by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
The morning comes, the night decays, the...
Language: English
The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations; The grave is burst, the spices shed, the linen wrapped up; The bones of death, the cov'ring clay, the sinews shrunk & dry'd. Reviving shake, inspiring move, breathing! awakening! Spring like redeemed captives when their bonds & bars are burst; Let the slave grinding at the mill, run out into the field: Let him look up into the heavens & laugh in the bright air; Let the inchained soul shut up in darkness and in sighing, Whose face has never seen a smile in thirty weary years; Rise and look out, his chains are loose, his dungeon doors are open. And let his wife and children return from the opressors scourge; They look behind at every step & believe it is a dream. Singing. The Sun has left his blackness, & has found a fresher morning And the fair Moon rejoices in the clear & cloudless night; For Empire is no more, and now the Lion & Wolf shall cease.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), no title, appears in America: a Prophecy, in A Prophecy, lines 37-51 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Colin Eatock (b. 1958), "The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations;
", 1987 [bass-baritone and piano], from Three Songs from Blakeâs "America", no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
- by Herbert Reynolds Inch (1904 - 1988), "Song of Liberation", published c1944. [SSA chorus and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 171