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Nov 17, 2018
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the tyger’s retort
“When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”
The Tyger
William Blake
if you would only listen
to the songs
speaking of the antiquities
from which we have ventured.
long,
ancient pathways,
before gods and goddesses
were named,
before the world was
an ocean.
we flew over
the vastness of the waters –
the vast abyss
of Reshith.
we looked upon it all,
singing
from its very foundations...
Morning Stars,
pinioned vanity our downfall,
bearing weapons
of enraged blasphemy!
Yes!
he who made the Lamb
made me!
About This Poem
Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft
Comments
zebra
6 years 11 months ago
a dialectic
I really like the moral spirit of this and I wont quibble about the writing either but what I question is your view of the Anima mundi The irreducibility of the inherent fragmentation of sentiment consciousness.
pinioned vanity our downfall,
bearing weapons
of enraged blasphemy!
Was it not baked in from the beginning Is the TAO not irreducible?
God is always innocent, always passing the buck. What is Eve? But a little girl in paradise designed to be disobedient (created curious ) by the great patriarch and then to be punished for the transgression?
"What will it take
for God to redeem himself if not even a leaf falls without his will?
Race_9togo
6 years 11 months ago
Greetings,
and a belated welcome to Neopoet.
I am struck by the angelic feeling of this piece, the sense that the Firstborn are those describing their own Genesis, and their frustration at being set aside for the Son of Man.
Just me, I guess.
Good stuff.
Eumolpus
6 years 11 months ago
your poem
I assume the stance in the poem is that of the tiger, who seems to be both part of god and angel. Your poem is enigmatic to me, as is the poem you are retorting. I really like your poem, as I really like Blake. Despite spending almost a year studying Blake in College, (way way back then) I do not understand this poem. Much of Blake is quite accessible, some a bit abstract...Tyger, his most famous work has volumes on it and nobody really understands it. Not Northrup Frye or anyone else. Like "Kubla Kahn" or "The Raven" it's one of those poems people love to not "understand." It exists in the literary brain.
In Paradise Lost some angels follow Satan, who not only seeks to dethrone Jehovah he wants to be greater than him. Those were the angels of vanity and pride, and are cast out together. Seems the tyger got enlisted to the B team at the beginning, (the Reshith.)
A difficult poem to write, based on a difficult poem to read.
Will be enjoyed by Blake enthusiasts...not sure about the others.
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