17.A Song Of Liberty, Plates 25-27
1. The Eternal Female groan'd! it was heard over all the Earth：
2. Albions 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 O Rome into the deep down falling, even to
eternity down falling,
6. And weep.
7. In her trembling hands 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! O citizen of London, enlarge thy
countenance; O Jew, leave counting gold! return to thy oil and
wine; O 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, ruining! 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 eyelids 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.
| 
