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 chear. "Piper, pipe that song again." So I piped: he wept to hear. "Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe; Sing thy songs of happy chear." So I sang 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 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.
Songs of Innocence and Experience
Song Cycle by (Thomas) Timothy Lenk (b. 1952)
1. Introduction (Piping down the valleys wild)  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Introduction", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 1, first published 1789
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Вступление", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. Infant Joy  [sung text not yet checked]
"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!
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Infant Joy", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 17, first published 1789
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Дитя-радость", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
3. The lamb  [sung text not yet checked]
Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Gave thee life, and [bid]1 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? Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee, Little Lamb, I'll tell thee: He is callèd 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 callèd by His name. Little Lamb, God bless thee! Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The lamb", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 4, first published 1789
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "L'anyell", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Thomas F. Schubert) , "Das Lamm", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Агнец", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 MacNutt, Somervell: "bade"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
4. The little boy lost  [sung text not yet checked]
``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, & the child did weep, And away the vapour flew.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little boy lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 8, first published 1789
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Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail5. The little boy found  [sung text not yet checked]
The little boy lost in the lonely fen, Led by the wand'ring light, Began to cry; but God, ever nigh, Appear'd like his father, in white. He kissed the child, and by the hand led, And to his mother brought, Who in sorrow pale, thro' the lonely dale, Her little boy weeping sought.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little boy found", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 9, first published 1789
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. Infant sorrow  [sung text not yet checked]
My mother groaned, my father wept, Into the dangerous world I leapt; Helpless, naked, piping loud, Like a fiend hid in a cloud. Struggling in my father's hands, Striving against my swaddling bands, Bound and weary, I thought best To sulk upon my mother's breast.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Infant sorrow", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 20, first published 1794
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]7. The Tyger  [sung text not yet checked]
Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare sieze the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The tyger", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 12, first published 1794
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El tigre", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le tigre", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Der Tiger", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Thomas F. Schubert) , "Der Tiger", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Тигр", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
8. A little boy lost  [sung text not yet checked]
"Nought loves another as itself, Nor venerates another so, Nor is it possible to Thought A greater than itself to know: "And, Father, how can I love you Or any of my brothers more? I love you like the little bird That picks up crumbs around the door." The Priest sat by and heard the child, In trembling zeal he seiz'd his hair: He led him by his little coat, And all admir'd the priestly care. And standing on the altar high, "Lo! what a fiend is here," said he, "One who sets reason up for judge Of our most holy Mystery." The weeping child could not be heard, The weeping parents wept in vain; They stripp'd him to his little shirt, And bound him in an iron chain; And burn'd him in a holy place, Where many had been burn'd before: The weeping parents wept in vain. Are such things done on Albion's shore?
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A little boy lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 22, first published 1794
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]9. A little girl lost (Introd. Children of the future)  [sung text not yet checked]
Children of the future Age
Reading this indignant page,
Know that in a former time
Love! sweet Love! was thought a crime.
In the Age of Gold,
Free from winter's cold,
Youth and maiden bright
To the holy light,
Naked in the sunny beams delight.
[ ... ]
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A little girl lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 23, first published 1794
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Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail10. A little girl lost (Once a youthful pair)  [sung text not yet checked]
Once a youthful pair,
Fill'd with softest care,
Met in garden bright
Where the holy light
Had just remov'd the curtains of night.
[ ... ]
There, in rising day,
On the grass they play;
Parents were afar,
Strangers came not near,
And the maiden soon forgot her fear.
Tired with kisses sweet,
They agree to meet
When the silent sleep
Waves o'er heaven's deep,
And the weary tired wanderers weep.
To her father white
Came the maiden bright;
But his loving look,
Like the holy book,
All her tender limbs with terror shook.
``Ona! pale and weak!
To thy father speak:
O, the trembling fear!
O, the dismal care!
That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair.''
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "A little girl lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 23, first published 1794
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Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail11. London  [sung text not yet checked]
I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear. How the Chimney-sweeper's cry Every black'ning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldier's sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls. But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlot's curse Blasts the new-born Infant's tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "London", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 18, first published 1794
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Londres", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
12. The Human Abstract  [sung text not yet checked]
Pity would be no more If we did not make somebody Poor; And Mercy no more could be If all were as happy as we. And mutual fear brings peace, Till the selfish loves increase: Then Cruelty knits a snare, And spreads his baits with care. He sits down with holy fears, And waters the grounds with tears; Then Humility takes its root Underneath his foot. Soon spreads the dismal shade Of Mystery over his head; And the Catterpiller and Fly Feed on the Mystery. And it bears the fruit of Deceit, Ruddy and sweet to eat; And the Raven his nest has made In its thickest shade. The Gods of the earth and sea Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree; But their search was all in vain: There grows one in the Human Brain.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The Human Abstract", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 19, first published 1794
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Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail13. The little girl lost (Introd. In futurity I prophetic see)  [sung text not yet checked]
In futurity
I prophetic see
That the earth from sleep
(Grave the sentence deep)
Shall arise and seek
For her maker meek;
And in the desart wild
Become a garden mild.
[ ... ]
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little girl lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 5, first published 1794
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail14. The little girl lost (In the southern clime)  [sung text not yet checked]
In the southern clime,
Where the summer's prime
Never fades away,
Lovely Lyca lay.
[ ... ]
Seven summers old
Lovely Lyca told;
She had wander'd long
Hearing wild birds' song.
``Sweet sleep, come to me
Underneath this tree.
Do father, mother weep,
Where can Lyca sleep?
``Lost in desart wild
Is your little child.
How can Lyca sleep
If her mother weep?
``If her heart does ake
Then let Lyca wake;
If my mother sleep,
Lyca shall not weep.
``Frowning, frowning night,
O'er this desart bright
Let thy moon arise
While I close my eyes.''
Sleeping Lyca lay
While the beasts of prey,
Come from caverns deep,
View'd the maid asleep.
The kingly lion stood
And the virgin view'd,
Then he gamboll'd round
O'er the hollow'd ground.
Leopards, tygers, play
Round her as she lay,
While the lion old
Bow'd his mane of gold.
And her bosom lick,
And upon her neck
From his eyes of flame
Ruby tears there came;
While the lioness
Loos'd her slender dress,
And naked they convey'd
To caves the sleeping maid.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little girl lost", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 5, first published 1794
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail15. The little girl found  [sung text not yet checked]
All the night in woe Lyca's parents go Over vallies deep, While the desarts weep. Tired and woe-begone, Hoarse with making moan, Arm in arm seven days They trac'd the desart ways. Seven nights they sleep Among the shadows deep, And dream they see their child Starv'd in desart wild. Pale, thro' pathless ways The fancied image strays Famish'd, weeping, weak, With hollow piteous shriek. Rising from unrest, The trembling woman prest With feet of weary woe: She could no further go. In his arms he bore Her, arm's with sorrow sore; Till before their way A couching lion lay. Turning back was vain: Soon his heavy mane Bore them to the ground. Then he stalk'd around, Smelling to his prey; But their fears allay When he licks their hands, And silent by them stands. They look upon his eyes Fill'd with deep surprise, And wondering behold A spirit arm'd in gold. On his head a crown, On his shoulders down Flow'd his golden hair. Gone was all their care. ``Follow me,'' he said; ``Weep not for the maid; In my palace deep Lyca lies asleep.'' Then they followed Where the vision led, And saw their sleeping child Among the tygers wild. To this day they dwell In a lonely dell; Nor fear the wolvish howl Nor the lion's growl.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little girl found", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 6, first published 1794
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail