лотом и каменьями. В третьей - Орел с воздушными крыльями утверждал бесконечности Ада, а вокруг него Люди-Орлы высекали дворцы в беспредельных скалах. В четвертой - Львы огненным жаром дыхания превращали металлы в текучие жидкости. Из пятой Безымянные существа проливали эти металлы в шестую. В шестой - их вбирали Люди, расставленные по полкам, как книги. ----- The Giants who formed this world into its sensual existence, and now seem to live in it in chains, are in truth the causes of its life and the sources of all activity; but the chains are the cunning of weak and tame minds which have power to resist energy. According to the proverb, the weak in courage is strong in cunning. Thus one portion of being is the Prolific, the other the Devouring. To the Devourer it seems as if the producer was in his chains; but it is not so, he only takes portions of existence and fancies that the whole. But the Prolific would cease to be Prolific unless the Devourer, as a sea, received the excess of his delights. Some will say: 'Is not God alone the Prolific?' I answer: 'God only Acts and Is, in existing beings or Men.' These two classes of men are always upon earth, and they should be enemies: whoever tries to reconcile them seeks to destroy existence. Religion is an endeavour to reconcile the two. _Note_. Jesus Christ did not wish to unite, but to separate them, as in the Parable of sheep and goats! And He says: 'I came not to send Peace, but a Sword.' Messiah or Satan or Tempter was formerly thought to be one of the Antediluvians who are our Energies. ----- Создавшие мир и ныне как будто окованные цепями мира Гиганты суть причины жизни и источники действий; но цепи - всего лишь хитрость слабых, покорных умов, которым достало силы сопротивляться силе; как гласит пословица: слабый мужеством силен хитростью. Бытие создает Изобилие и Поглощение; Поглощение мнит, что держит в цепях Изобилие, но на деле берет ничтожную долю, принимая ее за целое. Но Изобилие истощится, если избыток его восторгов не будет тонуть в морях Поглощения. Кто-то спросит: "Разве не в Боге одном Изобилие?" Я отвечу: "Бог существует и действует только в Людях". Сторонники Изобилия и сторонники Поглощения живут на земле и вечно враждуют: кто старается их примирить, убивает жизнь. Их старается примирить Религия. Заметь: Иисус Христос не соединял, но разделял, и в Притче об агнцах и козлищах он говорит: "Не Мир пришел Я принести, но Меч". Мессия, он же Сатана, он же Искуситель - не допотопная Древность, но нынешняя наша Сила. ----- A MEMORABLE FANCY An Angel came to me and said: 'O pitiable, foolish young man! О horrible! О dreadful state! Consider the hot, burning dungeon thou art preparing for thyself to all Eternity, to which thou art going in such career.' I said: 'Perhaps you will be willing to show me my eternal lot, and we will contemplate together upon it, and see whether your lot or mine is most desirable.' So he took me thro' a stable, and thro' a church, and down into the church vault, at the end of which was a mill. Thro' the mill we went, and came to a cave. Down the winding cavern we groped our tedious way, till a void boundless as a nether sky appear'd beneath us, and we held by the roots of trees, and hung over this immensity. But I said: 'If you please, we will commit ourselves to this void, and see whether Providence is here also. If you will not, I will.' But he answer'd: 'Do not presume, О young man, but as we here remain, behold thy lot which will soon appear when the darkness passes away.' So I remain'd with him, sitting in the twisted root of an oak. He was suspended in a fungus, which hung with the head downward into the deep. By degrees we beheld the infinite Abyss, fiery as the smoke of a burning city; beneath us, at an immense distance, was the sun, black but shining; round it were fiery tracks on which revolv'd vast spiders, crawling after their prey, which flew, or rather swum, in the infinite deep, in the most terrific shapes of animals sprung from corruption; and the air was full of them, and seem'd composed of them-these are Devils, and are called Powers of the Air. I now asked my companion which was my eternal lot? He said: 'Between the black and white spiders.' But now, from between the black and white spiders, a cloud and fire burst and rolled thro' the deep, blackening all beneath; so that the nether deep grew black as a sea, and rolled with a terrible noise. Beneath us was nothing now to be seen but a black tempest, till looking East between the clouds and the waves we saw a cataract of blood mixed with fire, and not many stones' throw from us appear'd and sunk again the scaly fold of a monstrous serpent. At last, to the East, distant about three degrees, appear'd a fiery crest above the waves. Slowly it reared like a ridge of golden rocks, till we discover'd two globes of crimson fire, from which the sea fled away in clouds of smoke; and now we saw it was the head of Leviathan. His forehead was divided into streaks of green and purple like those on a tiger's forehead. Soon we saw his mouth and red gills hang just above the raging foam, tinging the black deep with beams of blood, advancing toward us with all the fury of a Spiritual Existence. ----- ПАМЯТНЫЙ СОН Ангел сошел ко мне и сказал: "О жалкий безумец! О мерзкий! О гибнущий! Жизнью своей ты себе уготовил в вечности огненную преисподнюю". Я ответил: "Покажи мне мою судьбу, и мы вместе решим, чей жребий лучше, мой или твой". Он повел меня сквозь конюшню, и церковь, и склеп, и в конце была мельница; мы прошли из нее в пещеру, и томительно долго спускались извилистым подземельем, и вот увидели под собой пустоту, бескрайнюю, как опрокинутые небеса, и на корнях растений повисли над пустотой; я сказал: "Бросимся в пустоту и посмотрим, есть ли в ней провидение, - если не хочешь, я брошусь один". Он ответил: "Смирись, юнец, когда расступится тьма, мы и отсюда увидим твой жребий". И я остался сидеть на изогнутом корне дуба, а он держался за мох, свисавший с обрыва. Мы рассмотрели бескрайнюю Бездну, яростную, как дым горящего города; внизу бесконечно далеко от нас светило черное солнце; вокруг черных лучей его вращались, ловя добычу, черные пауки, зловещие твари, рожденные тлением; они летели, или, вернее, плыли, в бездонных глубинах, и воздух был так насыщен ими, что казалось, из них состоит: это Дьяволы; и зовут их Силами воздуха. Я спросил моего спутника, в чем же мой вечный жребий. Он ответил: "Быть в середине меж черными и белыми пауками". Но из середины меж черными и белыми пауками вырвались туча и пламя, и глубь почернела, как море, и покатилась с ужасным ревом; черная буря все скрыла от глаз, лишь на востоке с неба в море спадал водопад из крови с огнем, и на расстоянии нескольких брошенных камней появилась и вновь погрузилась во мрак чешуя чудовища; и возник над войнами яростный гребень дракона, он поднимался, как золотистый гребень горы; и две сферы алого пламени разогнали тучи и дым: мы увидели пурпурную и зеленую голову Левиафана, полосатую, как голова тигра; мы увидели его пасть над клокочущей пеной и жабры, струившие кровь в черную глубину; он устремился к нам с неистовством гнева. ----- My friend the Angel climb'd up from his station into the mill: I remain'd alone, and then this appearance was no more; but I found myself sitting on a pleasant bank beside a river, by moonlight, hearing a harper, who sung to the harp; and his theme was: "The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.' But I arose and sought for the mill, and there I found my Angel, who, surprised, asked me how I escaped. I answer'd: 'All that we saw was owing to your metaphysics; for when you ran away, I found myself on a bank by moonlight hearing a harper. But now we have seen my eternal lot, shall I show you yours?' He laugh'd at my proposal; but I, by force, suddenly caught him in my arms, and flew westerly thro' the night, till we were elevated above the earth's shadow; then I flung myself with him directly into the body of the sun. Here I clothed myself in white, and taking in my hand Swedenborg's volumes, sunk from the glorious clime, and passed all the planets till we came to Saturn. Here I stay'd to rest, and then leap'd into the void between Saturn and the fixed stars. 'Here,' said I, 'is your lot, in this space-if space it may be call'd.' Soon we saw the stable and the church, and I took him to the altar and open'd the Bible, and lo! it was a deep pit, into which I descended, driving the Angel before me. Soon we saw seven houses of brick. One we enter'd; in it were a number of monkeys, baboons, and all of that species, chain'd by the middle, grinning and snatching at one another, but withheld by the shortness of their chains. However, I saw that they sometimes grew numerous, and then the weak were caught by the strong, and with a grinning aspect, first coupled with, and then devour'd, by plucking off first one limb and then another, till the body was left a helpless trunk. This, after grinning and kissing it with seeming fondness, they devour'd too; and here and there I saw one savourily picking the flesh off of his own tail. As the stench terribly annoy'd us both, we went into the mill, and I in my hand brought the skeleton of a body, which in the mill was Aristotle's Analytics. So the Angel said: 'Thy phantasy has imposed upon me, and thou oughtest to be ashamed.' I answer'd: 'We impose on one another, and it is but lost time to converse with you whose works are only Analytics.' ----- Друг мой Ангел бежал на мельницу; я остался один, и видение вдруг исчезло; я сидел у приятной реки в лунном свете и слушал арфу и песню: "Не склонный к переменам ум - стоячая вода, в воображении его - нечистых гадов рой". Я пришел на мельницу к Ангелу; он удивился мне и спросил, как я спасся. Я ответил: "Ты показал мне плоды своей метафизики: когда ты бежал, я остался при лунном свете возле реки и слушал пение. Ты показал мне мой вечный жребиц, а я покажу тебе твой". Он засмеялся, но я обхватил его, и мы полетели на запад сквозь ночь выше тени земной и опустились на солнце, и я облачился в белое, и, захватив тома Сведенборга, покинул страну сияния, и миновал все планеты, и мы прилетели к Сатурну: я отдохнул и ринулся в бездну между Сатурном и неподвижными звездами. Я сказал: "Твой жребий - в этих пределах, если здесь предел". И вновь перед нами была конюшня и церковь, и я подвел Ангела к алтарю и раскрыл Библию, и - о, чудо! - это был вход в подземелье, и я погнал по нему Ангела к семи кирпичным домам и ввел в один дом; мартышки и обезьяны в нем, скалясь, бросались друг на друга, насколько пускали их цепи, сильные, ухватив слабых, отгрызали им ноги и руки, обладали беспомощными телами и тотчас их пожирали; и мы от смрада сбежали на мельницу, и я принес с собою скелет, который был "Аналитикой" Аристотеля. Ангел сказал: "Стыдись, ты показал мне свой бред". Я ответил: "Мы оба показали друг другу свой бред, но я не буду попусту спорить с тобой, ибо твой труд - "Аналитика". В Противоборстве суть истинной Дружбы. ----- I have always found that Angels have the vanity to speak of themselves as the Only Wise. This they do with a confident insolence sprouting from systematic reasoning. Thus Swedenborg boasts that what he writes is new; tho' it is only the Contents or Index of already publish'd books. A man carried a monkey about for a show, and because he was a little wiser than the monkey, grew vain, and conceiv'd himself as much wiser than seven men. It is so with Swedenborg: he shows the folly of churches, and exposes hypocrites, till he imagines that all are religious, and himself the single one on earth that ever broke a net. Now hear a plain fact: Swedenborg has not written one new truth. Now hear another: he has written all the old falsehoods. And now hear the reason. He conversed with Angels who are all religious, and conversed not with Devils who all hate religion, for he was incapable thro' his conceited notions. Thus Swedenborg's writings are a recapitulation of all superficial opinions, and an analysis of the more sublime-but no further. Have now another plain fact. Any man of mechanical talents may, from the writings of Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volumes of equal value with Swedenborg's, and from those of Dante or Shakespear an infinite number. But when he has done this, let him not say that he knows better than his master, for he only holds a candle in sunshine. ----- Я всегда замечал, что Ангелы почитают мудрыми только себя; их самомнение - плод постоянного умствования. И Сведенборг хвастает тем, что все сочиненное им ново, а на деле оно - Свод выжимок из старинных книг. Человек водил напоказ обезьяну, ибо был немного умнее ее, но он возгордился и почел себя много умнее семерых мудрецов. Таков Сведенборг: он показал греховность церквей и ложь лицемеров и возомнил, что он один на земле вырвался из сетей религии. Во-первых, Сведенборг не открыл ни одной новой истины. Во-вторых, его сочинения - старая ложь. И вот причина: Сведенборг беседовал с Ангелами, которые любят религию, но тщеславие не позволило ему беседовать с Дьяволами, которые ее ненавидят. Поэтому Сведенборг повторяет чужие мнения и исследует лишь небеса - но не больше. И всякий посредственный человек способен из книг Парацельса и Якоба Беме произвести десять тысяч томов равной ценности со Сведенборгом, а из книг Шекспира и Данте - бесчисленное их множество. Но, так поступив, пусть не скажет, что превзошел своих учителей, ибо он всего лишь держит свечу при солнечном свете. ----- A MEMORABLE FANCY Once I saw a Devil in a flame of fire, who arose before an Angel that sat on a cloud, and the Devil utter'd these words: - 'The worship of God is: Honouring his gifts in other men, each according to his genius, and loving the greatest men best: those who envy or calumniate great men hate God; for there is no other God.' The Angel hearing this became almost blue; but mastering himself he grew yellow, and at last white, pink, and smiling, and then replied: - 'Thou Idolater! is not God One? and is not he visible in Jesus Christ? and has not Jesus Christ given his sanction to the law of ten commandments? and are not all other men fools, sinners, and nothings?' The Devil answer'd: 'Bray a fool in a mortar with wheat, yet shall not his folly be beaten out of him. If Jesus Christ is the greatest man, you ought to love Him in the greatest degree. Now hear how He has given His sanction to the law of ten commandments. Did He not mock at the sabbath, and so mock the sabbath's God; murder those who were murder'd because of Him; turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery; steal the labour of others to support Him; bear false witness when He omitted making a defence before Pilate; covet when He pray'd for His disciples, and when He bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments. Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.' When he had so spoken, I beheld the Angel, who stretched out his arms, embracing the flame of fire, and he was consumed, and arose as Elijah. _Note_. - This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular friend. We often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical sense, which the world shall have if they behave well. I have also The Bible of Hell, which the world shall have whether they will or no. ----- ПАМЯТНЫЙ СОН Однажды я видел, как Ангел сидел на облаке и перед ним восстал Дьявол в пламени и сказал: "Поклоняться Богу - значит чтить дары его в людях, отдавать каждому должное и больше других любить великих людей: кто завидует и возводит хулу на великих, тот ненавидит Бога, ибо нет во вселенной иного Бога". Ангел сделался синим, но совладал с собой, и сделался желтым, белым и, наконец, розовым, и с улыбкой ответил: "О творец Кумиров! Разве Бог не Один? Разве он во плоти не являлся Иисусом Христом? Разве Иисус Христос не дал нам десять заповедей? Разве прочие люди не безумцы, грешники и ничтожества? " Дьявол ответил: "Растолки безумца в ступе с пшеницей, и безумие отлетит от него. Раз Иисус Христос был самым великим человеком, ты должен любить его больше, чем всех остальных человеков. Подумай же, как он дал свои десять заповедей. Разве не насмехался он над субботою и Богом субботы? Разве не убивал тех, кто убиты во имя его? Разве не отвратил закон от блудницы? Разве не крал чужой труд на пропитанье себе? Разве не лжесвидетельствовал, когда не стал защищать себя перед Пилатом? Разве не соблазнялся, когда молился об учениках и когда повелел им отрясти прах от ног, выходя из дома того, кто не принял их? Я говарю: добродетель всегда нарушает заповеди. Иисус - добродетель и действовал от души, а не по законам". И тут я увидел, как Ангел простер свои руки, и обнял пламя, и исчез в нем, и вознесся, как Илия. Заметь: этот Ангел стал Дьяволом и ныне мой лучший друг; мы часто вместе читаем библию и находим в ней инфернальный, или дьявольский, смысл, и мир его узнает, если того заслужит. И еще у меня есть Библия Ада, и смысл ее мир узнает, хочет он того или нет. ----- One Law for the Lion and Ox is Oppression. Томление - общий закон для Льва и Вола. A SONG OF LIBERTY 1. The Eternal Female groan'd! it was heard over all the Earth. 2. Albion's coast is sick, silent; the American meadows faint! 3. Shadows of Prophecy shiver along by the lakes and the rivers; and mutter across the ocean: France, rend down thy dungeon! 4. Golden Spain, burst the barriers of old Rome! 5. Cast thy keys, О Rome, into the deep down falling, even to eternity down falling. 6. And weep. 7. In her trembling hand she took the new born terror, howling. 8. On those infinite mountains of light, now barr'd out by the Atlantic sea, the new born fire stood before the starry king! 9. Flag'd with grey brow'd snows and thunderous visages, the jealous wings wav'd over the deep. 10. The speary hand burned aloft, unbuckled was the shield; forth went the hand of jealousy among the flaming hair, and hurl'd the new born wonder thro' the starry night. 11. The fire, the fire is falling! 12. Look up! look up! О citizen of London, enlarge thy countenance! О Jew, leave counting gold! return to thy oil and wine. О African! black African! (go, winged thought, widen his forehead.) 13. The fiery limbs, the flaming hair, shot like the sinking sun into the western sea. 14. Wak'd from his eternal sleep, the hoary element roaring fled away. 15. Down rush'd, beating his wings in vain, the jealous king; his grey brow'd councellors, thunderous warriors, curl'd veterans, among helms, and shields, and chariots, horses, elephants, banners, castles, slings, and rocks. 16. Falling, rushing, running! buried in the ruins, on Urthona's dens; 17. All night beneath the ruins; then, their sullen flames faded, emerge round the gloomy king. 18. With thunder and fire, leading his starry hosts thro' the waste wilderness, he promulgates his ten commands, glancing his beamy eye-lids over the deep in dark dismay. 19. Where the son of fire in his eastern cloud, while the morning plumes her golden breast, 20. Spurning the clouds written with curses, stamps the stony law to dust, loosing the eternal horses from the dens of night, crying: EMPIRE IS NO MORE! AND NOW THE LION & WOLF SHALL CEASE Chorus Let the Priests of the Raven of dawn no longer, in deadly black, with hoarse note curse the sons of joy. Nor his accepted brethren - whom, tyrant, he calls free-lay the bound or build the roof. Nor pale religious letchery call that virginity that wishes but acts not! For every thing that lives is Holy. ПЕСНЬ СВОБОДЫ 1. Возопила Вечная Женственность! Весь Мир услыхал ее. 2. Но брег Альбиона безмолвен; луга Америки далеки! 3. Зыблются тени Пророчества по озерам и рекам, взывают через Атлантику: Разрушь темницу, о Франция! 4. Золотая Испания, рви оковы ветхого Рима! 5. И ты, о Рим, брось ключи свои в бездну, да канут в вечность. 6. Зарыдай и склони почтенную седину. 7. Ибо новорожденный ужас взяла Женственность в слабые руки и указала: 8. На бескрайних нагорьях сиянья, за океаном - новорожденное пламя восстало пред оком алчного короля. 9. В хмурых снегах и грозных виденьях вороньи крылья взвились над пучиной. 10. Но рука с занесенным копьем горит, рухнул щит; взметнулась рука алчности к вспыхнувшим волосам и отбросила в звездную ночь новорожденное диво. 11. Пламя, пламя с небес! 12. Ввысь, ввысь глядите! Увидь, что творится в мире, о горожанин Лондона! Брось считать золотые монеты, о Иудей, вернись к библейскому ладану и вину! О Африканец! О черный Африканец! (Лети, крылатая мысль, расширь ему разум.) 13. Руки и волосы в пламени, словно вечернее солнце, скрылись в западном море. 14. Нарушен вечный сон древней стихии, с ревом она уносится прочь: 15. Рухнул алчный король, тщетно крыльями бил он; седые его советники, грозные воины, дрогнувшие ветераны средь шлемов, щитов, колесниц, коней, слонов и знамен, крепостей, луков и стрел 16. Мечутся, падают, гибнут! Погребены под руинами в подземельях Уртоны; 17. Всю ночь под руинами; иссякло мрачное пламя, толпятся они вкруг угрюмого Короля. 18. В огне и громе ведет он орды бесплодной пустыней, провозглашает десять вороньих заповедей, но в черном унынии из-под век косится он на восток, 19. Где в златопером облачке утра сын пламени 20. Разгоняет тучи, исчерченные проклятьями, воздвигает столп закона на прахе, выпускает из подземелий ночи коней вечности и возглашает: ИМПЕРИЯ УМЕРЛА! ОТНЫНЕ СГИНУТ И ЛЕВ И ВОЛК! Припев О Жрецы вороньего утра, теперь чернота ваша не смертоносна, не хулите ж сынов веселья! О приемные братья Ворона, - вас он, тиран, именует свободными, - не воздвигайте стен, не скрывайте крышами небеса! О бледный церковный разврат, сойди с пути вольных желаний девства! Ибо все живое Священно. Перевод А. Я. Сергеева VISIONS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ALBION ВИДЕНИЯ ДЩЕРЕЙ АЛЬБИОНА The Eye sees more than the Heart Knows Глаз видит больше, Чем Сердце знает. THE ARGUMENT I loved Theotormon, And I was not ashamed; I trembled in my virgin fears, And I hid in Leutha's vale! I plucked Leutha's flower, And I rose up from the vale; But the terrible thunders tore My virgin mantle in twain. СМЫСЛ Я полюбила Теотормона И не стыдилась, что люблю; Я трепетала в страхе девичьем И пряталась в долине Левты. Я сорвала цветок над Левтою И в путь пустилась из долины; Но грозный гром одежду девичью Ударом надвое рассек. VISIONS Enslav'd, the Daughters of Albion weep; a trembling lamentation Upon their mountains; in their valleys, sighs toward America. For the soft soul of America, Oothoon, wander'd in woe Along the vales of Leutha, seeking flowers to comfort her; And thus she spoke to the bright Marigold of Leutha's vale; - 'Art thou a flower? art thou a nymph? I see thee now a flower, Now a nymph! I dare not pluck thee from thy dewy bed!' The Golden nymph replied: 'Pluck thou my flower, Oothoon the mild! Another flower shall spring, because the soul of sweet delight Can never pass away.' She ceas'd, and clos'd her golden shrine. Then Oothoon pluck'd the flower, saying: 'I pluck thee from thy bed, Sweet flower, and put thee here to glow between my breasts; And thus I turn my face to where my whole soul seeks.' Over the waves she went in wing'd exulting swift delight, And over Theotormon's reign took her impetuous course. Bromion rent her with his thunders; on his stormy bed Lay the faint maid, and soon her woes appall'd his thunders hoarse. Bromion spoke: 'Behold this harlot here on Bromion's bed, And let the jealous dolphins sport around the lovely maid! Thy soft American plains are mine, and mine thy north and south: Stamp'd with my signet are the swarthy children of the sun; They are obedient, they resist not, they obey the scourge; Their daughters worship terrors and obey the violent. Now thou may'st marry Bromion's harlot, and protect the child Of Bromion's rage, that Oothoon shall put forth in nine moons' time.' Then storms rent Theotormon's limbs: he roll'd his waves around And folded his black jealous waters round the adulterate pair. Bound back to back in Bromion's caves, terror and meekness dwell: At entrance Theotormon sits, wearing the threshold hard With secret tears; beneath him sound like waves on a desert shore The voice of slaves beneath the sun, and children bought with money, That shiver in religious caves beneath the burning fires Of lust, that belch incessant from the summits of the earth. Oothoon weeps not; she cannot weep, her tears are locked up; But she can howl incessant, writhing her soft snowy limbs, And calling Theotormon's Eagles to prey upon her flesh. 'I call with holy voice! Kings of the sounding air, Rend away this defiled bosom that I may reflect The image of Theotormoti on my pure transparent breast.' The Eagles at her call descend and rend their bleeding prey: Theotormon severely smiles; her soul reflects the smile, As the clear spring, muddied with feet of beasts, grows pure and smiles. The Daughters of Albion hear her woes, and echo back her sighs. 'Why does my Theotormon sit weeping upon the threshold, And Oothoon hovers by his side, persuading him in vain? О cry: Arise, О Theotormon! for the village dog Barks at the breaking day; the nightingale has done lamenting; The lark does rustle in the ripe corn, and the eagle returns From nightly prey, and lifts his golden beak to the pure east, Shaking the dust from his immortal pinions to awake The sun that sleeps too long. Arise, my Theotormon! I am pure, Because the night is gone that clos'd me in its deadly black. They told me that the night and day were all that I could see; They told me that I had five senses to enclose me up; And they enclos'd my infinite brain into a narrow circle, And sunk my heart into the Abyss, a red, round globe, hot burning, Till all from life I was obliterated and erased. Instead of morn arises a bright shadow, like an eye In the eastern cloud; instead of night a sickly charnel-house, That Theotormon hears me not. To him the night and morn Are both alike; a night of sighs, a morning of fresh tears; And none but Bromion can hear my lamentations. 'With what sense is it that the chicken shuns the ravenous hawk? With what sense does the tame pigeon measure out the expanse? With what sense does the bee form cells? Have not the mouse and frog Eyes and ears and sense of touch? Yet are their habitations And their pursuits as different as their forms and as their joys. Ask the wild ass why he refuses burdens, and the meek camel Why he loves man. Is it because of eye, ear, mouth, or skin, Or breathing nostrils? No! for these the wolf and tiger have. Ask the blind worm the secrets of the grave, and why her spires Love to curl round the bones of death; and ask the rav'nous snake Where she gets poison, and the wing'd eagle why he loves the sun; And then tell me the thoughts of man, that have been hid of old. 'Silent I hover all the night, and all day could be silent, If Theotormon once would turn his loved eyes upon me. How can I be defil'd when I reflect thy image pure? Sweetest the fruit that the worm feeds on, and the soul prey'd on by woe, The new-wash'd lamb ting'd with the village smoke, and the bright swan By the red earth of our immortal river. I bathe my wings, And I am white and pure to hover round Theotormon's breast.' Then Theotormon broke his silence, and he answered: - 'Tell me what is the night or day to one o'erflow'd with woe? Tell me what is a thought, and of what substance is it made? Tell me what is a joy, and in what gardens do joys grow? And in what rivers swim the sorrows? And upon what mountains Wave shadows of discontent? And in what houses dwell the wretched, Drunken with woe, forgotten, and shut up from cold despair? 'Tell me where dwell the thoughts, forgotten till thou call them forth? Tell me where dwell the joys of old, and where the ancient loves, And when will they renew again, and the night of oblivion past, That I might traverse times and spaces far remote, and bring Comforts into a present sorrow and a night of pain? Where goest thou, О thought? to what remote land is thy flight? If thou returnest to the present moment of affliction, Wilt thou bring comforts on thy wings, and dews and honey and balm, Or poison from the desert wilds, from the eyes of the envier?' Then Bromion said, and shook the cavern with his lamentation: - 'Thou knowest that the ancient trees seen by thine eyes have fruit; But knowest thou that trees and fruits flourish upon the earth To gratify senses unknown-trees, beasts, and birds unknown; Unknown, not unperceiv'd, spread in the infinite microscope, In places yet unvisited by the voyager, and in worlds Over another kind of seas, and in atmospheres unknown? Ah! are there other wars, beside the wars of sword and fire? And are there other sorrows beside the sorrows of poverty? And are there other joys beside the joys of riches and ease? And is there not one law for both the lion and the ox? And is there not eternal fire, and eternal chains To bind the phantoms of existence from eternal life?' Then Oothoon waited silent all the day and all the night; But when the morn arose, her lamentation renew'd: The Daughters of Albion hear her woes, and echo back her sighs. 'O Urizen! Creator of men! mistaken Demon of heaven! Thy joys are tears, thy labour vain to form men to thine image. How can one joy absorb another? Are not different joys Holy, eternal, infinite? and each joy is a Love. 'Does not the great mouth laugh at a gift, and the narrow eyelids mock At the labour that is above payment? And wilt thou take the ape For thy counsellor, or the dog for a schoolmaster to thy children? Does he who contemns poverty, and he who turns with abhorrence From usury feel the same passion, or are they moved alike? How can the giver of gifts experience the delights of the merchant? How the industrious citizen the pains of the husbandman? How different far the fat fed hireling with hollow drum, Who buys whole corn-fields into wastes, and sings upon the heath! How different their eye and ear! How different the world to them! With what sense does the parson claim the labour of the farmer? What are his nets and gins and traps; and how does he surround him With cold floods of abstraction, and with forests of solitude, To build him castles and high spires, where kings and priests may dwell; Till she who burns with youth, and knows no fixed lot, is bound In spells of law to one she loathes? And must she drag the chain Of life in weary lust? Must chilling, murderous thoughts obscure The clear heaven of her eternal spring; to bear the wintry rage Of a harsh terror, driv'n to madness, bound to hold a rod Over her shrinking shoulders all the day, and all the night To turn the wheel of false desire, and longings that wake her womb To the abhorred birth of cherubs in the human form, That live a pestilence and die a meteor, and are no more; Till the child dwell with one he hates, and do the deed he loathes, And the impure scourge force his seed into its unripe birth, Ere yet his eyelids can behold the arrows of the day? 'Does the whale worship at thy footsteps as the hungry dog; Or does he scent the mountain prey because his nostrils wide Draw in the ocean? Does his eye discern the flying cloud As the raven's eye; or does he measure the expanse like the vulture? Does the still spider view the cliffs where eagles hide their young; Or does the fly rejoice because the harvest is brought in? Does not the eagle scorn the earth, and despise the treasures beneath? But the mole knoweth what is there, and the worm shall tell it thee. Does not the worm erect a pillar in the mouldering churchyard And a palace of eternity in the jaws of the hungry grave? Qver his porch these words are written: "Take thy bliss, О Man! And sweet shall be thy taste, and sweet thy infant joys renew!" 'Infancy! Fearless, lustful, happy, nestling for delight In laps of pleasure: Innocence! honest, open, seeking The vigorous joys of morning light, open to virgin bliss, Who taught thee modesty, subtil modesty, child of night and sleep? When thou awakest wilt thou dissemble all thy secret joys, Or wert thou not awake when all this mystery was disclos'd? Then com'st thou forth a modest virgin knowing to dissemble, With nets found under thy night pillow, to catch virgin joy And brand it with the name of whore, and sell it in the night In silence, ev'n without a whisper, and in seeming sleep. Religious dreams and holy vespers light thy smoky fires: Qnce were thy fires lighted by the eyes of honest morn. And does my Theotormon seek this hypocrite modesty, This knowing, artful, secret, fearful, cautious, trembling hypocrite? Then (s Oothoon a whore indeed! and all the virgin joys, Of life are harlots; and Theotormon is a sick man's dream; And Oothoon is the crafty slave of selfish holiness. 'But Oothoon is not so, a virgin fill'd with virgin fancies, Open to joy and to delight wherever beauty appears: If in the morning sun I find it, there my eyes are fix'd In happy copulation; if in evening mild, wearied with work, Sit on a bank and draw the pleasures of this free-born joy. 'The moment of desire! the moment of desire! The virgin That pines for man shall awaken her womb to enormous joys In the secret shadows of her chamber: the youth shut up from The lustful joy shall forget to generate, and create an amorous image In the shadows of his curtains and in the folds of his silent pillow Are not these the places of religion, the rewards of continence, The self-enjoyings of self-denial? Why dost thou seek religion? Is it because acts are not lovely that thou seekes't solitude, Where the horrible darkness is impressed with reflections of desire? 'Father of Jealousy, be thou accursed from the earth! Why hast thou taught my Theotormon this accursed thing, Till beauty fades from off my shoulders, darken'd and cast out, A solitary shadow wailing on the margin of nonentity? 'I cry: Love! Love! Love! happy happy Love! free as the mountain wind! Can that be Love, that drinks another as a sponge drinks water, That clouds with jealousy his nights, with weepings all the day, To spin a web of age around him, grey and hoary, dark; Till his eyes sicken at the fruit that hangs before his sight? Such is self-love that envies all, a creeping skeleton, With lamplike eyes watching around the frozen marriage bed! 'But silken nets and traps of adamant will Oothoon spread, And catch for thee girls of mild silver, or of furious gold. I'll lie beside thee on a bank, and view their wanton play In lovely copulation, bliss on bliss, with Theotormon: Red as the rosy morning, lustful as the first-born beam, Oothoon shall view his dear delight; nor e'er with jealous cloud Come in the heaven of generous love, nor selfish blightings bring. 'Does the sun walk, in glorious raiment, on the secret floor Where the cold miser spreads his gold; or does the bright cloud drop On his stone threshold? Does his eye behold the beam that brings Expansion to the eye of pity; or will he bind himself Beside the ox to thy hard furrow? Does not that mild beam blot The bat, the owl, the glowing tiger, and the king of night? The sea-fowl takes the wintry blast for a cov'ring to her limbs, And the wild snake the pestilence to adorn him with gems and gold; And trees, and birds, and beasts, and men behold their eternal joy. Arise, you little glancing wings, and sing your infant joy! Arise, and drink your bliss, for everything that lives is holy!' Thus every morning wails Oothoon; but Theotormon sits Upon the margin'd ocean conversing with shadows dire. The Daughters of Albion hear her woes, and echo back her sighs. ВИДЕНИЯ Рыдают в рабстве Дщери Альбиона, стон их слышен В долинах и в горах; к Америке летят их вздохи: Там безутешная душа Америки Утуна Бродила по долине Левты, и себе в отраду Цветок искала, и, найдя, спросила Маргаритку: - Скажи, цветок иль нимфа ты? То вижу я цветок, То нимфу. Разлучу ль тебя с твоим росистым ложем? Златая нимфа ей в ответ: - Сорви меня, Утуна! Другой цветок взрастет взамен меня: душа блаженства Бессмертна. - И укрылась нимфа в венчике златом. Утуна сорвала цветок, сказав: - Ты разлучилась С росистым ложем - так сияй же на моей груди: С тобой мне весело спешить, куда влечет душа. И полетела на волнах крылатого блаженства, Над царством Теотормона пустилась в быстрый путь. Но громом Бромион сразил ее; она упала На ложе бурное его и воплем гром пронзила. Воззвал глумливый Бромион: - Взгляни, в моих объятьях - Блудница, и хранят ее ревнивые дельфины! Твоя Америка - моя, мои твой юг и север, И выжжено мое тавро на черных детях солнца. Они не ропщут и покорны моему бичу, Их дочери дрожат меня и уступают силе. Бери мою наложницу, храни мое дитя - Ты через девять месяцев его по