Thel II
O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell meWhy thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away:Then we shall seek thee but not find: ah Thel is like to thee.I pass away, yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.
The Cloud then shewd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd.Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.
O virgin know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springsWhere Luvah doth renew his horses: lookst thou on my youth.And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more.Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away.It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy:Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers:And court the fair eyed dew, to take me to her shining tentThe weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun.Till we arise link'd in a golden band and never part:But walk united bearing food to all our tender flowers.
Dost thou O little cloud? I fear that I am not like thee:For I walk through the vales of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers:But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds,But I feed not the warbling birds, they fly and seek their food:But Thel delights in these no more because I fade awayAnd all shall say, without a use this shining women liv'd,Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms.
The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answerd thus.
Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies,How great thy use, how great thy blessing, every thing that lives.Lives not alone nor or itself: fear not and I will call,The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.Come forth worm and the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.
The helpless worm arose and sat upon the Lillys leaf,And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thel II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of William Blake, Project Gutenberg ebook #574; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, Thel II, in Poems of William Blake (1783–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #574, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-poems/thel-ii.html, id L02029.
Form and metre
Thel II is 31 lines in 7 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A- meA · away · theeA · voice
- 3 -----A---A springs · youth · more · away · holy · flowersA · tent · sun · part · flowersA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell me | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| Why thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away: | 14 | ··˘/˘····/··˘/ |
| Then we shall seek thee but not find: ah Thel is like to thee. | 14 | ·············· |
| I pass away, yet I complain, and no one hears my voice. | 14 | ··˘/··˘/······ |
| The Cloud then shewd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd. | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
| Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel. | 14 | /˘·/˘········· |
| O virgin know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springs | 14 | ·/˘···/····/˘· |
| Where Luvah doth renew his horses: lookst thou on my youth. | 14 | ····˘/·/˘····· |
| And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more. | 14 | ·/˘····/˘····· |
| Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away. | 14 | /˘˘/········˘/ |
| It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy: | 15 | ···/·······/˘/˘ |
| Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers: | 15 | ˘/˘/˘······/˘/˘ |
| And court the fair eyed dew, to take me to her shining tent | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun. | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Till we arise link'd in a golden band and never part: | 14 | ··˘/···/˘··/˘· |
| But walk united bearing food to all our tender flowers. | 15 | ··˘/˘/˘···//˘/˘ |
| Dost thou O little cloud? I fear that I am not like thee: | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| For I walk through the vales of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers: | 15 | ···········/˘/˘ |
| But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds, | 14 | ·····/˘/···/˘· |
| But I feed not the warbling birds, they fly and seek their food: | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away | 14 | ··˘/········˘/ |
| And all shall say, without a use this shining women liv'd, | 14 | ·········/˘/˘· |
| Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms. | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answerd thus. | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies, | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| How great thy use, how great thy blessing, every thing that lives. | 14 | ·······/˘/˘··· |
| Lives not alone nor or itself: fear not and I will call, | 14 | ··˘/··˘/······ |
| The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice. | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Come forth worm and the silent valley, to thy pensive queen. | 14 | ·····/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The helpless worm arose and sat upon the Lillys leaf, | 14 | ·/˘·˘/·····/˘· |
| And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.