Sound the Flute! Now [it's]1 mute. Birds delight Day and Night; Nightingale In the dale, Lark in Sky,2 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;]3 Let me pull Your soft Wool; Let me kiss Your soft face; Merrily, Merrily, [We]4 welcome in the Year.
Three Songs of Innocence and a Song of Experience
Song Cycle by Charles Shadle (b. 1960)
1. Spring  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Spring", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 15, first published 1789
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 MacNutt: "'tis"
2 Dougherty inserts "Out of sight" after this line
3 MacNutt: "play/ Hours away"
4 MacNutt: "To"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
2. The shepherd  [sung text checked 1 time]
How sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot! From the morn to the evening he strays; He shall follow his sheep all the day, And his tongue shall be fillèd with praise. For he hears the lamb's innocent call, And he hears the ewe's tender reply; He is watchful [while]1 they are in peace, For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The shepherd", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 2, first published 1789
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El pastor", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Cooke: "when"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
3. The blossom  [sung text checked 1 time]
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.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The blossom", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 6, first published 1789
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. The sick rose  [sung text checked 1 time]
O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The sick rose", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 9, first published 1794
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La rosa malalta", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Jean-Pierre Granger) , "La rose malade", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Die erkrankte Rose", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die kranke Rose", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt) , "Elegi", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Больная роза", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Pablo Sabat) , "Elegía"