The Norton Anthology of English literature. Volume 2

10 Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed. But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun: I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place?"

"Queen of the vales," the Lilly answered, "ask the tender cloud, And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky,

15 And why it scatters its bright beauty thro' the humid air. Descend, O little cloud, & hover before the eyes of Thel." The Cloud descended, and the Lilly bowd her modest head, And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.

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100 / WILLIAM BLAKE

PLATE 3

2

"O little Cloud," the virgin said, "I charge thee tell to me, Why thou complainest not when in one hour thou fade away: Then we shall seek thee but not find; ah, Thel is like to Thee. I pass away, yet I complafn, and no one hears my voice."

s The Cloud then shew'd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd, Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.

"O virgin, know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springs Where Luvah5 doth renew his horses? Look'st thou on my youth, And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more,

10 Nothing remains? O maid, I tell thee, when I pass away, It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy: Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers, And court the fair eyed dew, to take me to her shining tent; The weeping virgin trembling kneels before the risen sun,

is Till we arise link'd in a golden band, and never part, But walk united, bearing food to all our tender flowers."

"Dost thou O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee; For I walk through the vales of Har and smell the sweetest flowers, But I feed not the little flowers; I hear the warbling birds,

20 But I feed not the warbling birds; they fly and seek their food; But Thel delights in these no more, because I fade away, And all shall say, 'Without a use this shining woman liv'd, Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms?' "

The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answer'd thus:

25 "Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies, How great thy use, how great thy blessing! Every thing that lives Lives not alone, nor for itself; fear not, and I will call The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice. Come forth, worm of the silent valley, to thy pensive queen."

30 The helpless worm arose, and sat upon the Lilly's leaf, And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.

PLATE 4

3

Then Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed.

"Art thou a Worm? Image of weakness, art thou but a Worm? I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lilly's leaf; Ah, weep not, little voice, thou can'st not speak, but thou can'st weep.

5. The earliest mention in Blake's work of one of sun; he repairs to the Vales of Har simply to rest his "Giant Forms," the Zoas. Luvah is the mythical and water his horses. The cloud in this passage embodiment of the passional and sexual aspect of describes the cycle of water, from cloud to rain and humankind. He is represented here, like the Greek (by the vaporizing action of the sun on water) back Phoebus Apollo, as the driver of the chariot of the to the cloud.

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THE BOOK OF THEL / 101

Is this a Worm? I see thee lay helpless & naked, weeping, And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mother's smiles."

The Clod of Clay heard the Worm's voice, & raisd her pitying head; She bow'd over the weeping infant, and her life exhal'd In milky fondness; then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes.

"O beauty of the vales of Har! we live not for ourselves; Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed; My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark,

PLATE 5

But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head, And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast, And says: 'Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee, And I have given thee a crown that none can take away.' But how this is, sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know; I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet I live and love."

The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her white veil, And said: "Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep. That God would love a Worm, I knew, and punish the evil foot That, wilful, bruis'd its helpless form; but that he cherish'd it With milk and oil I never knew; and therefore did I weep, And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away, And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot."

"Queen of the vales," the matron Clay answered, "I heard thy sighs, And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have call'd them down. Wilt thou, O Queen, enter my house? 'tis given thee to enter And to return; fear nothing, enter with thy virgin feet."

PLATE 6

4

The eternal gates' terrific porter lifted the northern bar:6 Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown. She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists: A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.