Jerusalem

[billy]

william blake revisited

Bottom the Weaver quaint opener
Rides the tram,
an illuminated shuttle
thrown across the warp and a great metaphor
of commercial provincialism;
climbs the purple moors and hills is 'the' needed?
until the chimney line recedes
into a dim memory of leather-patched pipepuffs simply beautiful image
And red-faced overseers.

He breathes coldblast of Pennine air i faltered with coldblast
above boxed Sunday claustrophobia
of Dark Satanic Mills and Chapels  hello blake
and smoke-stained Bradford thoroughfares
with shuttered shops and mufflered men love mufflered men
loitering on street corners
waiting for the pubs to open. this stanza is just one great big image

Deaf from clanking looms
and jangling cashboxes
of Methody elders who preach
the creed of worsted charity good strong metaphor from the industry
in booming voices
from plain-speaking lecterns
to a free -market world,
he offers his song softly
to the larks and red kites, is 'the' needed?
who cut the air with sarcastic wings,
and mock his asses' ears.

He fantasizes endless roles
that he could play;
the lover, nay, the tyrant, good internal with play and nay.
or the lion that roars sweet
as the trilling nightingale;
any part that suits his diffident
and courteous woolly wit
and frightens not the ladies
(who have no reason to love
him, except reason and love
keep little company nowadays)
or the horses. Bottom the Weaver
lies on earthy heather beds
‘neath scudding
mucky skies and dreams.

i could have written on most lines how much i like it but it was becoming tedious (the last stanza was great )
if this were in a book of similar poetry. i would spend money on it. apart from a couple of here nor there nits, i thought it bloody well excellent.
at the end i saw the use of 'neath and after reading the piece again, i would have loved to see more dialect in the piece. that said, i think it excels as is. the alliteration is used to good effect and some of the internal rhythm rocks the baby. jmo
thanks you for the read