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The Marriage of Heaven and Hell · c. 1790-93

The Argument

by William Blake 1757–1827


Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

Once meek, and in a perilous path
The just man kept his course along
The Vale of Death.
Roses are planted where thorns grow,
And on the barren heath
Sing the honey bees.

Then the perilous path was planted,
And a river and a spring
On every cliff and tomb;
And on the bleached bones
Red clay brought forth:
Till the villain left the paths of ease
To walk in perilous paths, and drive
The just man into barren climes.

Now the sneaking serpent walks
In mild humility;
And the just man rages in the wilds
Where lions roam.

Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air,
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

MLA

Blake, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Argument. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/work/marriage-of-heaven-and-hell/0/.

Chicago

Blake, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Argument. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/work/marriage-of-heaven-and-hell/0/.

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