Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Home: II. For ChildrenThe Piper
William 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 sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.
In a book that all may read—”
So he vanished from my sight;
And I plucked a hollow reed,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.