His western heaven with rocky clouds of death & despair.
Fearing that Albion should turn his back against the Divine Vision Los took his globe of fire to search the interiors of Albions Bosom, in all the terrors of friendship, entering the caves 5Of despair & death, to search the tempters out, walking among Albions rocks & precipices! caves of solitude & dark despair, And saw every Minute Particular of Albion degraded & murderd But saw not by whom; they were hidden within in the minute particulars Of which they had possessd themselves; and there they take up 10The articulations of a mans soul, and laughing throw it down Into the frame, then knock it out upon the plank, & souls are bak'd In bricks to build the pyramids of Heber & Terah. But Los Searchd in vain: closd from the minutia he walkd, difficult. He came down from Highgate thro Hackney & Holloway towards London 15Till he came to old Stratford & thence to Stepney & the Isle Of Leuthas Dogs, thence thro the narrows of the Rivers side And saw every minute particular, the jewels of Albion, running down The kennels of the streets & lanes as if they were abhorrd. Every Universal Form, was become barren mountains of Moral 20Virtue: and every Minute Particular hardend into grains of sand: And all the tendernesses of the soul cast forth as filth & mire, Among the winding places of deep contemplation intricate To where the Tower of London frownd dreadful over Jerusalem: A building of Luvah builded in Jerusalems eastern gate to be 25His secluded Court: thence to Bethlehem where was builded Dens of despair in the house of bread: enquiring in vain Of stones and rocks he took his way, for human form was none: And thus he spoke, looking on Albions City with many tears
What shall I do! what could I do, if I could find these Criminals 30I could not dare to take vengeance; for all things are so constructed And builded by the Divine hand, that the sinner shall always escape, And he who takes vengeance alone is the criminal of Providence; If I should dare to lay my finger on a grain of sand In way of vengeance; I punish the already punishd: O whom 35Should I pity if I pity not the sinner who is gone astray! O Albion, if thou takest vengeance; if thou revengest thy wrongs Thou art for ever lost! What can I do to hinder the Sons Of Albion from taking vengeance? or how shall I them perswade.
So spoke Los, travelling thro darkness & horrid solitude: 40And he beheld Jerusalem in Westminster & Marybone, Among the ruins of the Temple: and Vala who is her Shadow, Jerusalems Shadow bent northward over the Island white. At length he sat on London Stone, & heard Jerusalems voice.
Albion I cannot be thy Wife. thine own Minute Particulars, 45Belong to God alone. and all thy little ones are holy They are of Faith & not of Demonstration: wherefore is Vala Clothd in black mourning upon my rivers currents, Vala awake! I hear thy shuttles sing in the sky, and round my limbs I feel the iron threads of love & jealousy & despair.
50Vala reply'd. Albion is mine! Luvah gave me to Albion And now recieves reproach & hate. Was it not said of old Set your Son before a man & he shall take you & your sons For slaves: but set your Daughter before a man & She Shall make him & his sons & daughters your slaves for ever! 55And is this Faith? Behold the strife of Albion, & Luvah Is great in the east, their spears of blood rage in the eastern heaven Urizen is the champion of Albion, they will slay my Luvah: And thou O harlot daughter! daughter of despair art all This cause of these shakings of my towers on Euphrates. 60Here is the House of Albion, & here is thy secluded place And here we have found thy sins: & hence we turn thee forth, For all to avoid thee: to be astonishd at thee for thy sins: Because thou art the impurity & the harlot: & thy children! Children of whoredoms: born for Sacrifice: for the meat & drink 65Offering: to sustain the glorious combat & the battle & war That Man may be purified by the death of thy delusions.
So saying she her dark threads cast over the trembling River: And over the valleys; from the hills of Hertfordshire to the hills Of Surrey across Middlesex & across Albions House 70Of Eternity! pale stood Albion at his eastern gate,
