Poem
The story begins with Fuzon rebelling against Urizen, his father:
- "Shall we worship this Demon of Smoke,"
- Said Fuzon, "This abstract non-entity
- This cloudy God seated on Waters
- Now seen, now obscur'd; King of sorrow?" (10-13)
After the verbal attack, Fuzon attacks Urizon with fire and declares himself God. This leads to the creation of the tree of mystery by Urizon on accident followed by the nailing of Fuzon's body to it:
- Amaz'd started Urizen! when
- He beheld himself compassed round
- And high roofed over with trees
- He arose but the stems stood so thick
- He with difficulty and great pain
- Brought his Books, all but the Book
- Of iron, from the dismal shade (lines 116-122)
The poem continues with Ahania lamenting her disconnection from Urizen:
- Cruel jealousy! selfish fear!
- Self-destroying: how can delight
- Renew in these chains of darkness (lines 233-235)
Read more about this topic: The Book Of Ahania
Famous quotes containing the word poem:
“The poem has a social effect of some kind whether or not the poet wills it to have. It has kinetic force, it sets in motion ... [ellipsis in source] elements in the reader that would otherwise be stagnant.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“It seems just possible that a poem might happen
To a very young man: but a poem is not poetry—
That is a life.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)