Songs of Innocence and Experience Read online

  In our youth-time were seen

  On the echoing green.'

  Till the little ones, weary,

  No more can be merry:

  The sun does descend,

  And our sports have an end.

  Round the laps of their mothers

  Many sisters and brothers,

  Like birds in their nest,

  Are ready for rest,

  And sport no more seen

  On the darkening green.

  THE LAMB

  Little lamb, who made thee?

  Does thou know who made thee,

  Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

  By the stream and o'er the mead;

  Gave thee clothing of delight,

  Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

  Gave thee such a tender voice,

  Making all the vales rejoice?

  Little lamb, who made thee?

  Does thou know who made thee?

  Little lamb, I'll tell thee;

  Little lamb, I'll tell thee:

  He is called by thy name,

  For He calls Himself a Lamb.

  He is meek, and He is mild,

  He became a little child.

  I a child, and thou a lamb,

  We are called by His name.

  Little lamb, God bless thee!

  Little lamb, God bless thee!

  THE LITTLE BLACK BOY

  My mother bore me in the southern wild,

  And I am black, but O my soul is white!

  White as an angel is the English child,

  But I am black, as if bereaved of light.

  My mother taught me underneath a tree,

  And, sitting down before the heat of day,

  She took me on her lap and kissed me,

  And, pointing to the East, began to say:

  'Look on the rising sun: there God does live,

  And gives His light, and gives His heat away,

  And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive

  Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

  'And we are put on earth a little space,

  That we may learn to bear the beams of love;

  And these black bodies and this sunburnt face

  Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

  'For, when our souls have learned the heat to bear,

  The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,

  Saying, "Come out from the grove, my love and care,

  And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice."'

  Thus did my mother say, and kissed me,

  And thus I say to little English boy.

  When I from black, and he from white cloud free,

  And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,

  I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear

  To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;

  And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,

  And be like him, and he will then love me.

  THE BLOSSOM

  Merry, merry sparrow!

  Under leaves so green

  A happy blossom

  Sees you, swift as arrow,

  Seek your cradle narrow,

  Near my bosom.

  Pretty, pretty robin!

  Under leaves so green

  A happy blossom

  Hears you sobbing, sobbing,

  Pretty, pretty robin,

  Near my bosom.

  THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER

  When my mother died I was very young,

  And my father sold me while yet my tongue

  Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'

  So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

  There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

  That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,

  'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,

  You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

  And so he was quiet, and that very night,

  As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! -

  That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,

  Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

  And by came an angel, who had a bright key,

  And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;

  Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run

  And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

  Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,

  They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind:

  And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

  He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

  And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,

  And got with our bags and our brushes to work.

  Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:

  So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

  THE LITTLE BOY LOST

  'Father, father, where are you going?

  O do not walk so fast!

  Speak, father, speak to your little boy,

  Or else I shall be lost.'

  The night was dark, no father was there,

  The child was wet with dew;

  The mire was deep, and the child did weep,

  And away the vapour flew.

  THE LITTLE BOY FOUND

  The little boy lost in the lonely fen,

  Led by the wandering light,

  Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,

  Appeared like his father, in white.

  He kissed the child, and by the hand led,

  And to his mother brought,

  Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,

  Her little boy weeping sought.

  LAUGHING SONG

  When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,

  And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;

  When the air does laugh with our merry wit,

  And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

  When the meadows laugh with lively green,

  And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene;

  When Mary and Susan and Emily

  With their sweet round mouths sing 'Ha ha he!'

  When the painted birds laugh in the shade,

  Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:

  Come live, and be merry, and join with me,

  To sing the sweet chorus of 'Ha ha he!'

  A CRADLE SONG

  Sweet dreams, form a shade

  O'er my lovely infant's head!

  Sweet dreams of pleasant streams

  By happy, silent, moony beams!

  Sweet Sleep, with soft down

  Weave thy brows an infant crown!

  Sweet Sleep, angel mild,

  Hover o'er my happy child!

  Sweet smiles, in the night

  Hover over my delight!

  Sweet smiles, mother's smiles,

  All the livelong night beguiles.

  Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,

  Chase not slumber from thy eyes!

  Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,

  All the dovelike moans beguiles.

  Sleep, sleep, happy child!

  All creation slept and smiled.

  Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,

  While o'er thee thy mother weep.

  Sweet babe, in thy face

  Holy image I can trace;

  Sweet babe, once like thee

  Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:

  Wept for me, for thee, for all,

  When He was an infant small.

  Thou His image ever see,

  Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

  Smiles on thee, on me, on all,

  Who became an infant small;

  Infant smiles are His own smiles;

  Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

  THE DIVINE IMAGE

  To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,

  All pray in their distress,

  And to these virtues of delight

  Return
their thankfulness.

  For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,

  Is God our Father dear;

  And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,

  Is man, His child and care.

  For Mercy has a human heart;

  Pity, a human face;

  And Love, the human form divine:

  And Peace the human dress.

  Then every man, of every clime,

  That prays in his distress,

  Prays to the human form divine:

  Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

  And all must love the human form,

  In heathen, Turk, or Jew.

  Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,

  There God is dwelling too.

  HOLY THURSDAY

  'Twas on a holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,

  The children walking two and two, in red, and blue, and green: Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow, Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.

  O what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town! Seated in companies they sit, with radiance all their own.

  The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,

  Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.

  Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song, Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among:

  Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor.

  Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.

  NIGHT

  The sun descending in the West,

  The evening star does shine;

  The birds are silent in their nest,

  And I must seek for mine.

  The moon, like a flower

  In heaven's high bower,

  With silent delight,

  Sits and smiles on the night.

  Farewell, green fields and happy groves,

  Where flocks have took delight,

  Where lambs have nibbled, silent moves

  The feet of angels bright;

  Unseen, they pour blessing,

  And joy without ceasing,

  On each bud and blossom,

  And each sleeping bosom.

  They look in every thoughtless nest

  Where birds are covered warm;

  They visit caves of every beast,

  To keep them all from harm:

  If they see any weeping

  That should have been sleeping,

  They pour sleep on their head,

  And sit down by their bed.

  When wolves and tigers howl for prey,

  They pitying stand and weep;

  Seeking to drive their thirst away,

  And keep them from the sheep.

  But, if they rush dreadful,

  The angels, most heedful,

  Receive each mild spirit,

  New worlds to inherit.

  And there the lion's ruddy eyes

  Shall flow with tears of gold:

  And pitying the tender cries,

  And walking round the fold:

  Saying: 'Wrath by His meekness,

  And, by His health, sickness,

  Is driven away

  From our immortal day.

  'And now beside thee, bleating lamb,

  I can lie down and sleep,

  Or think on Him who bore thy name,

  Graze after thee, and weep.

  For, washed in life's river,

  My bright mane for ever

  Shall shine like the gold,

  As I guard o'er the fold.'

  SPRING

  Sound the flute!

  Now it's mute!

  Birds delight,

  Day and night,

  Nightingale,

  In the dale,

  Lark in sky, -

  Merrily,

  Merrily, merrily to welcome in the year.

  Little boy,

  Full of joy;

  Little girl,

  Sweet and small;

  Cock does crow,

  So do you;

  Merry voice,

  Infant noise;

  Merrily, merrily to welcome in the year.

  Little lamb,

  Here I am;

  Come and lick

  My white neck;

  Let me pull

  Your soft wool;

  Let me kiss

  Your soft face;

  Merrily, merrily we welcome in the year.

  NURSE'S SONG

  When voices of children are heard on the green,

  And laughing is heard on the hill,

  My heart is at rest within my breast,

  And everything else is still.

  'Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down,

  And the dews of night arise;

  Come, come, leave off play, and let us away,

  Till the morning appears in the skies.'

  'No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,

  And we cannot go to sleep;

  Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,

  And the hills are all covered with sheep.'

  'Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,

  And then go home to bed.'

  The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed,

  And all the hills echoed.

  INFANT JOY

  'I have no name;

  I am but two days old.'

  What shall I call thee?

  'I happy am,

  Joy is my name.'

  Sweet joy befall thee!

  Pretty joy!

  Sweet joy, but two days old.

  Sweet joy I call thee:

  Thou dost smile,

  I sing the while;

  Sweet joy befall thee!

  A DREAM

  Once a dream did weave a shade

  O'er my angel-guarded bed,

  That an emmet lost its way

  Where on grass methought I lay.

  Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,

  Dark, benighted, travel-worn,

  Over many a tangled spray,

  All heart-broke, I heard her say:

  'O my children! do they cry,

  Do they hear their father sigh?

  Now they look abroad to see,

  Now return and weep for me.'

  Pitying, I dropped a tear:

  But I saw a glow-worm near,

  Who replied, 'What wailing wight

  Calls the watchman of the night?'

  'I am set to light the ground,

  While the beetle goes his round:

  Follow now the beetle's hum;

  Little wanderer, hie thee home!'

  ON ANOTHER'S SORROW

  Can I see another's woe,

  And not be in sorrow too?

  Can I see another's grief,

  And not seek for kind relief?

  Can I see a falling tear,

  And not feel my sorrow's share?

  Can a father see his child

  Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?

  Can a mother sit and hear

  An infant groan, an infant fear?

  No, no! never can it be!

  Never, never can it be!

  And can He who smiles on all

  Hear the wren with sorrows small,