Blakes-Songs of Innoncence

Introduction (Blake, 1789)
From Wikisource
Jump to: navigation, search
←Songs of Innocence
Songs of Innocence by William BlakeIntroduction
The Shepherd→
This poem was published in Songs of Innocence in 1789.

Blake's plate of 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 writeIn 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 stained the water clear,And I wrote my happy songsEvery child may joy to hear.