
And live in it merrily
[Oft Ive] Shall I cast it on the sand
And [turnd] turn it into fruitful land
[But] For on no other ground
Can I sow my seed
10 Without [pulling] tearing up
Some stinking weed
*
[THE] EARTHS ANSWER
Earth raisd up her head
From the darkness dread & drear
Her [eyes/orbs] [fled/dead] light fled
Stony dread;
And her locks coverd with grey despair:
Prisond on watry shore
Starry Jealousy does keep my den
Cold & hoar
Weeping oer
10 I hear the [father of the] ancient [father of] men
[(Cruel) Selfish father of men
Cruel jealous (wintry) selfish fear
Can delight
(Closd) Chaind in night
The virgins of youth & morning bear]
Does spring hide its [delight] joy
When buds & blossoms grow
Does the sower [sow
His seed] Sow by night
20 Or the plowman in darkness plow
Break this heavy chain
That does [close]
freeze my bones around
Selfish vain
[Thou my] Eternal bane
[Hast my] That free love with bondage bound
*
IN A MIRTLE SHADE
[To a lovely mirtle bound
Blossoms showring all around]
2 O how sick & weary I
Underneath my mirtle lie
Like to dung upon the ground
Underneath my mirtle bound
1 Why should I be bound to thee
O my lovely mirtle tree
Love free love cannot be bound
10 To any tree that grows on ground
3 Oft my mirtle sighd in vain
To behold my heavy chain
Oft [the priest beheld] my father saw us sigh
And laughd at our simplicity
So I smote him & his gore
Staind the roots my mirtle bore
But the time of youth is fled
And grey hairs are on my head
*
LONDON
I wander thro each dirty street
Near where the dirty Thames does flow
And [see] mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness marks of woe
In every cry of every man
In [every voice of every child] every infants cry of fear
In every voice in every ban
The [german forged links] mind forgd manacles I hear
[But most] How the chimney sweepers cry
10 [Blackens oer the churches walls]
Every blackning church appalls
And the hapless soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down palace walls
[But most the midnight harlots curse
From every dismal street I hear
Weaves around the marriage hearse
And blasts the newborn infants tear]
But most [from every] thro wintry streets I hear
20 How the midnight harlots curse
Blasts the newborn infants tear
And [hangs] smites with plagues the marriage hearse
But most the shrieks of youth I hear
But most thro midnight &c
How the youthful
*
TO NOBODADDY
Why art thou silent & invisible
[Man] Father of Jealousy
Why dost thou hide thyself in clouds
From every searching Eye
Why darkness & obscurity
In all thy words & laws
That none dare eat the fruit but from
The wily serpents jaws
Or is it because secresy gains [feminine] females loud applause
*
The [rose puts envious] [lustful] modest rose puts forth a thorn
The [coward] humble sheep a threatning horn
While the lilly white shall in love delight
[And the lion increase freedom & peace]
[The prist loves war & the soldier peace]
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright
*
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And whisprings are in the dale
The [desires] days of my youth rise fresh in my mind
My face turns green & pale
Then come home my children the sun is gone down
And the dews of night arise
Your spring & your day are wasted in play
And your winter & night in disguise
*
Are not the joys of morning sweeter
Than the joys of night
And are the vigrous joys of youth
Ashamed of the light
Let age & sickness silent rob
The vineyards in the night
But those who burn with vigrous youth
Pluck fruits before the light
*
THE TYGER [FIRST VERSION]
1 Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand [&] or eye
[Could/Dare] frame thy fearful symmetry
2 [In what/Burnt in] distant deeps or skies
[Burnt the/The cruel] fire of thine eyes
On what wings dare he aspire
What the hand dare sieze the fire
3 And what shoulder & what art
10 Could twist the sinews of thy heart
And when thy heart began to beat
What dread hand & what dread feet
[Could fetch it from the furnace deep
And in (the) thy horrid ribs dare steep
In the well of sanguine woe
In what clay & in what mould
Were thy eyes of fury rolld]
4 [What/Where] the hammer [what/where] the chain
In what furnace was thy brain
What the anvil what [the arm/grasp/clasp] dread grasp 20
[Could] Dare its deadly terrors [clasp/grasp] clasp
6 Tyger Tyger burning bright
In thee forests of the night
What immortal hand & eye
Dare[form] frame thy fearful symmetry
5 3 And [did he laugh] dare he [smile/laugh] his work to see
[What the shoulder (ankle) what the knee]
4 [Did] Dare he who made the lamb make thee
30 1 When the stars threw down their spears
2 And waterd heaven with their tears
[SECOND VERSION]
Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
What Immortal hand [or] & eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry
Burnt in distant deeps or skies
The cruel fire of thine eyes
Could heart descend or wings aspire
What the hand dare sieze the fire
And what shoulder & what art
10 Could twist the sinews of thy heart
And when thy heart began to beat
What dread hand & what dread feet
When the stars threw down their spears
And waterd heaven with their tears
Did he smile his work to see
Did he who made the lamb make thee
Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand & eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry
*
[How came pride in Man
From Mary it began
How Contempt & Scorn
What a world is Man
His Earth]
*
THE HUMAN IMAGE
[Mercy] Pity could be no more
[If there was nobody poor]
If we did not make somebody poor
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we
And mutual fear brings Peace
Till the selfish Loves increase
Then Cruelty knits a snare
And spreads his [nets] baits with care
10 He sits down with holy fears
And waters the ground with tears
Then humility takes its root
Underneath his foot
Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head
And the caterpillar & fly
Feed on the Mystery
And it bears the fruit of deceit
Ruddy & sweet to eat
And the raven his nest has made
20 In its thickest shade
The Gods of the Earth & Sea
Sought thro nature to find this tree
But their search was all in vain
[Till they sought in the human brain]
There grows one in the human brain
They said this mystery never shall cease
The prest [loves] promotes war and the soldier peace
There souls of men are bought & sold
30 And [cradled] milk fed infancy [is sold] for gold
And youth[s] to slaughter houses led
And [maidens] beauty for a bit of bread
*
[HOW TO KNOW LOVE FROM DECEIT]
Love to faults is always blind
Always is to joy inclind
[Always] Lawless wingd & unconfind
And breaks all chains from every mind
Deceit to secresy [inclind] confind
[Modest prudish & confind]
Lawful cautious [changeful and] & refind
[Never is to] To every thing but interest blind
[And chains & fetters every mind]
And forges fetters for the mind
*
THE WILD FLOWERS SONG
As I wanderd the forest
The green leaves among
I heard a wild [thistle] flower
Singing a song
I [mas found] slept in the [dark] Earth
In the silent night
I murmurd my fears
And I felt delight
In the morning I went
10 As rosy as morn
To seek for new Joy
But I met with scorn
*
THE SICK ROSE
O Rose thou art sick
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm
Hath found out thy bed
Of crimson joy
[O dark secret love
Doth life destroy]
And [his] her dark secret love
Does thy life destroy
*
SOFT SNOW
I walked abroad in a snowy day
I askd the soft snow with me to play
She playd & she melted in all her prime
[Ah that sweet love should be thought a crime]
And the winter calld it a dreadful crime
*
AN ANCIENT PROVERB
Remove away that blackning church
Remove away that marriage hearse
Remove away that [place] man of blood
[Twill] Youll quite remove the ancient curse
*
TO MY MIRTLE
5 Why should I be bound to thee
6 O my lovely mirtle tree
[Love free love cannot be bound
To any tree that grows on ground]
1 To a lovely mirtle bound
2 Blossoms showring all around
[Like to dung upon the ground
Underneath my mirtle bound]
3 O how sick & weary I
10 4 Underneath my mirtle lie
*
Naught loves another as itself
Nor venerates another so
Nor is it possible to Thought
A greater than itself to know
[Then] And father [I cannot] how can I love you
[Nor] Or any of my brothers more
I love [myself so does the bird] you like the little bird
That picks up crumbs around the door
The Priest sat by and heard the child
10 In trembling zeal he seizd his hair
[The mother followed weeping loud
O that I such a fiend should bear
Then] He led him by the little coat
[To show his zealous priestly care]
And all admird his priestly care
And standing on the altar high
Lo what a fiend is here said he
One who sets reason up for judge
Of our most holy mystery
20 The weeping child could not be heard
The weeping parents wept in vain
[They bound his little ivory limbs
In a cruel Iron chain
And] They strip’d him to his little shirt
& bound him in an iron chain
[They] And burnd him in a holy [fire] place
Where many had been burnd before
The weeping parents wept in vain
Are Such things [are] done on Albions shore
*
THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER
A little black thing among the snow
Crying weep weep in notes of woe
Where are thy father & mother say
They are both gone up to Church to pray
Because I was happy upon the heath
And smild among the winters [wind] snow
They clothd me in the clothes of death
And taught me to sing the notes of woe
And because I am happy and dance and sing
10 They think they have done me no injury
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King
[Who wrap themselves up in our misery]
Who make up a heaven of our misery
*
MERLINS PROPHECY
The harvest shall flourish in wintry weather
When two virginities meet together
The King & the Priest must be tied in a tether
Before two virgins can meet together
*
DAY
&
nbsp; The [day] Sun arises in the East
Clothd in robes of blood & gold
Swords & spears & wrath increast
All around his [ancles] bosom rolld
Crownd with warlike fires & raging desires
*
[THE MARRIAGE RING] THE FAIRY
Come hither my sparrows
My little arrows
If a tear or a smile
Will a man beguile
If an amorous delay
Clouds a sunshiny day
If the [tread] step of a foot
Smites the heart to its root
Tis the marriage ring
10 Makes each fairy a king
So a fairy sung
From the leaves I sprung
He leapd from the spray
To flee away
[And] But in my hat caught
He soon shall be taught
Let him laugh let him cry
Hes my butterfly
[And a marriage ring
Is a foolish thing/Is a childs play thing]
For I’ve pulld out the Sting
Of the marriage ring
*
The sword sung on the barren heath
The sickle [on] in the fruitful field
The sword he sung a song of death
But could not make the sickle yield
*
Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs & [flourishing] flaming hair
But Desire Gratified
Plants fruits of life & beauty there
*
In a wife I would desire
What in whores is always found
The lineaments of Gratified desire
*
If you [catch] trap the moment before its ripe
The tears of repentance youll certainly wipe
But if once you let the ripe moment go
You[ll] can never wipe off the tears of woe
*
ETERNITY
He who binds to himself [to] a joy
Does the winged life destroy
But he who [just] kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in [an eternal] eternity’s sun rise
*
THE KID
Thou little Kid didst play
&c
*
THE LITTLE [A PRETTY] VAGABOND
Dear Mother Dear Mother the church is cold
But the alehouse is healthy & pleasant & warm
Besides I can tell where I am usd well
[Such usage in heaven makes us all go to hell]
The poor parsons with wind like a blown bladder swell
But if at the Church they would give us some Ale
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale
We’d sing and we’d pray all the livelong day
Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray
10 Then the parson might preach & drink & sing
And wed be as happy as birds in the spring
And Modest dame Lurch who is always at Church
Would not have bandy children nor fasting nor birch
Then God like a father [that joys for] rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant & happy as he
The Complete Poems Page 12
