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:
“From this the poem springs: that we live in a place
That is not our own and, much more, not ourselves
And hard it is in spite of blazoned days.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“It is what man does not know of God
Composes the visible poem of the world.”
—Richard Eberhart (b. 1904)
“Although those notes, in conformity with custom, come after the poem, the reader is advised to consult them first and then study the poem with their help, rereading them of course as he goes through its text, and perhaps after having done with the poem consulting them a third time so as to complete the picture.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)