One of my favorite passages in Blake’s “The French Revolution” is from Lines 59-63:

But heavy-browed jealousies lower o’er the Louvre; and terrors of ancient Kings     

Descend from the gloom and wander through the palace, and weep round the King and his nobles;

While loud thunders roll, troubling the dead. Kings are sick throughout all the earth.   

The voice ceased: the Nation sat. And the triple forged fetters of times were unloosed. 

The voice ceased: the Nation sat; but ancient darkness and trembling wander through the palace.

The “heavy-browed jealousies” evokes imagery of Louis XVI worrying about how to handle the rising unrest of the common class, which is represented by the foreboding thunder and the “ancient darkness and trembling.” This drawing of Louis XVI made after he was imprisoned in 1792 captures some of that heavy brow that began years earlier.

I also love the image of the ancient monarchs, like the ghost of Hamlet’s father, coming to offer advice to their living brethren to ensure that the monarchy retains its power and continues their legacy. 

Blake’s “triple-forged fetters” is an interesting image as well. I’m uncertain if the three-part fetters have any specific meaning; they could represent the three parts of the Estates General. If so, the image suggests that the people are enslaved by the tripartite assembly and are looking to break free from its chains.* And, indeed, Blake portrays the fetters as loosening, suggesting that the people will soon be free.

Finally, the repetition of “The voice ceased: the Nation sat” perfectly captures the pre-Revolution mood of the nation: the quiet stillness before the veritable storm that will follow.

*This contrasts with Burke’s view of the England’s government, formed by an ancient contract between the people and monarchy that should continue ad infinitum.  as valuable because it has endured the test of time,