Broken Love



MY Spectre around me night and day  
Like a wild beast guards my way;  
My Emanation far within  
Weeps incessantly for my sin.  
 
‘A fathomless and boundless deep,          
There we wander, there we weep;  
On the hungry craving wind  
My Spectre follows thee behind.  
 
‘He scents thy footsteps in the snow  
Wheresoever thou dost go,         
Thro’ the wintry hail and rain.  
When wilt thou return again?  
 
’Dost thou not in pride and scorn  
Fill with tempests all my morn,  
And with jealousies and fears         
Fill my pleasant nights with tears?  
 
‘Seven of my sweet loves thy knife  
Has bereavèd of their life.  
Their marble tombs I built with tears,  
And with cold and shuddering fears.         
 
‘Seven more loves weep night and day  
Round the tombs where my loves lay,  
And seven more loves attend each night  
Around my couch with torches bright.  
 
‘And seven more loves in my bed         
Crown with wine my mournful head,  
Pitying and forgiving all  
Thy transgressions great and small.  
 
‘When wilt thou return and view  
My loves, and them to life renew?         
When wilt thou return and live?  
When wilt thou pity as I forgive?’  
 
‘O’er my sins thou sit and moan:  
Hast thou no sins of thy own?  
O’er my sins thou sit and weep,         
And lull thy own sins fast asleep.  
 
‘What transgressions I commit  
Are for thy transgressions fit.  
They thy harlots, thou their slave;  
And my bed becomes their grave.         
 
‘Never, never, I return:  
Still for victory I burn.  
Living, thee alone I’ll have;  
And when dead I’ll be thy grave.  
 
‘Thro’ the Heaven and Earth and Hell         
Thou shalt never, quell:  
I will fly and thou pursue:  
Night and morn the flight renew.’  
 
‘Poor, pale, pitiable form  
That I follow in a storm;         
Iron tears and groans of lead  
Bind around my aching head.  
 
‘Till I turn from Female love  
And root up the Infernal Grove,  
I shall never worthy be         
To step into Eternity.  
 
‘And, to end thy cruel mocks,  
Annihilate thee on the rocks,  
And another form create  
To be subservient to my fate.         
 
‘Let us agree to give up love,  
And root up the Infernal Grove;  
Then shall we return and see  
The worlds of happy Eternity.  
 
‘And throughout all Eternity         
I forgive you, you forgive me.  
As our dear Redeemer said:  
“This the Wine, and this the Bread.”’

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

1:59 min read
680

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabb ccdd eexx ffgh iihg aajj kkll mmxx nncc oopp qqxp rrmm sskk tUvv wwxx tUvv vvkk
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,367
Words 397
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. more…

All William Blake poems | William Blake Books

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