Songs of Innocence

William Blake, Mary H. Robinson, Charles Robinson, Mary H. Robinson, Charles Robinson

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780486476049
• eBook ISBN: 9780486122236
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Poetry
• Index: Literature

William Blake's 1789 classic evokes an idyllic world, populated by pipers, shepherds, angels, and joyful children. Graced by Charles and Mary Robinson's ethereal Art Nouveau illustrations, this special edition comprises the complete Songs of Innocence, in addition to nine poems from Songs of Experience.

SONGS OF INNOCENCE

On a cloud I saw a child.

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 sung 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 strays;
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 watchful while they are in peace,
For they know when their shepherd is nigh.

THE ECHOING KEEN

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 :

Little Lamb, who made thee ?

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, pointing to the ea...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• SONGS OF INNOCENCE
• SOME POEMS FROM SONGS OF EXPERIENCE