by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Solemn heave the Atlantic waves between...
Language: English
Solemn heave the Atlantic waves between the gloomy nations, Swelling, belching from its deeps red clouds and raging fires. Albion is sick! America faints! enrag'd the Zenith grew. As human blood shooting its veins all round the orbed heaven, Red rose the clouds from the Atlantic in vast wheels of blood, And in the red clouds rose a Wonder o'er the Atlantic sea, Intense! naked! a Human fire, fierce glowing as the wedge Of iron heated in the furnace: his terrible limbs were fire With myriads of cloudy terrors, banners dark and towers Surrounded: heat but not light went thro' the murky atmosphere. The King of England looking westward trembles at the vision.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), written 1793, appears in America: a Prophecy [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Colin Eatock (b. 1958), "Solemn heave the Atlantic waves between the gloomy nations
", 1987 [bass-baritone and piano], from Three Songs from Blakeâs "America", no. 1. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-10-20
Line count: 11
Word count: 113