1. Introduction

William Blake's texts and designs are, as being highlighted very often, two inseparable parts of a one complex unit. He made them (and also meant them) to cooperate with each other from the very first time to create a full and rich impression in a reader's mind: consisting of a text which is pleasant to the ear and an image which is pleasant to the eye, and - what is important - which corresponds with the text. The question is, whether is it possible to create new designs and in the same time not to affect that fragile harmony Blake managed to establish between the two mediums. A Czech artist Jan Konůpek [1] made this attempt in the 1940s and the aim of this article is to find out and explore how successful or unsuccessful he was in fulfilling Blake's daring plan.

There has not been any detailed research focusing on this particular topic yet, except for my diploma thesis [2], which, among other things, introduced the first attempt to look into this matter. The results I drew from my research will be presented in the following pages with a special emphasis on the impression I gained from both series of designs. The fact that Blake's and Konůpek's designs are completely different as they depict different situations of Thel's story makes the research more difficult. The reason could, of course, be Konůpek's aim to avoid comparing his designs with Blake's designs in the future, and thus keeping his hands clean. But a more probable reason, in my opinion, would be that Konůpek could have just been interested in some other parts of the story and have found some of the motifs from it more suitable for depicting.

2. The story

Before we start discussing The Book of Thel and its designs, it would probably be useful to give the reader an idea about the story itself, so he or she could follow[3] (see the attachement at the end of the article). What point is important to highlight is that there is not a full explanation of what truly happened in the story. The Book of ThelI> could refer to a fantastic character or (and highly possibly) it could be a metaphor.

In the centre of the story there is a young girl called Thel who lives in the "Vales of Har". She is unhappy because she is afraid of her future and also curious about where do people go when they die. So she sets journey from the valley to find out. On her way she progressively meets Lily-of-the-Valley, Cloud, a worm and Clod of Clay. All of them she asks the same question when finally Clod takes her to the underground to see the life after death. Thel is scared and escapes back to the safe valley where she came from.

This summary follows a very simplified version of the story. If we wanted to check it from a different point of view, we might have said that Thel was not living in a safe valley, but in a mother's womb and her journey was just a soul's trip to the real world simply to see what is there. After reassuring herself that the world was cruel (visiting the underground of the dead) she returned to the safe place. Another possible explanation of what happened is that the two states of Thel are Innocence (before the journey) and Experience (after the journey), as we know that Blake made various works on this topic (explanation represented by Bindman [4]).

According to traditional interpretations, Thel is a pastoral elegy and what I have discovered is that from the beginning the poem it really does resemble a pastoral elegy. The text opens quite positively, as the daughters of Mne Seraphim tend "sunny flocks" (1:1) and resemble shepherdesses of some sort. Thel᾽s departure from them ten corresponds with a pastoral elegy, in which the shepherd abandons his flock and goes off by himself. But Thel also has elements of folklore and romance, or even of a fairy tale. Good examples could be represented by those speaking inferior creatures in the text ̶ the Lily, Cloud and Clod of Clay all speak and the worm weeps. These creatures also belong to some kind of society, each of them to his or her own, which is a typical feature of English fairy tales. The Cloud rests on an "airy throne"(3:24), the Clod is wearing "a crown that none can take away" (5:4) and Thel herself is called the "queen of the vales"(2:13) and she sits on a "pearly throne" (2:12), (these interpretations are supported by Nancy Bogan [5]).

The last (but also the most down-to-earth) explanation can be found in John Milton's story called Comus which is very similar to Thel's story. The main difference lies in the fact that Blake took this story and rewrote it in biological terms, as Comus was written in moral ones (stated by Damon [6]).

3. Blake's designs

At first, let me introduce the original designs made by Blake. The Book of Thel consists of eight plates, including six designs. There are fifteen known copies (and some fragments) of Thel, most of which were printed about 1789 ̶ 1790. All of them were etched in relief [7] and watercoloured by hand [8]. The copies thus differ from each other and none of them has the same colouring which gives each copy a special tone (in my research I focused on copies B and J).

The design on the title page represents Thel in her innocent state.




She is standing on the left of the page, under a willow tree, wearing a long dress (green in copy J and pink in B), holding a crook and looking to the right, where some flowers and two little naked figures can be seen. They are the Cloud and his consort, the "fairy eyed dew". The willow overspreads its branch around the whole scene and serves as a protective motif. The sign The Book of Thel floats above the scene. It is made of willow᾽s youngest branches and is accompanied by several flying figures and eagles.

The design corresponds with Thel᾽s Motto[9] on the opposite page, as the soaring eagles and the floating human beings represent the imaginative aspect of human existence, which is the Wisdom in the motto. The sensual aspect is represented by the Cloud, "fair eyed dew" and flowers. In this stage, Thel has not decided yet what her role is going to be, so she is standing apart from these two aspects.

When two copies are compared (B and J), their colouring is very different. In my opinion, in copy J, the ground on which Thel is standing looks like a river bank (in yellow and brown colours) and the river itself (or a spring) can be seen behind her (in various kinds of blue). In B, there is not any land and it looks like Thel is standing in the water. Or it seems to me that the perspective was changed a bit. In J, we are looking on the scene a bit more from above, able to see the river in its length and shape. In B, we are standing quite lower (on the edge of a cliff?), only able to see a distant blue colour, which may be water. I would also suggest that the time in B and J is not the same. In B, the sky is very light blue with pink shades, reminding me of a sunset. In J, the sky is very light and without any touches of a setting sun, so it is probably midday. Both versions, I would say, give different impressions to the reader. J looks more fresh, dynamic or vivid, B suggests that the text would be more romantic and more calm.

As far as other copies are concerned, none of them are alike. The colouring varies from copy to copy, creating a different background, adding or leaving out the shades of the figures. Blake was used to using three main colours on one design and then blending them. Copy J consists of blue, yellow-green and crimson, while B of blue, pink and a little green.

Plate 1




is coloured in blue, pink and yellow (copy J) and in blue and pink (copy B). The scene takes place somewhere in the air. There are five little figures, floating around the sign Thel and an eagle flying above it. The sign is again made of willow᾽s sprouts. The scene seems to balance well, as the pointing figure in the left upper corner is pointing up, while the figure in the opposite corner is holding a shield and raises his arm with a sword. Below the sign, there is a young woman with a baby and another figure lying comfortably on a leaf. According to Bogan, the scene may represent "stages in the biological life of man (in the poem the baby worm reclines on the Lily᾽s leaf and is succored by the Clod)." (38)

Plate 2




is divided into two equal parts, the text in the upper part, and the design in the lower part. On the design we can see Thel, again standing under a willow tree (in a reversed perspective), but now talking to the Lily-of-the-Valley. It is probably intended to represent Lily᾽s farewell to Thel, as described in lines 17 18. Lily looks like a little person, wearing a long white dress and growing from the green grass. The weather in copy J looks dark and stormy, as dark blue and mauve were used. In B, the weather is very nice and calm, again suggesting a sunset. Thel᾽s dress has changed from green to dark yellow in J, while in B, it stayed light pink.

Another plate with a design is plate 4




(app. 5 and 11), in which the Cloud introduces Thel to the Worm and in the same time departs from the scene, somewhere to the left, as it is described in the last two lines of plate 3. The Cloud is designed as a young man, wearing a long cloth with his arms spread like wings. Thel᾽s arms are also spread and in my opinion, it could represent a farewell gesture towards the Cloud or an invitation towards the Worm, who is nothing but a little baby, lying in the grass. The positions of the text and the design have been switched. What I found interesting, is the presence of a tree on the very right of the design. In J, the tree is very dark, but it grows out of the design and we can see only its lowest part and the roots. But on B, the line of the tree is only suggested and it stays uncoloured. This again corresponds with the weather in both copies, J looks stormy again, while B remains bright and calm.

Plate 5




depicts Thel with bowed head, sitting on the ground and looking down to what probably are The Clod of Clay (a smaller figure than Thel, but naked) and the Worm (the baby from the previous design). Thel weeps, because she did not know what the Worm told her (lines 5:7 ̶ 5:13). The Clod is then talking to Thel (5:14 ̶ 5:17), but on the design it is turned to the Worm, as she was talking to him, both lying on a bed made of grass and of Thel᾽s long dress. Big flowers behind Thel compositionally balance the raised hands of the Worm. In copy B, the scene is coloured in blue, pink and green, still keeping its calmness. The weather in copy J has changed a lot as the whole background is coloured in rich yellow. Also Thel᾽s dress is changed in to a red one.

I would say that it is a pity not to see the underground into which Thel was not afraid to look accompanied by the Clod. Blake decided not to depict this scene and etched a giant serpent at the end of the text in plate 6 instead of it.



It is a scene which is not included into the text. Bogan explains its meaning: "The naked girl, or woman, and the last child are perhaps carried over from the design of plate 5. If so, she and the children represent the Clod and her charges ̶ in more traditional terms, mother earth and her step-children, or humanity. In Blakean terms the scene also represents the free use of the imagination, or wisdom, and innocent physical love." (48)

4. Jan Konůpek and his designs for The Book of Thel

During his life, Konůpek was under the influence of various artistic styles. In his early age, he read Czech literature of symbolism and decadence. While studying at university, he was influenced by his teacher Max Pirner, concentrated on graphic design, typography and illustration and his work resulted from ornamental secession. After establishing Sursum, he produced graphics resembling current wave of cubism and expressionism. After becoming a professor, he found new inspiration in modern art and started using some means of expression of abstraction and surrealism. In this time he discovered William Blake and his illuminated books and decided to illustrate one of them.

For whole his life, Konůpek was fascinated by depths of the unconscious and the heights of the supersensory, by the extremes of human psyche, by the domain of dark passions, impulses and instincts and by eroticism and death. Description and depiction of wanderings of the human soul was another Konůpek᾽s scope. His women resemble or are designed to look like an abstract spirituality floating somewhere between the two worlds.

Some of the facts mentioned above are in agreement with Blake. It is mainly the glaring similarity in both men᾽s education as engravers and graphic artists and their admiration of similar topics. Konůpek probably found a soul mate in Blake, who would (with a high probability) agree with him in some points (if not in all, at least in some of them). Konůpek found the connection between himself and Blake in illustrating Thel, a work containing his favourite topic of a wandering soul, in which sense he probably understood it.

Konůpek drew only two designs for The Book of Thel. The first one

represents the situation in which Thel talks to the Cloud. The whole scene looks very dynamic, as the Cloud himself fills almost all space of it. He is depicted as a powerful master of the sky, with long curly hair, driving a chariot pulled by at least four horses and accompanied by two other horses that run freely. The Cloud᾽s body, the chariot and the horses all made of many cloudy-looking shapes and shades and some details are only suggested by a pen. The Cloud looks like he has just slacken up the chariot a bit to talk to Thel, but does not want to stop it completely. He directs the horses to the right and up from the paper, creating a strong wind which bends futuristic-looking straws and bushes growing on the flower meadow. On the very right, we can see Thel. She has a very tall and slender figure and is dressed in a long gown which also covers her head and neck and unveils only her face and hands. She is standing on the meadow, looking at The Cloud, her head and her right arm raised to him. In the opposite corner some stars can be seen in the night sky.

The second design

depicts Thel and her visit to the underground. Again, we can see Thel on the very right of the picture, dressed in the same gown, but now looking down to the cave. She is standing on a overhang, surrounded by rough rocks and stalactites hanging from the cave᾽s ceiling. In the distant depth below her, she sees a lake (or a graveyard) full of lying corpses and some other futuristic flowers which produce a smell that is taken out of the cave by the air flow. The whole scene occurs to be very dark and gloomy. Both designs are pen drawings in black and white.

5. The comparison

When we compare Konůpek᾽s illustrations with those of Blake, some striking differences can be seen on the first sight. Firstly, Konůpek decided not to depict the same scenes as Blake and chose other situations from the text. Konůpek᾽s scene with the Cloud takes place a bit earlier than Blake᾽s one, as the Cloud is still there, talking to Thel and the Worm is not there yet. On the other hand, Konůpek let Thel to raise her arm according to Blake᾽s Thel, so both scenes are not far from each other, as Thel in Konůpek᾽s design is probably also saying her goodbye to the Cloud. If not, she could also be greeting the Cloud and in that case, Thel in Blake᾽s design could be greeting the Worm and not saying goodbye to the Cloud.

Secondly, Konůpek᾽s and Blake᾽s Clouds look like two different characters. Blake᾽s Cloud is a young trouble-free man, flying happily in the air. Konůpek᾽s Cloud is much more distinguished and respectable. He has his duties and being very busy, only slacks up his chariot to say what he has to Thel and very quickly continues on his way.

Thirdly, and what I find really interesting, Thel herself looks very different when all Blake᾽s and Konůpek᾽s designs are compared. Blake᾽s Thel is a beautiful frailty esence, looking very femininely with her airy dress and long curly hair. She is also very young, full of life and represents her innocent state very clearly. In the comparison, Konůpek᾽s Thel is very tall, stiff, rawboned and even ill-looking creature, having no signs of being a woman at all (no hips and no breasts), with her head, chin and neck tightly covered with a cloth, almost like having some kind of unpleasant illness. Her hands are wrinkled and her cheekbones are sharp and visible.

And finally, the atmosphere in Blake᾽s designs is, in my opinion, much more positive and lite than in those of Konůpek. Especially when we take copy B to compare. Stormy copy J approximates to Konůpek᾽s windy atmosphere a bit more, but it still does not reach a similar feeling from it. While looking at Konůpek᾽s designs, I feel breathless and desperate. Something really negative is going on here, even the nature has adapted to it, having bare branches and keeping itself stuck to the ground. Like if the wind was blowing so strongly all the time. Blake᾽s designs make me feel more comfortable and relaxed and let me just watch Thel᾽s story without being nervous.

It looks like Blake᾽s Thel is innocence itself, while Konůpek᾽s Thel has already realized something. But this interpretation would not make sense, if we understood the poem like this, because Thel escapes from experience and before that she is still innocent. In my opinion, Konůpek did not understand The Book of Thel as a path from innocence to experience, but as a path from life to death and the fear of it. If I am right and Konůpek᾽s Thel is really ill (and she knows she is maybe going to die), then it would make sense to depict her like that.

We cannot work with Konůpek᾽s serious illness in his last years, because in 1935, when The Book of Thel with is illustrations was published, he was not ill yet. But we can work with the year 1935 itself, because the oppressive situation before WWII in Europe has already crept into people᾽s lives and Konůpek could take Thel᾽s journey to the underground as metaphor to express everybody᾽s fear of fascism or of war itself. Or he could draw Thel᾽s bony body as a symbol of broken ideals.

Blake᾽s Thel and Konůpek᾽s Thel are, in fact, distinctive in one important thing ̶ they are not designed to represent the same. As we know, Blake had an unusual personality which was shaped by many various influences from various times and countries and his understanding of the divine and of God was not typical in his time. In the 18th century, people were taught that God is great and powerful, that he sits on a throne above the sky and sees everybody and everything, rules over people᾽s souls and creates their faiths. In other words, they believed that God is a distant untouchable entity, incomparable with an ordinary man and, except for prayers, completely unreachable.

But Blake, being also confident about Greek attitude towards this matter, saw God not from a point of a fearful creature, but raised himself up, next to God᾽s throne on a divine level and also sometimes invited God down here to the earth to accompany him in his life. So, Blake᾽s and God᾽s lives are interconnected differently, they are treated equally, almost like they were strolling on earth᾽s surface side by side (like in Ancient Greece). Blake᾽s Thel is then a composition of a human part and a divine part in one body and here on earth, maybe that is why the atmosphere is clearer here.

Konůpek, living in the 20th century, and also believing in God, did not have the same point of view. His God reminds that from Blake᾽s period more ̶ a distant overruling entity, having nothing in common with humans. That is why he understood and designed Thel like this. Konůpek᾽s Thel is only one incomplete half, longing for the other one and looking towards it in the sky. That is why the atmosphere here is so desperate, Thel is not ill physically, but it is her soul, which needs to be healed and completed.

So, it does not have to mean that gloomy looking atmosphere always suggests something negative to happen. When taken metaphorically, if there is a storm coming, we never know what it will bring. What we know is that something is going to be changed for sure, but whether it is going to be negative or positive, that is a question.

The only thing about Thel I can consider to be similar in Blake᾽s and in Konůpek᾽s designs is the time in both. Neither Blake᾽s designs, not Konůpek᾽s take place in a real world and in real time. The poem itself firstly tells us about the Vale of Har, which is an abstract place (and we are not sure where it is) and then everything takes place somewhere out of it. It seems that in this point both artists decided to build a mythical space without time we could count and without place we could step on. If I wanted to complete this idea, I could even say that the story takes place somewhere on a distant planet, where everything is turned upside down and where time runs backwards or does not go at all.

6. Conclusion

Konůpek, in his illustrations to Thel, definitely chose a path different from that of Blake's and it is only upon the reader whether he or she considers Konůpek᾽s illustrations to go with the text or not. In my opinion, his illustrations are not completely wrong and Konůpek surely understood some of Blake᾽s principles and tried to suit his designs to them. But illustrating The Book of Thel was only one of many of his commissions and he simply could not have studied Blake so deeply before.

It is important to say that ideas, which I presented in this article, are only speculations and I do not have any proofs for them. The fact is that there is only one text and two completely different illustrations of it, each expressing something else and creating very different views to the text. So, in my opinion, Konůpek᾽s contribution is quite obvious: he provides the reader another possible interpretation of The Book of Thel, maybe he even creates one, because Blake surely did not mean it to be interpreted like that. He establishes a new point of view to Blake's poetry, a bit darker one, and I really appreciate that he also shows us what might have happened in the story by choosing parts which Blake did not choose. The last part of the text, where Thel visits the underground is still a mystery and maybe for Konůpek it was a kind of a riddle too. And thank to his imagination we had the opportunity to look behind the curtain of time and for a little while see, what might have been a sort of Thel's destiny.

Konůpek, as an artist, also undoubtedly proves that Blake᾽s poetry belongs among that of Shakespeare or of other authors whose works seem to bear up against time and are periodically being re-discovered and admired for their topicality.

To conclude, I find Konůpek᾽s illustrations a good-quality attempt to deal with Blakean vague philosophy and principles and it is a pity that he did not illustrate more of Illuminated books (as far as I know). And I hope to find some other artists in the future who would take some of Illuminated Books and try to do the same.

7. Full version of The Book of Thel

Thel's Motto Does the Eagle know what is in the pit, Or wilt thou go ask the Mole? Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod, Or Love in a golden bowl?

The Book of Thel

The daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks,
All but the youngest. She in paleness sought the secret air,
To fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day.
Down by the river of Adona her soft voice is heard,
And thus her gentle lamentation falls like the morning dew;

'O life of this our spring! why fades the lotus of the water?
Why fade these children of the spring, born but to smile & fall?
Ah! Thel is like a wat'ry bow, and like a parting cloud,

Like a reflection in a glass, like shadows in the water,
Like dreams of infants, like a smile upon an infant's face,
Like the dove's voice, like transient day, like music in the air.
Ah! gentle may I lay me down and gentle rest my head,
And gentle sleep the sleep of death, and gentle hear the voice
Of him that walketh in the garden of the evening time.'

The Lilly of the Valley, breathing in the humble grass,
Answer'd the lovely maid and said: 'I am a wat'ry weed,

And I am very small and love to dwell in lowly vales;
So weak the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head;
Yet I am visited from heaven, and he that smiles on all
Walks in the valley, and each morn over me spreads his hand
Saying, "Rejoice, thou humble grass, thou new̶born lilly flower,
Thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks;
For thou shalt be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna,
Till summer's heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs

To flourish in eternal vales". Then why should Thel complain?
Why should the mistress of the vales of Har utter a sigh?
She ceas'd & smil'd in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.

Thel answer'd: 'O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley,
Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o'erfired;
Thy breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells thy milky garments,
He crops thy flowers while thou sittest smiling in his face,
Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.

Thy wine doth purify the golden honey; thy perfume,
Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs,
revives the milked cow, & tames the fire̶breathing steed.
But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place?'

'Queen of the vales,' the Lilly answer'd, 'ask the tender cloud,
And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky,
And why it scatters its bright beauty thro' the humid air.

Descend, O little cloud, & hover before the eyes of Thel.'

the Cloud descended, and the Lilly bow'd her modest head,
And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.

'O little cloud,' the virgin said, 'I charge thee to tell to me
Why thou complainest not 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 shew'd 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 springs
Where Luvah doth renew his horses. Look'st thou onmy 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 tent.

The weeping virgin trembling kneels before the riding sun,
Till we arise link'd in a golden band, and never part,
But walk united, bearing food to our tender flowers.'

'Dost thou, O little Cloud? I fear that I am not like thee;
For I walk thro' 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 away;

And all shall say, "Without a use this shining woman liv'd,
Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms?" '

The Cloud reclin'd upon his airy throne and answer'd thus:

'Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies,
How great thy use, how great thy blessing! Everything that lives
Lives not alone, nor for itself. Fear not, and I will call
The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.
Come forth, worm of the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.'

The helpless worm arose, and sat upon the Lilly's leaf,
And the bright Cloud sail'd on, to find his partner in the vale.

Then Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed:
'Art thou a Worm? image of weakness, art thou but a Worm?
I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lilly's leaf.
Ah weep not, little voice, thou canst not speak, but thou can weep.
Is this a worm? I see thee lay helpless & naked, weeping,
And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mother's smiles.'

The Clod of Clay heard the Worm's voice, & rais'd her pitying head;
She bow'd over the weeping infant, and her life exhal'd
In milky fondness; then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes;

'O beauty of the vales of Har, we live not for ourselves.
Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed:
My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark,
But he that loves the lowly pours his oil upon my head,
And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast,
And says: "Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee,

And I have given thee a crown that none can take away."
But how this is, sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know;
I ponder, and I cannot ponder, yet I live and love.'

The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her white veil,
And said: Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep.
That God would love a Worm I knew, and therefore did I weep;
And I complain'd in the mild air, because i fade away,
And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.'

'Queen of the vales,' the matron Clay answer'd, 'I heard thy sighs,
And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have call'd them down.
Wilt thou, O Queen, enter my house? 'Tis given thee to enter
And to return; fear nothing; enter with thy virgin feet.'

The eternal gates' terrific porter lifted the northern bar.
Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown.
She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots
Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:

A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.

She wander'd in the land of clouds thro' valleys dark, list'ning
Dolours and lamentations; waiting oft beside a dewy grave
She stood in silence, list'ning to the voices of the ground,
Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down,
And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit:

'Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?
Or the glist'ning Eye to the poison of a smile?
Why are Eyelids stor'd with arrows ready drawn,

Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie?
Or an Eye of gifts & graces, show'ring fruits and coined gold?
Why a Tongue impress'd with honey from every wind?
Why an Ear a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?
Why a Nostril wide inhaling terror, trembling & affright?
Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy?
Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?'

The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek
Fled back unhinder'd till she came into the vales of Har.