Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake

William Blake (1757–1827)

Extracts from 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 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 vanished from my sight;

And I plucked a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,

And I stained the water clear,

And I wrote my happy songs,

Every child may joy to hear.