Analysis of The Book of Urizen: Chapter II
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
1. Earth was not: nor globes of attraction
The will of the Immortal expanded
Or contracted his all flexible senses.
Death was not, but eternal life sprung
2. The sound of a trumpet the heavens
Awoke & vast clouds of blood roll'd
Round the dim rocks of Urizen, so nam'd
That solitary one in Immensity
3. Shrill the trumpet: & myriads of Eternity,
Muster around the bleak desarts
Now fill'd with clouds, darkness & waters
That roll'd perplex'd labring & utter'd
Words articulate, bursting in thunders
That roll'd on the tops of his mountains
4. From the depths of dark solitude. From
The eternal abode in my holiness,
Hidden set apart in my stern counsels
Reserv'd for the days of futurity,
I have sought for a joy without pain,
For a solid without fluctuation
Why will you die O Eternals?
Why live in unquenchable burnings?
5. First I fought with the fire; consum'd
Inwards, into a deep world within:
A void immense, wild dark & deep,
Where nothing was: Natures wide womb
And self balanc'd stretch'd o'er the void
I alone, even I! the winds merciless
Bound; but condensing, in torrents
They fall & fall; strong I repell'd
The vast waves, & arose on the waters
A wide world of solid obstruction
6. Here alone I in books formd of metals
Have written the secrets of wisdom
The secrets of dark contemplation
By fightings and conflicts dire,
With terrible monsters Sin-bred:
Which the bosoms of all inhabit;
Seven deadly Sins of the soul.
7. Lo! I unfold my darkness: and on
This rock, place with strong hand the Book
Of eternal brass, written in my solitude.
8. Laws of peace, of love, of unity:
Of pity, compassion, forgiveness.
Let each chuse one habitation:
His ancient infinite mansion:
One command, one joy, one desire,
One curse, one weight, one measure
One King, one God, one Law.
Scheme | ABCX DXXB ECFXFD GHIBXACX XXXXXHXXFA IGAXXXX XXX EHAAJJX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111010 0110010010 11001110010 111101011 011010010 0111111 10111111 1100101 1010110100 1001011 11111010 1101110 101010010 111011110 10111101 00100101100 1010101110 0110111 111101011 101001010 111111 110110 111101001 10101101 0101111 11011011 011011001 10110101100 11010010 1111101 011011010 011110010 1011011110 110010110 01011010 1100011 11001011 10111010 10101101 110111001 11111101 10101100110 111111100 110010010 1111010 11010010 101111010 1111110 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,749 |
Words | 317 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 6, 8, 10, 7, 3, 7 |
Lines Amount | 49 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 174 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 16, 2023
- 1:39 min read
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"The Book of Urizen: Chapter II" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39154/the-book-of-urizen%3A-chapter-ii>.
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