But when they find the frowning Babe, 93
Terror strikes thro' the region wide:
They cry 'The Babe! the Babe is Born!'
And flee away on every side.
For who dare touch the frowning form, 97
His arm is wither'd to its root;
Lions, Boars, Wolves, all howling flee,
And every Tree does shed its fruit.
And none can touch that frowning form, 101
Except it be a Woman Old;
She nails him down upon the Rock,
And all is done as I have told.
94 wide] wild EY.98 its] the EY.99 Lions, Boars] Bears, lions all edd. except Shep,, who reads Lions, bears; but cp. above, l. 84. 100 does] doth all edd.103 him] it DGR.the] a EY.
Awake, awake, my little Boy! 1
Thou wast thy Mother's only joy;
Why dost thou weep in thy gentle sleep?
Awake! thy Father does thee keep.
'0, what Land is the Land of Dreams? 5
What are its Mountains, & what are its Streams?
Father! I saw my Mother there,
Among the Lillies by waters fair.
'Among the lambs, clothèd in white, 9
She walk'd with her Thomas in sweet delight.
I wept for joy, like a dove I mourn,
O! when shall I again return? '
Pickering MS. p. 7.
4 Awake] O wake DGR; Oh wake WMR, EY.does] doth all edd. except Shep.5, 6 O . . . streams] I follow Shepherd in making these two lines part of the boy's reply, instead of, as in DGR and other edd., part of the father's opening speech. The original MS., of course, had no quotation marks.10 Thomas] This name is plainly written and cannot therefore be a misreading of 'Tharmas,' as might be conjectured from several analogies in the story of Vala and Tharmas (Four Zoas, Night ix, pp. 122128).
