Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
William Blake. 17571827486. Reeds of Innocence
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!’ | 5 |
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!’ | 10 |
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; | 15 |
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. | 20 |