Blake meandered, like a wayward stream Over the valleys and the hills When suddenly: struck by a dream! An inferno of dark, satanic mills Spread across the land and overseas: On tyranny’s wind, the mills replace the trees
Abominable as a cage for a child Putting bars behind their eyes The factories enclose the wilds A bleak blockade against the sky Thousands he saw in a momentary flash Festering on the Earth like a virulent rash
The dirt clouds above the factories loomed Only beat by the awful stench A poet wants the world to bloom; The mills just make Earth blench He stared – and stared – in horror enwrapt The world was a treasure unbound - now she's trapped
For oft, when poets dream they think Of nirvana or some such felicity It replenishes them like a fountain drink Which brings the bliss of serendipity And then their feet in wayward trances Fill with the rhythm of their romances