William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
Reeds of InnocenceWilliam Blake (17571827)
P
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:
So I piped with merry cheer.
‘Piper, pipe that song again;’
So I piped; he wept to hear.
Sing thy songs of happy cheer:’
So I sang the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.
In a book, that all may read.’
So he vanish’d from my sight,
And I pluck’d a hollow reed,
And I stain’d the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.