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To Tirzah

"To Tirzah" is a poem by William Blake that was published in his collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience. It is often described as the most difficult of the poems because it refers to an oblique character called "Tirzah", whose identity is not directly stated. It is a Hebrew name that appears in the Torah, meaning "she is my delight". According to Northrop Frye, Blake identified the name Tirzah with worldliness, because the name appears in the Bible to refer to both a rebellious town and to one of the Daughters of Zelophehad. The latter story was about female inheritance rights which were linked to restrictions on marriage and the maintenance of tribal boundaries.

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Whate'er is born of mortal birth Must be consumèd with the earth, To rise from generation free: Then what have I to do with thee? The sexes sprung from shame and pride, Blowed in the morn, in evening died; But mercy changed death into sleep; The sexes rose to work and weep. Thou, mother of my mortal part, With cruelty didst mould my heart, And with false self-deceiving tears Didst bind my nostrils, eyes, and ears, Didst close my tongue in senseless clay, And me to mortal life betray. The death of Jesus set me free: Then what have I to do with thee? ==References in the culture==
References in the culture
• Based on this poem, Mexican composer Arturo Meza composed "A Tirzá", which was recorded for his 1984 album En El Monte de los Equinoccios. • In the 1997 Blade Runner video game, Clovis cites the first stanza in the scene of killing of the rogue cop Lt. Edison Guzza. • This poem is referenced as an epigraph in Chapter III of 'Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead' by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk. ==References==
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