William Blake's The [First] Book of Urizen presents an alternative vision of creation and the fall of man, starkly contrasting the traditional narratives found in Genesis and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Urizen, the creator in this poetic tale, lacks omnipotence and benevolence, and his flawed creation is a testament to the limits of an intellect devoid of imagination. As a result, his world emerges as a place rife with suffering and mortality, severed from the liberating spirit of creativity embodied by the character Los.

The Preludium and Urizen's Negative Genesis
The poem opens with a preludium, where Blake embraces the call to chronicle the story of the Eternals. Structured similarly to the Book of Genesis, The [First] Book of Urizen unfolds in chapters and verses. In the first chapter, Urizen is depicted in a series of negative descriptions—"unknown, unprolific," and "unseen," reflecting an introspective, isolated mind. This self-contained shadow represents the kind of detached reason Blake held responsible for societal woes. By isolating himself within his own void, Urizen distances himself from the vibrant joy of existence.

Urizen, Lawgiver and Tyrant
The narrative progresses in chapter two, revealing Urizen's actions predating the world's creation, before death, and without material constraints on eternal bliss. Urizen, now aligned with the figure of the Old Testament's Jehovah, becomes a representation of tyranny. Unable to embrace the energetic interplay of eternal opposites, he endeavors to create "a joy without pain, / ...a solid without fluctuation." Perceiving the Eternals' lives as engulfed in "unquenchable burnings," Urizen fails to see these as the fires of creativity fulfilling desires. His attempts to suppress this with laws of "One command, one joy, one desire," aim to impose artificial unity on the diverse expanse of existence, marking him as a tyrant in Blake's eyes.

The Horrified Reaction of the Eternals
Urizen's destructive path alarms the Eternals, who witness a series of separations between him and eternity: "Sund’ring, dark’ning, thund’ring," as eternity itself seems to recoil. As he is either cast out of or self-expelled from eternity, Urizen undergoes a material transformation. In a parody of the Genesis creation week, he gains a physical form, mirroring the material world. This transformation extinguishes his awareness of eternal life. Observing this, Los, the symbol of creative imagination, is horrified. He intervenes by ensnaring Urizen in nets and chains to prevent a further descent into ignorance. Blake later viewed creation as merciful, as it set boundaries to the Fall, offering redemption potential.

Los, Enitharmon, and the Emergence of Orc
This poem is marked by the extensive negative outcomes of Urizen’s actions, which also affect Los, his eternal counterpart. Los, forgetting his creative role, pities Urizen, a sentiment Blake typically views as divisive (“For pity divides the soul”). Consequently, Los becomes fragmented, with his female aspect, the emanation, assuming an independent existence. This female form is Enitharmon. The androgynous Eternals are shocked by this division into sexes, an indicator of the Fall that draws on the teachings of mystic Jacob Boehme.

The Birth and Binding of Orc
Chapter six introduces the birth of Orc, a symbol of revolutionary and redemptive energy in Blake’s work. Yet, jealousy overtakes Los, and in a scene reminiscent of Christ’s crucifixion, Abraham's binding of Isaac, and Prometheus’s chaining, Los and Enitharmon bind Orc to a mountain.

Urizen's Desolate Exploration
Subsequently, Urizen explores his bleak creation, attempting to understand it through division and measurement, a method limited to reason devoid of imaginative unity. He discovers only fragmented "portions of life," sickening at the sight of his creations. As he journeys through earthly cities, he curses his work, realizing the futility of his "iron laws." A sorrow-borne net trails him, known as the net of religion. This imagery critiques conventional religion, founded solely on moral laws and human reason. As Urizen's religion extends across the earth, human senses—expansive in eternity and capable of finding joy everywhere—begin to contract, leading to a collective amnesia of eternal life.