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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Poems of William Blake, by William Blake
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Poems of William Blake
+
+Author: William Blake
+
+Posting Date: July 30, 2008 [EBook #574]
+Release Date: June, 1996
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKE ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Poems of William Blake
+
+
+by
+
+William Blake
+
+
+
+SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE
+
+and
+
+THE BOOK of THEL
+
+
+
+
+
+ SONGS OF INNOCENCE
+
+
+ INTRODUCTION
+
+ Piping down the valleys wild,
+ Piping songs of pleasant glee,
+ On a cloud I saw a child,
+ And he laughing said to me:
+
+ "Pipe a song about a Lamb!"
+ So I piped with merry cheer.
+ "Piper, pipe that song again;"
+ So I piped: he wept to hear.
+
+ "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
+ Sing thy songs of happy cheer!"
+ So I sang the same again,
+ While he wept with joy to hear.
+
+ "Piper, sit thee down and write
+ In a book, that all may read."
+ So he vanish'd from my sight;
+ And I pluck'd a hollow reed,
+
+ And I made a rural pen,
+ And I stain'd the water clear,
+ And I wrote my happy songs
+ Every child may joy to hear.
+
+
+ THE SHEPHERD
+
+ How sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot!
+ From the morn to the evening he stays;
+ He shall follow his sheep all the day,
+ And his tongue shall be filled with praise.
+
+ For he hears the lambs' innocent call,
+ And he hears the ewes' tender reply;
+ He is watching while they are in peace,
+ For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.
+
+
+ THE ECHOING GREEN
+
+ The sun does arise,
+ And make happy the skies;
+ The merry bells ring
+ To welcome the Spring;
+ The skylark and thrush,
+ The birds of the bush,
+ Sing louder around
+ To the bells' cheerful sound;
+ While our sports shall be seen
+ On the echoing Green.
+
+ Old John, with white hair,
+ Does laugh away care,
+ Sitting under the oak,
+ Among the old folk.
+ They laugh at our play,
+ And soon they all say,
+ "Such, such were the joys
+ When we all--girls and boys--
+ In our youth-time were seen
+ On the echoing Green."
+
+ Till the little ones, weary,
+ No more can be merry:
+ The sun does descend,
+ And our sports have an end.
+ Round the laps of their mothers
+ Many sisters and brothers,
+ Like birds in their nest,
+ Are ready for rest,
+ And sport no more seen
+ On the darkening green.
+
+
+ THE LAMB
+
+ Little Lamb, who made thee
+ Dost thou know who made thee,
+ Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
+ By the stream and o'er the mead;
+ Gave thee clothing of delight,
+ Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
+ Gave thee such a tender voice,
+ Making all the vales rejoice?
+ Little Lamb, who made thee?
+ Dost thou know who made thee?
+
+ Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
+ Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
+ He is called by thy name,
+ For He calls Himself a Lamb
+ He is meek, and He is mild,
+ He became a little child.
+ I a child, and thou a lamb,
+ We are called by His name.
+ Little Lamb, God bless thee!
+ Little Lamb, God bless thee!
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BLACK BOY
+
+ My mother bore me in the southern wild,
+ And I am black, but oh my soul is white!
+ White as an angel is the English child,
+ But I am black, as if bereaved of light.
+
+ My mother taught me underneath a tree,
+ And, sitting down before the heat of day,
+ She took me on her lap and kissed me,
+ And, pointed to the east, began to say:
+
+ "Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
+ And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
+ And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
+ Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.
+
+ "And we are put on earth a little space,
+ That we may learn to bear the beams of love
+ And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
+ Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.
+
+ "For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,
+ The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,
+ Saying, 'Come out from the grove, my love and care
+ And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice',"
+
+ Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
+ And thus I say to little English boy.
+ When I from black and he from white cloud free,
+ And round the tent of God like lambs we joy
+
+ I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
+ To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;
+ And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
+ And be like him, and he will then love me.
+
+
+ THE BLOSSOM
+
+ Merry, merry sparrow!
+ Under leaves so green
+ A happy blossom
+ Sees you, swift as arrow,
+ Seek your cradle narrow,
+ Near my bosom.
+ Pretty, pretty robin!
+ Under leaves so green
+ A happy blossom
+ Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
+ Pretty, pretty robin,
+ Near my bosom.
+
+
+ THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER
+
+ When my mother died I was very young,
+ And my father sold me while yet my tongue
+ Could scarcely cry "Weep! weep! weep! weep!"
+ So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
+
+ There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
+ That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
+ "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
+ You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
+
+ And so he was quiet, and that very night,
+ As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!--
+ That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
+ Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
+
+ And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
+ And he opened the coffins, and let them all free;
+ Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run,
+ And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
+
+ Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
+ They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind;
+ And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
+ He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
+
+ And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
+ And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
+ Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
+ So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BOY LOST
+
+ "Father, father, where are you going?
+ Oh do not walk so fast!
+ Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
+ Or else I shall be lost."
+
+ The night was dark, no father was there,
+ The child was wet with dew;
+ The mire was deep, and the child did weep,
+ And away the vapour flew.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BOY FOUND
+
+ The little boy lost in the lonely fen,
+ Led by the wandering light,
+ Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,
+ Appeared like his father, in white.
+
+ He kissed the child, and by the hand led,
+ And to his mother brought,
+ Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,
+ The little boy weeping sought.
+
+
+ LAUGHING SONG
+
+ When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
+ And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
+ When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
+ And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;
+
+ when the meadows laugh with lively green,
+ And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene,
+ When Mary and Susan and Emily
+ With their sweet round mouths sing "Ha, ha he!"
+
+ When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
+ Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
+ Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
+ To sing the sweet chorus of "Ha, ha, he!"
+
+
+ A SONG
+
+ Sweet dreams, form a shade
+ O'er my lovely infant's head!
+ Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
+ By happy, silent, moony beams!
+
+ Sweet Sleep, with soft down
+ Weave thy brows an infant crown
+ Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
+ Hover o'er my happy child!
+
+ Sweet smiles, in the night
+ Hover over my delight!
+ Sweet smiles, mother's smile,
+ All the livelong night beguile.
+
+ Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
+ Chase not slumber from thine eyes!
+ Sweet moan, sweeter smile,
+ All the dovelike moans beguile.
+
+ Sleep, sleep, happy child!
+ All creation slept and smiled.
+ Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
+ While o'er thee doth mother weep.
+
+ Sweet babe, in thy face
+ Holy image I can trace;
+ Sweet babe, once like thee
+ Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:
+
+ Wept for me, for thee, for all,
+ When He was an infant small.
+ Thou His image ever see,
+ Heavenly face that smiles on thee!
+
+ Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
+ Who became an infant small;
+ Infant smiles are his own smiles;
+ Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.
+
+
+ DIVINE IMAGE
+
+ To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ All pray in their distress,
+ And to these virtues of delight
+ Return their thankfulness.
+
+ For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ Is God our Father dear;
+ And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ Is man, his child and care.
+
+ For Mercy has a human heart
+ Pity, a human face;
+ And Love, the human form divine;
+ And Peace, the human dress.
+
+ Then every man, of every clime,
+ That prays in his distress,
+ Prays to the human form divine:
+ Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
+
+ And all must love the human form,
+ In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
+ Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
+ There God is dwelling too.
+
+
+ HOLY THURSDAY
+
+ 'Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,
+ Came children walking two and two, in read, and blue, and green:
+ Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow,
+ Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.
+
+ Oh what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town!
+ Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own.
+ The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
+ Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.
+
+ Now like a mighty wild they raise to heaven the voice of song,
+ Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among:
+ Beneath them sit the aged man, wise guardians of the poor.
+ Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.
+
+
+ NIGHT
+
+ The sun descending in the west,
+ The evening star does shine;
+ The birds are silent in their nest,
+ And I must seek for mine.
+ The moon, like a flower
+ In heaven's high bower,
+ With silent delight,
+ Sits and smiles on the night.
+
+ Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
+ Where flocks have ta'en delight.
+ Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
+ The feet of angels bright;
+ Unseen they pour blessing,
+ And joy without ceasing,
+ On each bud and blossom,
+ And each sleeping bosom.
+
+ They look in every thoughtless nest
+ Where birds are covered warm;
+ They visit caves of every beast,
+ To keep them all from harm:
+ If they see any weeping
+ That should have been sleeping,
+ They pour sleep on their head,
+ And sit down by their bed.
+
+ When wolves and tigers howl for prey,
+ They pitying stand and weep;
+ Seeking to drive their thirst away,
+ And keep them from the sheep.
+ But, if they rush dreadful,
+ The angels, most heedful,
+ Receive each mild spirit,
+ New worlds to inherit.
+
+
+ And there the lion's ruddy eyes
+ Shall flow with tears of gold:
+ And pitying the tender cries,
+ And walking round the fold:
+ Saying: "Wrath by His meekness,
+ And, by His health, sickness,
+ Are driven away
+ From our immortal day.
+
+ "And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
+ I can lie down and sleep,
+ Or think on Him who bore thy name,
+ Graze after thee, and weep.
+ For, washed in life's river,
+ My bright mane for ever
+ Shall shine like the gold,
+ As I guard o'er the fold."
+
+
+ SPRING
+
+ Sound the flute!
+ Now it's mute!
+ Bird's delight,
+ Day and night,
+ Nightingale,
+ In the dale,
+ Lark in sky,--
+ Merrily,
+ Merrily merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+ Little boy,
+ Full of joy;
+ Little girl,
+ Sweet and small;
+ Cock does crow,
+ So do you;
+ Merry voice,
+ Infant noise;
+ Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+ Little lamb,
+ Here I am;
+ Come and lick
+ My white neck;
+ Let me pull
+ Your soft wool;
+ Let me kiss
+ Your soft face;
+ Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+
+ NURSE'S SONG
+
+ When the voices of children are heard on the green,
+ And laughing is heard on the hill,
+ My heart is at rest within my breast,
+ And everything else is still.
+ "Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
+ And the dews of night arise;
+ Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
+ Till the morning appears in the skies."
+
+ "No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
+ And we cannot go to sleep;
+ Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
+ And the hills are all covered with sheep."
+ "Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
+ And then go home to bed."
+ The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
+ And all the hills echoed.
+
+
+ INFANT JOY
+
+ "I have no name;
+ I am but two days old."
+ What shall I call thee?
+ "I happy am,
+ Joy is my name."
+ Sweet joy befall thee!
+
+ Pretty joy!
+ Sweet joy, but two days old.
+ Sweet Joy I call thee:
+ Thou dost smile,
+ I sing the while;
+ Sweet joy befall thee!
+
+
+ A DREAM
+
+ Once a dream did weave a shade
+ O'er my angel-guarded bed,
+ That an emmet lost its way
+ Where on grass methought I lay.
+
+ Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
+ Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
+ Over many a tangle spray,
+ All heart-broke, I heard her say:
+
+ "Oh my children! do they cry,
+ Do they hear their father sigh?
+ Now they look abroad to see,
+ Now return and weep for me."
+
+ Pitying, I dropped a tear:
+ But I saw a glow-worm near,
+ Who replied, "What wailing wight
+ Calls the watchman of the night?
+
+ "I am set to light the ground,
+ While the beetle goes his round:
+ Follow now the beetle's hum;
+ Little wanderer, hie thee home!"
+
+
+ ON ANOTHER'S SORROW
+
+ Can I see another's woe,
+ And not be in sorrow too?
+ Can I see another's grief,
+ And not seek for kind relief?
+
+ Can I see a falling tear,
+ And not feel my sorrow's share?
+ Can a father see his child
+ Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?
+
+ Can a mother sit and hear
+ An infant groan, an infant fear?
+ No, no! never can it be!
+ Never, never can it be!
+
+ And can He who smiles on all
+ Hear the wren with sorrows small,
+ Hear the small bird's grief and care,
+ Hear the woes that infants bear--
+
+ And not sit beside the next,
+ Pouring pity in their breast,
+ And not sit the cradle near,
+ Weeping tear on infant's tear?
+
+ And not sit both night and day,
+ Wiping all our tears away?
+ Oh no! never can it be!
+ Never, never can it be!
+
+ He doth give his joy to all:
+ He becomes an infant small,
+ He becomes a man of woe,
+ He doth feel the sorrow too.
+
+ Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,
+ And thy Maker is not by:
+ Think not thou canst weep a tear,
+ And thy Maker is not near.
+
+ Oh He gives to us his joy,
+ That our grief He may destroy:
+ Till our grief is fled an gone
+ He doth sit by us and moan.
+
+
+ SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
+
+
+ INTRODUCTION
+
+ Hear the voice of the Bard,
+ Who present, past, and future, sees;
+ Whose ears have heard
+ The Holy Word
+ That walked among the ancient tree;
+
+ Calling the lapsed soul,
+ And weeping in the evening dew;
+ That might control
+ The starry pole,
+ And fallen, fallen light renew!
+
+ "O Earth, O Earth, return!
+ Arise from out the dewy grass!
+ Night is worn,
+ And the morn
+ Rises from the slumbrous mass.
+
+ "Turn away no more;
+ Why wilt thou turn away?
+ The starry floor,
+ The watery shore,
+ Are given thee till the break of day."
+
+
+ EARTH'S ANSWER
+
+ Earth raised up her head
+ From the darkness dread and drear,
+ Her light fled,
+ Stony, dread,
+ And her locks covered with grey despair.
+
+ "Prisoned on watery shore,
+ Starry jealousy does keep my den
+ Cold and hoar;
+ Weeping o'er,
+ I hear the father of the ancient men.
+
+ "Selfish father of men!
+ Cruel, jealous, selfish fear!
+ Can delight,
+ Chained in night,
+ The virgins of youth and morning bear?
+
+ "Does spring hide its joy,
+ When buds and blossoms grow?
+ Does the sower
+ Sow by night,
+ Or the plowman in darkness plough?
+
+ "Break this heavy chain,
+ That does freeze my bones around!
+ Selfish, vain,
+ Eternal bane,
+ That free love with bondage bound."
+
+
+ THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE
+
+ "Love seeketh not itself to please,
+ Nor for itself hath any care,
+ But for another gives it ease,
+ And builds a heaven in hell's despair."
+
+ So sang a little clod of clay,
+ Trodden with the cattle's feet,
+ But a pebble of the brook
+ Warbled out these metres meet:
+
+ "Love seeketh only Self to please,
+ To bind another to its delight,
+ Joys in another's loss of ease,
+ And builds a hell in heaven's despite."
+
+
+ HOLY THURSDAY
+
+ Is this a holy thing to see
+ In a rich and fruitful land,--
+ Babes reduced to misery,
+ Fed with cold and usurous hand?
+
+ Is that trembling cry a song?
+ Can it be a song of joy?
+ And so many children poor?
+ It is a land of poverty!
+
+ And their son does never shine,
+ And their fields are bleak and bare,
+ And their ways are filled with thorns:
+ It is eternal winter there.
+
+ For where'er the sun does shine,
+ And where'er the rain does fall,
+ Babes should never hunger there,
+ Nor poverty the mind appall.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE GIRL LOST
+
+ In futurity
+ I prophetic see
+ That the earth from sleep
+ (Grave the sentence deep)
+
+ Shall arise, and seek
+ for her Maker meek;
+ And the desert wild
+ Become a garden mild.
+
+ In the southern clime,
+ Where the summer's prime
+ Never fades away,
+ Lovely Lyca lay.
+
+ Seven summers old
+ Lovely Lyca told.
+ She had wandered long,
+ Hearing wild birds' song.
+
+ "Sweet sleep, come to me
+ Underneath this tree;
+ Do father, mother, weep?
+ Where can Lyca sleep?
+
+ "Lost in desert wild
+ Is your little child.
+ How can Lyca sleep
+ If her mother weep?
+
+ "If her heart does ache,
+ Then let Lyca wake;
+ If my mother sleep,
+ Lyca shall not weep.
+
+ "Frowning, frowning night,
+ O'er this desert bright
+ Let thy moon arise,
+ While I close my eyes."
+
+ Sleeping Lyca lay
+ While the beasts of prey,
+ Come from caverns deep,
+ Viewed the maid asleep.
+
+ The kingly lion stood,
+ And the virgin viewed:
+ Then he gambolled round
+ O'er the hallowed ground.
+
+ Leopards, tigers, play
+ Round her as she lay;
+ While the lion old
+ Bowed his mane of gold,
+
+ And her breast did lick
+ And upon her neck,
+ From his eyes of flame,
+ Ruby tears there came;
+
+ While the lioness
+ Loosed her slender dress,
+ And naked they conveyed
+ To caves the sleeping maid.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE GIRL FOUND
+
+ All the night in woe
+ Lyca's parents go
+ Over valleys deep,
+ While the deserts weep.
+
+ Tired and woe-begone,
+ Hoarse with making moan,
+ Arm in arm, seven days
+ They traced the desert ways.
+
+ Seven nights they sleep
+ Among shadows deep,
+ And dream they see their child
+ Starved in desert wild.
+
+ Pale through pathless ways
+ The fancied image strays,
+ Famished, weeping, weak,
+ With hollow piteous shriek.
+
+ Rising from unrest,
+ The trembling woman pressed
+ With feet of weary woe;
+ She could no further go.
+
+ In his arms he bore
+ Her, armed with sorrow sore;
+ Till before their way
+ A couching lion lay.
+
+ Turning back was vain:
+ Soon his heavy mane
+ Bore them to the ground,
+ Then he stalked around,
+
+ Smelling to his prey;
+ But their fears allay
+ When he licks their hands,
+ And silent by them stands.
+
+ They look upon his eyes,
+ Filled with deep surprise;
+ And wondering behold
+ A spirit armed in gold.
+
+ On his head a crown,
+ On his shoulders down
+ Flowed his golden hair.
+ Gone was all their care.
+
+ "Follow me," he said;
+ "Weep not for the maid;
+ In my palace deep,
+ Lyca lies asleep."
+
+ Then they followed
+ Where the vision led,
+ And saw their sleeping child
+ Among tigers wild.
+
+ To this day they dwell
+ In a lonely dell,
+ Nor fear the wolvish howl
+ Nor the lion's growl.
+
+
+ THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER
+
+ A little black thing in the snow,
+ Crying "weep! weep!" in notes of woe!
+ "Where are thy father and mother? Say!"--
+ "They are both gone up to the church to pray.
+
+ "Because I was happy upon the heath,
+ And smiled among the winter's snow,
+ They clothed me in the clothes of death,
+ And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
+
+ "And because I am happy and dance and sing,
+ They think they have done me no injury,
+ And are gone to praise God and his priest and king,
+ Who make up a heaven of our misery."
+
+
+ NURSE'S SONG
+
+ When voices of children are heard on the green,
+ And whisperings are in the dale,
+ The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
+ My face turns green and pale.
+
+ Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
+ And the dews of night arise;
+ Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
+ And your winter and night in disguise.
+
+
+ THE SICK ROSE
+
+ O rose, thou art sick!
+ The invisible worm,
+ That flies in the night,
+ In the howling storm,
+
+ Has found out thy bed
+ Of crimson joy,
+ And his dark secret love
+ Does thy life destroy.
+
+
+ THE FLY
+
+ Little Fly,
+ Thy summer's play
+ My thoughtless hand
+ Has brushed away.
+
+ Am not I
+ A fly like thee?
+ Or art not thou
+ A man like me?
+
+ For I dance
+ And drink, and sing,
+ Till some blind hand
+ Shall brush my wing.
+
+ If thought is life
+ And strength and breath
+ And the want
+ Of thought is death;
+
+ Then am I
+ A happy fly,
+ If I live,
+ Or if I die.
+
+
+ THE ANGEL
+
+ I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?
+ And that I was a maiden Queen
+ Guarded by an Angel mild:
+ Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!
+
+ And I wept both night and day,
+ And he wiped my tears away;
+ And I wept both day and night,
+ And hid from him my heart's delight.
+
+ So he took his wings, and fled;
+ Then the morn blushed rosy red.
+ I dried my tears, and armed my fears
+ With ten-thousand shields and spears.
+
+ Soon my Angel came again;
+ I was armed, he came in vain;
+ For the time of youth was fled,
+ And grey hairs were on my head.
+
+
+ THE TYGER
+
+ Tyger, tyger, burning bright
+ In the forests of the night,
+ What immortal hand or eye
+ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
+
+ In what distant deeps or skies
+ Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
+ On what wings dare he aspire?
+ What the hand dare seize the fire?
+
+ And what shoulder and what art
+ Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
+ And, when thy heart began to beat,
+ What dread hand and what dread feet?
+
+ What the hammer? what the chain?
+ In what furnace was thy brain?
+ What the anvil? what dread grasp
+ Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
+
+ When the stars threw down their spears,
+ And watered heaven with their tears,
+ Did he smile his work to see?
+ Did he who made the lamb make thee?
+
+ Tyger, tyger, burning bright
+ In the forests of the night,
+ What immortal hand or eye
+ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
+
+
+ MY PRETTY ROSE TREE
+
+ A flower was offered to me,
+ Such a flower as May never bore;
+ But I said "I've a pretty rose tree,"
+ And I passed the sweet flower o'er.
+
+ Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
+ To tend her by day and by night;
+ But my rose turned away with jealousy,
+ And her thorns were my only delight.
+
+
+ AH SUNFLOWER
+
+ Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
+ Who countest the steps of the sun;
+ Seeking after that sweet golden clime
+ Where the traveller's journey is done;
+
+ Where the Youth pined away with desire,
+ And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
+ Arise from their graves, and aspire
+ Where my Sunflower wishes to go!
+
+
+ THE LILY
+
+ The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
+ The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
+ While the Lily white shall in love delight,
+ Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.
+
+
+ THE GARDEN OF LOVE
+
+ I laid me down upon a bank,
+ Where Love lay sleeping;
+ I heard among the rushes dank
+ Weeping, weeping.
+
+ Then I went to the heath and the wild,
+ To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
+ And they told me how they were beguiled,
+ Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.
+
+ I went to the Garden of Love,
+ And saw what I never had seen;
+ A Chapel was built in the midst,
+ Where I used to play on the green.
+
+ And the gates of this Chapel were shut
+ And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;
+ So I turned to the Garden of Love
+ That so many sweet flowers bore.
+
+ And I saw it was filled with graves,
+ And tombstones where flowers should be;
+ And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
+ And binding with briars my joys and desires.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE VAGABOND
+
+ Dear mother, dear mother, the Church is cold;
+ But the Alehouse is healthy, and pleasant, and warm.
+ Besides, I can tell where I am used well;
+ The poor parsons with wind like a blown bladder swell.
+
+ But, if at the Church they would give us some ale,
+ And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
+ We'd sing and we'd pray all the livelong day,
+ Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray.
+
+ Then the Parson might preach, and drink, and sing,
+ And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;
+ And modest Dame Lurch, who is always at church,
+ Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.
+
+ And God, like a father, rejoicing to see
+ His children as pleasant and happy as he,
+ Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,
+ But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.
+
+
+ LONDON
+
+ I wandered through each chartered street,
+ Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
+ A mark in every face I meet,
+ Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
+
+ In every cry of every man,
+ In every infant's cry of fear,
+ In every voice, in every ban,
+ The mind-forged manacles I hear:
+
+ How the chimney-sweeper's cry
+ Every blackening church appalls,
+ And the hapless soldier's sigh
+ Runs in blood down palace-walls.
+
+ But most, through midnight streets I hear
+ How the youthful harlot's curse
+ Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
+ And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
+
+
+ THE HUMAN ABSTRACT
+
+ Pity would be no more
+ If we did not make somebody poor,
+ And Mercy no more could be
+ If all were as happy as we.
+
+ And mutual fear brings Peace,
+ Till the selfish loves increase;
+ Then Cruelty knits a snare,
+ And spreads his baits with care.
+
+ He sits down with his holy fears,
+ And waters the ground with tears;
+ Then Humility takes its root
+ Underneath his foot.
+
+ Soon spreads the dismal shade
+ Of Mystery over his head,
+ And the caterpillar and fly
+ Feed on the Mystery.
+
+ And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
+ Ruddy and sweet to eat,
+ And the raven his nest has made
+ In its thickest shade.
+
+ The gods of the earth and sea
+ Sought through nature to find this tree,
+ But their search was all in vain:
+ There grows one in the human Brain.
+
+
+ INFANT SORROW
+
+ My mother groaned, my father wept:
+ Into the dangerous world I leapt,
+ Helpless, naked, piping loud,
+ Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
+
+ Struggling in my father's hands,
+ Striving against my swaddling-bands,
+ Bound and weary, I thought best
+ To sulk upon my mother's breast.
+
+
+ A POISON TREE
+
+ I was angry with my friend:
+ I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
+ I was angry with my foe:
+ I told it not, my wrath did grow.
+
+ And I watered it in fears
+ Night and morning with my tears,
+ And I sunned it with smiles
+ And with soft deceitful wiles.
+
+ And it grew both day and night,
+ Till it bore an apple bright,
+ And my foe beheld it shine,
+ and he knew that it was mine,--
+
+ And into my garden stole
+ When the night had veiled the pole;
+ In the morning, glad, I see
+ My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
+
+
+ A LITTLE BOY LOST
+
+ "Nought loves another as itself,
+ Nor venerates another so,
+ Nor is it possible to thought
+ A greater than itself to know.
+
+ "And, father, how can I love you
+ Or any of my brothers more?
+ I love you like the little bird
+ That picks up crumbs around the door."
+
+ The Priest sat by and heard the child;
+ In trembling zeal he seized his hair,
+ He led him by his little coat,
+ And all admired the priestly care.
+
+ And standing on the altar high,
+ "Lo, what a fiend is here!" said he:
+ "One who sets reason up for judge
+ Of our most holy mystery."
+
+ The weeping child could not be heard,
+ The weeping parents wept in vain:
+ They stripped him to his little shirt,
+ And bound him in an iron chain,
+
+ And burned him in a holy place
+ Where many had been burned before;
+ The weeping parents wept in vain.
+ Are such thing done on Albion's shore?
+
+
+ A LITTLE GIRL LOST
+
+ Children of the future age,
+ Reading this indignant page,
+ Know that in a former time
+ Love, sweet love, was thought a crime.
+
+ In the age of gold,
+ Free from winter's cold,
+ Youth and maiden bright,
+ To the holy light,
+ Naked in the sunny beams delight.
+
+ Once a youthful pair,
+ Filled with softest care,
+ Met in garden bright
+ Where the holy light
+ Had just removed the curtains of the night.
+
+ Then, in rising day,
+ On the grass they play;
+ Parents were afar,
+ Strangers came not near,
+ And the maiden soon forgot her fear.
+
+ Tired with kisses sweet,
+ They agree to meet
+ When the silent sleep
+ Waves o'er heaven's deep,
+ And the weary tired wanderers weep.
+
+ To her father white
+ Came the maiden bright;
+ But his loving look,
+ Like the holy book
+ All her tender limbs with terror shook.
+
+ "Ona, pale and weak,
+ To thy father speak!
+ Oh the trembling fear!
+ Oh the dismal care
+ That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair!"
+
+
+ THE SCHOOLBOY
+
+ I love to rise on a summer morn,
+ When birds are singing on every tree;
+ The distant huntsman winds his horn,
+ And the skylark sings with me:
+ Oh what sweet company!
+
+ But to go to school in a summer morn,--
+ Oh it drives all joy away!
+ Under a cruel eye outworn,
+ The little ones spend the day
+ In sighing and dismay.
+
+ Ah then at times I drooping sit,
+ And spend many an anxious hour;
+ Nor in my book can I take delight,
+ Nor sit in learning's bower,
+ Worn through with the dreary shower.
+
+ How can the bird that is born for joy
+ Sit in a cage and sing?
+ How can a child, when fears annoy,
+ But droop his tender wing,
+ And forget his youthful spring?
+
+ Oh father and mother, if buds are nipped,
+ And blossoms blown away;
+ And if the tender plants are stripped
+ Of their joy in the springing day,
+ By sorrow and care's dismay,--
+
+ How shall the summer arise in joy,
+ Or the summer fruits appear?
+ Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
+ Or bless the mellowing year,
+ When the blasts of winter appear?
+
+
+ TO TIRZAH
+
+ Whate'er is born of mortal birth
+ Must be consumed with the earth,
+ To rise from generation free:
+ Then what have I to do with thee?
+ The sexes sprang from shame and pride,
+ Blown 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?
+
+
+ THE VOICE OF THE ANCIENT BARD
+
+ Youth of delight! come hither
+ And see the opening morn,
+ Image of Truth new-born.
+ Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
+ Dark disputes and artful teazing.
+ Folly is an endless maze;
+ Tangled roots perplex her ways;
+ How many have fallen there!
+ They stumble all night over bones of the dead;
+ And feel--they know not what but care;
+ And wish to lead others, when they should be led.
+
+
+ APPENDIX
+
+ A DIVINE IMAGE
+
+ Cruelty has a human heart,
+ And Jealousy a human face;
+ Terror the human form divine,
+ And Secresy the human dress.
+
+ The human dress is forged iron,
+ The human form a fiery forge,
+ The human face a furnace sealed,
+ The human heart its hungry gorge.
+
+ NOTE: Though written and engraved by Blake, "A DIVINE IMAGE" was
+ never included in the SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ William Blake's
+
+ THE BOOK of THEL
+
+
+ THEL'S Motto
+
+ Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?
+ Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:
+ Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?
+ Or Love in a golden bowl?
+
+
+ THE BOOK of THEL
+
+ The Author & Printer Willm. Blake. 1780
+
+
+ THEL
+
+ I
+
+ The daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks,
+ All but the youngest: she in paleness sought the secret air.
+ To fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day:
+ Down by the river of Adona her soft voice is heard;
+ And thus her gentle lamentation falls like morning dew.
+
+ O life of this our spring! why fades the lotus of the water?
+ Why fade these children of the spring? born but to smile & fall.
+ Ah! Thel is like a watry bow, and like a parting cloud,
+ Like a reflection in a glass: like shadows in the water
+ Like dreams of infants, like a smile upon an infants face.
+ Like the doves voice, like transient day, like music in the air:
+ Ah! gentle may I lay me down and gentle rest my head.
+ And gentle sleep the sleep of death, and gently hear the voice
+ Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.
+
+ The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass
+ Answerd the lovely maid and said: I am a watry weed,
+ And I am very small and love to dwell in lowly vales:
+ So weak the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head
+ Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all
+ Walks in the valley, and each morn over me spreads his hand
+ Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lily flower.
+ Thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks:
+ For thou shall be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
+ Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
+ To flourish in eternal vales: they why should Thel complain.
+ Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a sigh.
+
+ She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.
+
+ Thel answerd, O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.
+ Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o'er tired
+ The breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells the milky garments
+ He crops thy flowers while thou sittest smiling in his face,
+ Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.
+ Thy wine doth purify the golden honey; thy perfume.
+ Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs
+ Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.
+ But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
+ I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.
+
+ Queen of the vales the Lily answered, ask the tender cloud,
+ And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky.
+ And why it scatters its bright beauty thro the humid air.
+ Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.
+
+ The Cloud descended and the Lily bowd her modest head:
+ And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.
+
+
+ II.
+
+ O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell me
+ Why thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away:
+ Then we shall seek thee but not find: ah Thel is like to thee.
+ I pass away, yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.
+
+ The Cloud then shewd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd.
+ Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.
+
+ O virgin know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springs
+ Where Luvah doth renew his horses: lookst thou on my youth.
+ And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more.
+ Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away.
+ It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy:
+ Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers:
+ And court the fair eyed dew, to take me to her shining tent
+ The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun.
+ Till we arise link'd in a golden band and never part:
+ But walk united bearing food to all our tender flowers.
+
+ Dost thou O little cloud? I fear that I am not like thee:
+ For I walk through the vales of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers:
+ But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds,
+ But I feed not the warbling birds, they fly and seek their food:
+ But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away
+ And all shall say, without a use this shining women liv'd,
+ Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms.
+
+ The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answerd thus.
+
+ Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies,
+ How great thy use, how great thy blessing, every thing that lives.
+ Lives not alone nor or itself: fear not and I will call,
+ The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.
+ Come forth worm and the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.
+
+ The helpless worm arose and sat upon the Lillys leaf,
+ And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.
+
+
+ III.
+
+ Then Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed.
+
+ Art thou a Worm? image of weakness, art thou but a Worm?
+ I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lillys leaf;
+ Ah weep not little voice, thou can'st not speak, but thou can'st weep:
+ Is this a Worm? I see they lay helpless & naked: weeping
+ And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mothers smiles.
+
+ The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice & rais'd her pitying head:
+ She bowd over the weeping infant, and her life exhald
+ In milky fondness, then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes;
+
+ O beauty of the vales of Har, we live not for ourselves,
+ Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed:
+ My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark,
+
+ But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head
+ And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.
+ And says; Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee
+ And I have given thee a crown that none can take away.
+ But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know
+ I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet I live and love.
+
+ The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her white veil,
+ And said, Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep:
+ That God would love a Worm I knew, and punish the evil foot
+ That wilful bruis'd its helpless form: but that he cherish'd it
+ With milk and oil I never knew, and therefore did I weep,
+ And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away.
+ And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.
+
+ Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answered: I heard thy sighs.
+ And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have call'd them down:
+ Wilt thou O Queen enter my house, tis given thee to enter,
+ And to return: fear nothing, enter with thy virgin feet.
+
+
+ IV.
+
+ The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:
+ Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;
+ She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots
+ Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:
+ A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.
+
+ She wandered in the land of clouds thro' valleys dark, listning
+ Dolors & lamentations: waiting oft beside the dewy grave
+ She stood in silence, listning to the voices of the ground,
+ Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down.
+ And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit.
+
+ Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?
+ Or the glistening Eye to the poison of a smile!
+ Why are Eyelids stord with arrows ready drawn,
+ Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie!
+ Or an Eye of gifts & graces showring fruits & coined gold!
+
+ Why a Tongue impress'd with honey from every wind?
+ Why an Ear, a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?
+ Why a Nostril wide inhaling terror trembling & affright
+ Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy?
+ Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?
+
+ The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek,
+ Fled back unhinderd till she came into the vales of Har.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Poems of William Blake, by William Blake
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+*****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Poems of William Blake*****
+#1 in our series by William Blake
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+Poems
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+
+
+
+William Blake
+
+SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE
+and THE BOOK of THEL
+
+
+
+
+
+ SONGS OF INNOCENCE
+
+
+ INTRODUCTION
+
+ Piping down the valleys wild,
+ Piping songs of pleasant glee,
+ On a cloud I saw a child,
+ And he laughing said to me:
+
+ "Pipe a song about a Lamb!"
+ So I piped with merry cheer.
+ "Piper, pipe that song again;"
+ So I piped: he wept to hear.
+
+ "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
+ Sing thy songs of happy cheer!"
+ So I sang the same again,
+ While he wept with joy to hear.
+
+ "Piper, sit thee down and write
+ In a book, that all may read."
+ So he vanish'd from my sight;
+ And I pluck'd a hollow reed,
+
+ And I made a rural pen,
+ And I stain'd the water clear,
+ And I wrote my happy songs
+ Every child may joy to hear.
+
+
+ THE SHEPHERD
+
+ How sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot!
+ From the morn to the evening he stays;
+ He shall follow his sheep all the day,
+ And his tongue shall be filled with praise.
+
+ For he hears the lambs' innocent call,
+ And he hears the ewes' tender reply;
+ He is watching while they are in peace,
+ For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.
+
+
+ THE ECHOING GREEN
+
+ The sun does arise,
+ And make happy the skies;
+ The merry bells ring
+ To welcome the Spring;
+ The skylark and thrush,
+ The birds of the bush,
+ Sing louder around
+ To the bells' cheerful sound;
+ While our sports shall be seen
+ On the echoing Green.
+
+ Old John, with white hair,
+ Does laugh away care,
+ Sitting under the oak,
+ Among the old folk.
+ They laugh at our play,
+ And soon they all say,
+ "Such, such were the joys
+ When we all -- girls and boys --
+ In our youth-time were seen
+ On the echoing Green."
+
+ Till the little ones, weary,
+ No more can be merry:
+ The sun does descend,
+ And our sports have an end.
+ Round the laps of their mothers
+ Many sisters and brothers,
+ Like birds in their nest,
+ Are ready for rest,
+ And sport no more seen
+ On the darkening green.
+
+
+ THE LAMB
+
+ Little Lamb, who made thee
+ Dost thou know who made thee,
+ Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
+ By the stream and o'er the mead;
+ Gave thee clothing of delight,
+ Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
+ Gave thee such a tender voice,
+ Making all the vales rejoice?
+ Little Lamb, who made thee?
+ Dost thou know who made thee?
+
+ Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
+ Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
+ He is called by thy name,
+ For He calls Himself a Lamb
+ He is meek, and He is mild,
+ He became a little child.
+ I a child, and thou a lamb,
+ We are called by His name.
+ Little Lamb, God bless thee!
+ Little Lamb, God bless thee!
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BLACK BOY
+
+ My mother bore me in the southern wild,
+ And I am black, but oh my soul is white!
+ White as an angel is the English child,
+ But I am black, as if bereaved of light.
+
+ My mother taught me underneath a tree,
+ And, sitting down before the heat of day,
+ She took me on her lap and kissed me,
+ And, pointed to the east, began to say:
+
+ "Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
+ And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
+ And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
+ Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.
+
+ "And we are put on earth a little space,
+ That we may learn to bear the beams of love
+ And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
+ Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.
+
+ "For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,
+ The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,
+ Saying, 'Come out from the grove, my love and care
+ And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice',"
+
+ Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
+ And thus I say to little English boy.
+ When I from black and he from white cloud free,
+ And round the tent of God like lambs we joy
+
+ I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
+ To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;
+ And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
+ And be like him, and he will then love me.
+
+
+ THE BLOSSOM
+
+ Merry, merry sparrow!
+ Under leaves so green
+ A happy blossom
+ Sees you, swift as arrow,
+ Seek your cradle narrow,
+ Near my bosom.
+ Pretty, pretty robin!
+ Under leaves so green
+ A happy blossom
+ Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
+ Pretty, pretty robin,
+ Near my bosom.
+
+
+ THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER
+
+ When my mother died I was very young,
+ And my father sold me while yet my tongue
+ Could scarcely cry "Weep! weep! weep! weep!"
+ So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
+
+ There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
+ That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
+ "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
+ You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
+
+ And so he was quiet, and that very night,
+ As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! --
+ That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
+ Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
+
+ And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
+ And he opened the coffins, and let them all free;
+ Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run,
+ And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
+
+ Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
+ They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind;
+ And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
+ He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
+
+ And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
+ And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
+ Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
+ So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BOY LOST
+
+ "Father, father, where are you going?
+ Oh do not walk so fast!
+ Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
+ Or else I shall be lost."
+
+ The night was dark, no father was there,
+ The child was wet with dew;
+ The mire was deep, and the child did weep,
+ And away the vapour flew.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE BOY FOUND
+
+ The little boy lost in the lonely fen,
+ Led by the wandering light,
+ Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,
+ Appeared like his father, in white.
+
+ He kissed the child, and by the hand led,
+ And to his mother brought,
+ Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,
+ The little boy weeping sought.
+
+
+ LAUGHING SONG
+
+ When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
+ And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
+ When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
+ And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;
+
+ when the meadows laugh with lively green,
+ And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene,
+ When Mary and Susan and Emily
+ With their sweet round mouths sing "Ha, ha he!"
+
+ When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
+ Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
+ Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
+ To sing the sweet chorus of "Ha, ha, he!"
+
+
+ A SONG
+
+ Sweet dreams, form a shade
+ O'er my lovely infant's head!
+ Sweet dreams of pleasant streams
+ By happy, silent, moony beams!
+
+ Sweet Sleep, with soft down
+ Weave thy brows an infant crown
+ Sweet Sleep, angel mild,
+ Hover o'er my happy child!
+
+ Sweet smiles, in the night
+ Hover over my delight!
+ Sweet smiles, mother's smile,
+ All the livelong night beguile.
+
+ Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
+ Chase not slumber from thine eyes!
+ Sweet moan, sweeter smile,
+ All the dovelike moans beguile.
+
+ Sleep, sleep, happy child!
+ All creation slept and smiled.
+ Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
+ While o'er thee doth mother weep.
+
+ Sweet babe, in thy face
+ Holy image I can trace;
+ Sweet babe, once like thee
+ Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:
+
+ Wept for me, for thee, for all,
+ When He was an infant small.
+ Thou His image ever see,
+ Heavenly face that smiles on thee!
+
+ Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
+ Who became an infant small;
+ Infant smiles are his own smiles;
+ Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.
+
+
+ DIVINE IMAGE
+
+ To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ All pray in their distress,
+ And to these virtues of delight
+ Return their thankfulness.
+
+ For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ Is God our Father dear;
+ And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
+ Is man, his child and care.
+
+ For Mercy has a human heart
+ Pity, a human face;
+ And Love, the human form divine;
+ And Peace, the human dress.
+
+ Then every man, of every clime,
+ That prays in his distress,
+ Prays to the human form divine:
+ Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
+
+ And all must love the human form,
+ In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
+ Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
+ There God is dwelling too.
+
+
+ HOLY THURSDAY
+
+ 'Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,
+ Came children walking two and two, in read, and blue, and green:
+ Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow,
+ Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.
+
+ Oh what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town!
+ Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own.
+ The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
+ Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.
+
+ Now like a mighty wild they raise to heaven the voice of song,
+ Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among:
+ Beneath them sit the aged man, wise guardians of the poor.
+ Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.
+
+
+ NIGHT
+
+ The sun descending in the west,
+ The evening star does shine;
+ The birds are silent in their nest,
+ And I must seek for mine.
+ The moon, like a flower
+ In heaven's high bower,
+ With silent delight,
+ Sits and smiles on the night.
+
+ Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
+ Where flocks have ta'en delight.
+ Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
+ The feet of angels bright;
+ Unseen they pour blessing,
+ And joy without ceasing,
+ On each bud and blossom,
+ And each sleeping bosom.
+
+ They look in every thoughtless nest
+ Where birds are covered warm;
+ They visit caves of every beast,
+ To keep them all from harm:
+ If they see any weeping
+ That should have been sleeping,
+ They pour sleep on their head,
+ And sit down by their bed.
+
+ When wolves and tigers howl for prey,
+ They pitying stand and weep;
+ Seeking to drive their thirst away,
+ And keep them from the sheep.
+ But, if they rush dreadful,
+ The angels, most heedful,
+ Receive each mild spirit,
+ New worlds to inherit.
+
+
+ And there the lion's ruddy eyes
+ Shall flow with tears of gold:
+ And pitying the tender cries,
+ And walking round the fold:
+ Saying: "Wrath by His meekness,
+ And, by His health, sickness,
+ Are driven away
+ From our immortal day.
+
+ "And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
+ I can lie down and sleep,
+ Or think on Him who bore thy name,
+ Graze after thee, and weep.
+ For, washed in life's river,
+ My bright mane for ever
+ Shall shine like the gold,
+ As I guard o'er the fold."
+
+
+ SPRING
+
+ Sound the flute!
+ Now it's mute!
+ Bird's delight,
+ Day and night,
+ Nightingale,
+ In the dale,
+ Lark in sky,--
+ Merrily,
+ Merrily merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+ Little boy,
+ Full of joy;
+ Little girl,
+ Sweet and small;
+ Cock does crow,
+ So do you;
+ Merry voice,
+ Infant noise;
+ Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+ Little lamb,
+ Here I am;
+ Come and lick
+ My white neck;
+ Let me pull
+ Your soft wool;
+ Let me kiss
+ Your soft face;
+ Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year.
+
+
+ NURSE'S SONG
+
+ When the voices of children are heard on the green,
+ And laughing is heard on the hill,
+ My heart is at rest within my breast,
+ And everything else is still.
+ "Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
+ And the dews of night arise;
+ Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,
+ Till the morning appears in the skies."
+
+ "No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
+ And we cannot go to sleep;
+ Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
+ And the hills are all covered with sheep."
+ "Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
+ And then go home to bed."
+ The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,
+ And all the hills echoed.
+
+
+ INFANT JOY
+
+ "I have no name;
+ I am but two days old."
+ What shall I call thee?
+ "I happy am,
+ Joy is my name."
+ Sweet joy befall thee!
+
+ Pretty joy!
+ Sweet joy, but two days old.
+ Sweet Joy I call thee:
+ Thou dost smile,
+ I sing the while;
+ Sweet joy befall thee!
+
+
+ A DREAM
+
+ Once a dream did weave a shade
+ O'er my angel-guarded bed,
+ That an emmet lost its way
+ Where on grass methought I lay.
+
+ Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
+ Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
+ Over many a tangle spray,
+ All heart-broke, I heard her say:
+
+ "Oh my children! do they cry,
+ Do they hear their father sigh?
+ Now they look abroad to see,
+ Now return and weep for me."
+
+ Pitying, I dropped a tear:
+ But I saw a glow-worm near,
+ Who replied, "What wailing wight
+ Calls the watchman of the night?
+
+ "I am set to light the ground,
+ While the beetle goes his round:
+ Follow now the beetle's hum;
+ Little wanderer, hie thee home!"
+
+
+ ON ANOTHER'S SORROW
+
+ Can I see another's woe,
+ And not be in sorrow too?
+ Can I see another's grief,
+ And not seek for kind relief?
+
+ Can I see a falling tear,
+ And not feel my sorrow's share?
+ Can a father see his child
+ Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?
+
+ Can a mother sit and hear
+ An infant groan, an infant fear?
+ No, no! never can it be!
+ Never, never can it be!
+
+ And can He who smiles on all
+ Hear the wren with sorrows small,
+ Hear the small bird's grief and care,
+ Hear the woes that infants bear --
+
+ And not sit beside the next,
+ Pouring pity in their breast,
+ And not sit the cradle near,
+ Weeping tear on infant's tear?
+
+ And not sit both night and day,
+ Wiping all our tears away?
+ Oh no! never can it be!
+ Never, never can it be!
+
+ He doth give his joy to all:
+ He becomes an infant small,
+ He becomes a man of woe,
+ He doth feel the sorrow too.
+
+ Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,
+ And thy Maker is not by:
+ Think not thou canst weep a tear,
+ And thy Maker is not year.
+
+ Oh He gives to us his joy,
+ That our grief He may destroy:
+ Till our grief is fled an gone
+ He doth sit by us and moan.
+
+
+ SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
+
+
+ INTRODUCTION
+
+ Hear the voice of the Bard,
+ Who present, past, and future, sees;
+ Whose ears have heard
+ The Holy Word
+ That walked among the ancient tree;
+
+ Calling the lapsed soul,
+ And weeping in the evening dew;
+ That might control
+ The starry pole,
+ And fallen, fallen light renew!
+
+ "O Earth, O Earth, return!
+ Arise from out the dewy grass!
+ Night is worn,
+ And the morn
+ Rises from the slumbrous mass.
+
+ "Turn away no more;
+ Why wilt thou turn away?
+ The starry floor,
+ The watery shore,
+ Are given thee till the break of day."
+
+
+ EARTH'S ANSWER
+
+ Earth raised up her head
+ From the darkness dread and drear,
+ Her light fled,
+ Stony, dread,
+ And her locks covered with grey despair.
+
+ "Prisoned on watery shore,
+ Starry jealousy does keep my den
+ Cold and hoar;
+ Weeping o'er,
+ I hear the father of the ancient men.
+
+ "Selfish father of men!
+ Cruel, jealous, selfish fear!
+ Can delight,
+ Chained in night,
+ The virgins of youth and morning bear?
+
+ "Does spring hide its joy,
+ When buds and blossoms grow?
+ Does the sower
+ Sow by night,
+ Or the plowman in darkness plough?
+
+ "Break this heavy chain,
+ That does freeze my bones around!
+ Selfish, vain,
+ Eternal bane,
+ That free love with bondage bound."
+
+
+ THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE
+
+ "Love seeketh not itself to please,
+ Nor for itself hath any care,
+ But for another gives it ease,
+ And builds a heaven in hell's despair."
+
+ So sang a little clod of clay,
+ Trodden with the cattle's feet,
+ But a pebble of the brook
+ Warbled out these metres meet:
+
+ "Love seeketh only Self to please,
+ To bind another to its delight,
+ Joys in another's loss of ease,
+ And builds a hell in heaven's despite."
+
+
+ HOLY THURSDAY
+
+ Is this a holy thing to see
+ In a rich and fruitful land, --
+ Babes reduced to misery,
+ Fed with cold and usurous hand?
+
+ Is that trembling cry a song?
+ Can it be a song of joy?
+ And so many children poor?
+ It is a land of poverty!
+
+ And their son does never shine,
+ And their fields are bleak and bare,
+ And their ways are filled with thorns:
+ It is eternal winter there.
+
+ For where'er the sun does shine,
+ And where'er the rain does fall,
+ Babes should never hunger there,
+ Nor poverty the mind appall.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE GIRL LOST
+
+ In futurity
+ I prophetic see
+ That the earth from sleep
+ (Grave the sentence deep)
+
+ Shall arise, and seek
+ for her Maker meek;
+ And the desert wild
+ Become a garden mild.
+
+ In the southern clime,
+ Where the summer's prime
+ Never fades away,
+ Lovely Lyca lay.
+
+ Seven summers old
+ Lovely Lyca told.
+ She had wandered long,
+ Hearing wild birds' song.
+
+ "Sweet sleep, come to me
+ Underneath this tree;
+ Do father, mother, weep?
+ Where can Lyca sleep?
+
+ "Lost in desert wild
+ Is your little child.
+ How can Lyca sleep
+ If her mother weep?
+
+ "If her heart does ache,
+ Then let Lyca wake;
+ If my mother sleep,
+ Lyca shall not weep.
+
+ "Frowning, frowning night,
+ O'er this desert bright
+ Let thy moon arise,
+ While I close my eyes."
+
+ Sleeping Lyca lay
+ While the beasts of prey,
+ Come from caverns deep,
+ Viewed the maid asleep.
+
+ The kingly lion stood,
+ And the virgin viewed:
+ Then he gambolled round
+ O'er the hallowed ground.
+
+ Leopards, tigers, play
+ Round her as she lay;
+ While the lion old
+ Bowed his mane of gold,
+
+ And her breast did lick
+ And upon her neck,
+ From his eyes of flame,
+ Ruby tears there came;
+
+ While the lioness
+ Loosed her slender dress,
+ And naked they conveyed
+ To caves the sleeping maid.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE GIRL FOUND
+
+ All the night in woe
+ Lyca's parents go
+ Over valleys deep,
+ While the deserts weep.
+
+ Tired and woe-begone,
+ Hoarse with making moan,
+ Arm in arm, seven days
+ They traced the desert ways.
+
+ Seven nights they sleep
+ Among shadows deep,
+ And dream they see their child
+ Starved in desert wild.
+
+ Pale through pathless ways
+ The fancied image strays,
+ Famished, weeping, weak,
+ With hollow piteous shriek.
+
+ Rising from unrest,
+ The trembling woman pressed
+ With feet of weary woe;
+ She could no further go.
+
+ In his arms he bore
+ Her, armed with sorrow sore;
+ Till before their way
+ A couching lion lay.
+
+ Turning back was vain:
+ Soon his heavy mane
+ Bore them to the ground,
+ Then he stalked around,
+
+ Smelling to his prey;
+ But their fears allay
+ When he licks their hands,
+ And silent by them stands.
+
+ They look upon his eyes,
+ Filled with deep surprise;
+ And wondering behold
+ A spirit armed in gold.
+
+ On his head a crown,
+ On his shoulders down
+ Flowed his golden hair.
+ Gone was all their care.
+
+ "Follow me," he said;
+ "Weep not for the maid;
+ In my palace deep,
+ Lyca lies asleep."
+
+ Then they followed
+ Where the vision led,
+ And saw their sleeping child
+ Among tigers wild.
+
+ To this day they dwell
+ In a lonely dell,
+ Nor fear the wolvish howl
+ Nor the lion's growl.
+
+
+ THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER
+
+ A little black thing in the snow,
+ Crying "weep! weep!" in notes of woe!
+ "Where are thy father and mother? Say!"--
+ "They are both gone up to the church to pray.
+
+ "Because I was happy upon the heath,
+ And smiled among the winter's snow,
+ They clothed me in the clothes of death,
+ And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
+
+ "And because I am happy and dance and sing,
+ They think they have done me no injury,
+ And are gone to praise God and his priest and king,
+ Who make up a heaven of our misery."
+
+
+ NURSE'S SONG
+
+ When voices of children are heard on the green,
+ And whisperings are in the dale,
+ The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind,
+ My face turns green and pale.
+
+ Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,
+ And the dews of night arise;
+ Your spring and your day are wasted in play,
+ And your winter and night in disguise.
+
+
+ THE SICK ROSE
+
+ O rose, thou art sick!
+ The invisible worm,
+ That flies in the night,
+ In the howling storm,
+
+ Has found out thy bed
+ Of crimson joy,
+ And his dark secret love
+ Does thy life destroy.
+
+
+ THE FLY
+
+ Little Fly,
+ Thy summer's play
+ My thoughtless hand
+ Has brushed away.
+
+ Am not I
+ A fly like thee?
+ Or art not thou
+ A man like me?
+
+ For I dance
+ And drink, and sing,
+ Till some blind hand
+ Shall brush my wing.
+
+ If thought is life
+ And strength and breath
+ And the want
+ Of thought is death;
+
+ Then am I
+ A happy fly,
+ If I live,
+ Or if I die.
+
+
+ THE ANGEL
+
+ I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?
+ And that I was a maiden Queen
+ Guarded by an Angel mild:
+ Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!
+
+ And I wept both night and day,
+ And he wiped my tears away;
+ And I wept both day and night,
+ And hid from him my heart's delight.
+
+ So he took his wings, and fled;
+ Then the morn blushed rosy red.
+ I dried my tears, and armed my fears
+ With ten-thousand shields and spears.
+
+ Soon my Angel came again;
+ I was armed, he came in vain;
+ For the time of youth was fled,
+ And grey hairs were on my head.
+
+
+ THE TYGER
+
+ Tyger, tyger, burning bright
+ In the forests of the night,
+ What immortal hand or eye
+ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
+
+ In what distant deeps or skies
+ Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
+ On what wings dare he aspire?
+ What the hand dare seize the fire?
+
+ And what shoulder and what art
+ Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
+ And, when thy heart began to beat,
+ What dread hand and what dread feet?
+
+ What the hammer? what the chain?
+ In what furnace was thy brain?
+ What the anvil? what dread grasp
+ Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
+
+ When the stars threw down their spears,
+ And watered heaven with their tears,
+ Did he smile his work to see?
+ Did he who made the lamb make thee?
+
+ Tyger, tyger, burning bright
+ In the forests of the night,
+ What immortal hand or eye
+ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
+
+
+ MY PRETTY ROSE TREE
+
+ A flower was offered to me,
+ Such a flower as May never bore;
+ But I said "I've a pretty rose tree,"
+ And I passed the sweet flower o'er.
+
+ Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
+ To tend her by day and by night;
+ But my rose turned away with jealousy,
+ And her thorns were my only delight.
+
+
+ AH SUNFLOWER
+
+ Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
+ Who countest the steps of the sun;
+ Seeking after that sweet golden clime
+ Where the traveller's journey is done;
+
+ Where the Youth pined away with desire,
+ And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
+ Arise from their graves, and aspire
+ Where my Sunflower wishes to go!
+
+
+ THE LILY
+
+ The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
+ The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
+ While the Lily white shall in love delight,
+ Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.
+
+
+ THE GARDEN OF LOVE
+
+ I laid me down upon a bank,
+ Where Love lay sleeping;
+ I heard among the rushes dank
+ Weeping, weeping.
+
+ Then I went to the heath and the wild,
+ To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
+ And they told me how they were beguiled,
+ Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.
+
+ I went to the Garden of Love,
+ And saw what I never had seen;
+ A Chapel was built in the midst,
+ Where I used to play on the green.
+
+ And the gates of this Chapel were shut
+ And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;
+ So I turned to the Garden of Love
+ That so many sweet flowers bore.
+
+ And I saw it was filled with graves,
+ And tombstones where flowers should be;
+ And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
+ And binding with briars my joys and desires.
+
+
+ THE LITTLE VAGABOND
+
+ Dear mother, dear mother, the Church is cold;
+ But the Alehouse is healthy, and pleasant, and warm.
+ Besides, I can tell where I am used well;
+ The poor parsons with wind like a blown bladder swell.
+
+ But, if at the Church they would give us some ale,
+ And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
+ We'd sing and we'd pray all the livelong day,
+ Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray.
+
+ Then the Parson might preach, and drink, and sing,
+ And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;
+ And modest Dame Lurch, who is always at church,
+ Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.
+
+ And God, like a father, rejoicing to see
+ His children as pleasant and happy as he,
+ Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,
+ But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.
+
+
+ LONDON
+
+ I wandered through each chartered street,
+ Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
+ A mark in every face I meet,
+ Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
+
+ In every cry of every man,
+ In every infant's cry of fear,
+ In every voice, in every ban,
+ The mind-forged manacles I hear:
+
+ How the chimney-sweeper's cry
+ Every blackening church appalls,
+ And the hapless soldier's sigh
+ Runs in blood down palace-walls.
+
+ But most, through midnight streets I hear
+ How the youthful harlot's curse
+ Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
+ And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
+
+
+ THE HUMAN ABSTRACT
+
+ Pity would be no more
+ If we did not make somebody poor,
+ And Mercy no more could be
+ If all were as happy as we.
+
+ And mutual fear brings Peace,
+ Till the selfish loves increase;
+ Then Cruelty knits a snare,
+ And spreads his baits with care.
+
+ He sits down with his holy fears,
+ And waters the ground with tears;
+ Then Humility takes its root
+ Underneath his foot.
+
+ Soon spreads the dismal shade
+ Of Mystery over his head,
+ And the caterpillar and fly
+ Feed on the Mystery.
+
+ And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
+ Ruddy and sweet to eat,
+ And the raven his nest has made
+ In its thickest shade.
+
+ The gods of the earth and sea
+ Sought through nature to find this tree,
+ But their search was all in vain:
+ There grows one in the human Brain.
+
+
+ INFANT SORROW
+
+ My mother groaned, my father wept:
+ Into the dangerous world I leapt,
+ Helpless, naked, piping loud,
+ Like a fiend hid in a cloud.
+
+ Struggling in my father's hands,
+ Striving against my swaddling-bands,
+ Bound and weary, I thought best
+ To sulk upon my mother's breast.
+
+
+ A POISON TREE
+
+ I was angry with my friend:
+ I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
+ I was angry with my foe:
+ I told it not, my wrath did grow.
+
+ And I watered it in fears
+ Night and morning with my tears,
+ And I sunned it with smiles
+ And with soft deceitful wiles.
+
+ And it grew both day and night,
+ Till it bore an apple bright,
+ And my foe beheld it shine,
+ and he knew that it was mine, --
+
+ And into my garden stole
+ When the night had veiled the pole;
+ In the morning, glad, I see
+ My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
+
+
+ A LITTLE BOY LOST
+
+ "Nought loves another as itself,
+ Nor venerates another so,
+ Nor is it possible to thought
+ A greater than itself to know.
+
+ "And, father, how can I love you
+ Or any of my brothers more?
+ I love you like the little bird
+ That picks up crumbs around the door."
+
+ The Priest sat by and heard the child;
+ In trembling zeal he seized his hair,
+ He led him by his little coat,
+ And all admired the priestly care.
+
+ And standing on the altar high,
+ "Lo, what a fiend is here!" said he:
+ "One who sets reason up for judge
+ Of our most holy mystery."
+
+ The weeping child could not be heard,
+ The weeping parents wept in vain:
+ They stripped him to his little shirt,
+ And bound him in an iron chain,
+
+ And burned him in a holy place
+ Where many had been burned before;
+ The weeping parents wept in vain.
+ Are such thing done on Albion's shore?
+
+
+ A LITTLE GIRL LOST
+
+ Children of the future age,
+ Reading this indignant page,
+ Know that in a former time
+ Love, sweet love, was thought a crime.
+
+ In the age of gold,
+ Free from winter's cold,
+ Youth and maiden bright,
+ To the holy light,
+ Naked in the sunny beams delight.
+
+ Once a youthful pair,
+ Filled with softest care,
+ Met in garden bright
+ Where the holy light
+ Had just removed the curtains of the night.
+
+ Then, in rising day,
+ On the grass they play;
+ Parents were afar,
+ Strangers came not near,
+ And the maiden soon forgot her fear.
+
+ Tired with kisses sweet,
+ They agree to meet
+ When the silent sleep
+ Waves o'er heaven's deep,
+ And the weary tired wanderers weep.
+
+ To her father white
+ Came the maiden bright;
+ But his loving look,
+ Like the holy book
+ All her tender limbs with terror shook.
+
+ "Ona, pale and weak,
+ To thy father speak!
+ Oh the trembling fear!
+ Oh the dismal care
+ That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair!"
+
+
+ THE SCHOOLBOY
+
+ I love to rise on a summer morn,
+ When birds are singing on every tree;
+ The distant huntsman winds his horn,
+ And the skylark sings with me:
+ Oh what sweet company!
+
+ But to go to school in a summer morn, --
+ Oh it drives all joy away!
+ Under a cruel eye outworn,
+ The little ones spend the day
+ In sighing and dismay.
+
+ Ah then at times I drooping sit,
+ And spend many an anxious hour;
+ Nor in my book can I take delight,
+ Nor sit in learning's bower,
+ Worn through with the dreary shower.
+
+ How can the bird that is born for joy
+ Sit in a cage and sing?
+ How can a child, when fears annoy,
+ But droop his tender wing,
+ And forget his youthful spring?
+
+ Oh father and mother, if buds are nipped,
+ And blossoms blown away;
+ And if the tender plants are stripped
+ Of their joy in the springing day,
+ By sorrow and care's dismay, --
+
+ How shall the summer arise in joy,
+ Or the summer fruits appear?
+ Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
+ Or bless the mellowing year,
+ When the blasts of winter appear?
+
+
+ TO TIRZAH
+
+ Whate'er is born of mortal birth
+ Must be consumed with the earth,
+ To rise from generation free:
+ Then what have I to do with thee?
+ The sexes sprang from shame and pride,
+ Blown 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?
+
+
+ THE VOICE OF THE ANCIENT BARD
+
+ Youth of delight! come hither
+ And see the opening morn,
+ Image of Truth new-born.
+ Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
+ Dark disputes and artful teazing.
+ Folly is an endless maze;
+ Tangled roots perplex her ways;
+ How many have fallen there!
+ They stumble all night over bones of the dead;
+ And feel -- they know not what but care;
+ And wish to lead others, when they should be led.
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+ A DIVINE IMAGE
+
+ Cruelty has a human heart,
+ And Jealousy a human face;
+ Terror the human form divine,
+ And Secresy the human dress.
+
+ The human dress is forged iron,
+ The human form a fiery forge,
+ The human face a furnace sealed,
+ The human heart its hungry gorge.
+
+ NOTE: Though written and engraved by Blake, "A DIVINE IMAGE" was never
+included in the SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+William Blake's
+
+THE BOOK of THEL
+
+
+THEL'S Motto
+
+Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?
+Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:
+Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?
+Or Love in a golden bowl?
+
+
+THE BOOK of THEL
+
+The Author & Printer Willm. Blake. 1780
+
+
+THEL
+
+I
+
+The daughters of Mne Seraphim led round their sunny flocks,
+All but the youngest: she in paleness sought the secret air.
+To fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day:
+Down by the river of Adona her soft voice is heard;
+And thus her gentle lamentation falls like morning dew.
+
+O life of this our spring! why fades the lotus of the water?
+Why fade these children of the spring? born but to smile & fall.
+Ah! Thel is like a watry bow, and like a parting cloud,
+Like a reflection in a glass: like shadows in the water
+Like dreams of infants, like a smile upon an infants face.
+Like the doves voice, like transient day, like music in the air:
+Ah! gentle may I lay me down and gentle rest my head.
+And gentle sleep the sleep of death, and gently hear the voice
+Of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time.
+
+The Lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass
+Answerd the lovely maid and said: I am a watry weed,
+And I am very small and love to dwell in lowly vales:
+So weak the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head
+Yet I am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all
+Walks in the valley, and each morn over me spreads his hand
+Saying, rejoice thou humble grass, thou new-born lily flower.
+Thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks:
+For thou shall be clothed in light, and fed with morning manna:
+Till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs
+To flourish in eternal vales: they why should Thel complain.
+Why should the mistress of the vales of Har, utter a sigh.
+
+She ceasd & smild in tears, then sat down in her silver shrine.
+
+Thel answerd, O thou little virgin of the peaceful valley.
+Giving to those that cannot crave, the voiceless, the o'er tired
+The breath doth nourish the innocent lamb, he smells the milky garments
+He crops thy flowers while thou sittest smiling in his face,
+Wiping his mild and meekin mouth from all contagious taints.
+Thy wine doth purify the golden honey; thy perfume.
+Which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs
+Revives the milked cow, & tames the fire-breathing steed.
+But Thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun:
+I vanish from my pearly throne, and who shall find my place.
+
+Queen of the vales the Lily answered, ask the tender cloud,
+And it shall tell thee why it glitters in the morning sky.
+And why it scatters its bright beauty thro the humid air.
+Descend O little cloud & hover before the eyes of Thel.
+
+The Cloud descended and the Lily bowd her modest head:
+And went to mind her numerous charge among the verdant grass.
+
+
+II.
+
+O little Cloud the virgin said, I charge thee to tell me
+Why thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away:
+Then we shall seek thee but not find: ah Thel is like to thee.
+I pass away, yet I complain, and no one hears my voice.
+
+The Cloud then shewd his golden head & his bright form emerg'd.
+Hovering and glittering on the air before the face of Thel.
+
+O virgin know'st thou not our steeds drink of the golden springs
+Where Luvah doth renew his horses: lookst thou on my youth.
+And fearest thou because I vanish and am seen no more.
+Nothing remains; O maid I tell thee, when I pass away.
+It is to tenfold life, to love, to peace, and raptures holy:
+Unseen descending, weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers:
+And court the fair eyed dew, to take me to her shining tent
+The weeping virgin, trembling kneels before the risen sun.
+Till we arise link'd in a golden band and never part:
+But walk united bearing food to all our tender flowers.
+
+Dost thou O little cloud? I fear that I am not like thee:
+For I walk through the vales of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers:
+But I feed not the little flowers: I hear the warbling birds,
+But I feed not the warbling birds, they fly and seek their food:
+But Thel delights in these no more because I fade away
+And all shall say, without a use this shining women liv'd,
+Or did she only live to be at death the food of worms.
+
+The Cloud reclind upon his airy throne and answerd thus.
+
+Then if thou art the food of worms, O virgin of the skies,
+How great thy use, how great thy blessing, every thing that lives.
+Lives not alone nor or itself: fear not and I will call,
+The weak worm from its lowly bed, and thou shalt hear its voice.
+Come forth worm and the silent valley, to thy pensive queen.
+
+The helpless worm arose and sat upon the Lillys leaf,
+And the bright Cloud saild on, to find his partner in the vale.
+
+
+III.
+
+Then Thel astonish'd view'd the Worm upon its dewy bed.
+
+Art thou a Worm? image of weakness, art thou but a Worm?
+I see thee like an infant wrapped in the Lillys leaf;
+Ah weep not little voice, thou can'st not speak, but thou can'st weep:
+Is this a Worm? I see they lay helpless & naked: weeping
+And none to answer, none to cherish thee with mothers smiles.
+
+The Clod of Clay heard the Worms voice & rais'd her pitying head:
+She bowd over the weeping infant, and her life exhald
+In milky fondness, then on Thel she fix'd her humble eyes;
+
+O beauty of the vales of Har, we live not for ourselves,
+Thou seest me the meanest thing, and so I am indeed:
+My bosom of itself is cold, and of itself is dark,
+
+But he that loves the lowly, pours his oil upon my head
+And kisses me, and binds his nuptial bands around my breast.
+And says; Thou mother of my children, I have loved thee
+And I have given thee a crown that none can take away.
+But how this is sweet maid, I know not, and I cannot know
+I ponder, and I cannot ponder; yet I live and love.
+
+The daughter of beauty wip'd her pitying tears with her white veil,
+And said, Alas! I knew not this, and therefore did I weep:
+That God would love a Worm I knew, and punish the evil foot
+That wilful bruis'd its helpless form: but that he cherish'd it
+With milk and oil I never knew, and therefore did I weep,
+And I complaind in the mild air, because I fade away.
+And lay me down in thy cold bed, and leave my shining lot.
+
+Queen of the vales, the matron Clay answered: I heard thy sighs.
+And all thy moans flew o'er my roof, but I have call'd them down:
+Wilt thou O Queen enter my house, tis given thee to enter,
+And to return: fear nothing, enter with thy virgin feet.
+
+
+IV.
+
+The eternal gates terrific porter lifted the northern bar:
+Thel enter'd in & saw the secrets of the land unknown;
+She saw the couches of the dead, & where the fibrous roots
+Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists:
+A land of sorrows & of tears where never smile was seen.
+
+She wandered in the land of clouds thro' valleys dark, listning
+Dolors & lamentations: waiting oft beside the dewy grave
+She stood in silence, listning to the voices of the ground,
+Till to her own grave plot she came, & there she sat down.
+And heard this voice of sorrow breathed from the hollow pit.
+
+Why cannot the Ear be closed to its own destruction?
+Or the glistening Eye to the poison of a smile!
+Why are Eyelids stord with arrows ready drawn,
+Where a thousand fighting men in ambush lie!
+Or an Eye of gifts & graces showring fruits & coined gold!
+
+Why a Tongue impress'd with honey from every wind?
+Why an Ear, a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in?
+Why a Nostril wide inhaling terror trembling & affright
+Why a tender curb upon the youthful burning boy?
+Why a little curtain of flesh on the bed of our desire?
+
+The Virgin started from her seat, & with a shriek,
+Fled back unhinderd till she came into the vales of Har.
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Poems of William Blake
+
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