Page:Milton a poem, page 2 (preface, BM).300.jpg

2

PREFACE.

The Stolen and Perverted Writings of Homer &
Ovid: of Plato & Cicero. which all Men ought to
contemn: are set up by artifice against the Sublime
of the Bible. but when the New Age is at leisure
to Pronounce: all will be set right: & those Grand
Works of the more ancient & consciously & profes-
-sedly Inspired Men. will hold their proper rank. &
the Daughters of Memory shall become the Daugh-
-ters of Inspiration. Shakspeare & Milton were
both curbd by the general malady & infection from
the silly Greek & Latin slaves of the Sword
Rouze up O Young Men of the New Age! set your
foreheads against the ignorant Hirelings! For
we have Hirelings in the Camp, the Court, & the Uni-
versity: who would if they could, for ever depress Ment
-al & prolong Corporeal War. Painters! on you I call!
Sculptors! Architects! Suffer not the fashonable Fools
to depress your powers by the prices they pretend to
give for contemptible works or the expensive adver
-tizing boasts that they make of such works; believe
Christ & his Apostles that there is a Class of Men
whose whole delight is in Destroying. We do not
want either Greek or Roman Models if we are but
just & true to our own Imaginations, those Worlds
of Eternity in which we shall live for ever; in
Jesus our Lord.

And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

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Would to God that all the Lords people

were Prophets

Numbers XI.Ch 29.v.