A River of Honey

by Simon Sargon (b. 1938)

1. Sound the flute  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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.

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Confirmed with William Blake, Songs of Innocence, 1789.

1 MacNutt: "'tis"
2 Dougherty adds: "Out of sight"
3 MacNutt: "play/ Hours away"
4 MacNutt: "to"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

2. Music
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The neighbour sits in his window and plays the flute.
From my bed I can hear him,
And the round notes flutter and tap about the room,
And hit against each other,
Blurring to unexpected chords.
It is very beautiful,
With the little flute-notes all about me,
In the darkness.

In the daytime,
The neighbour eats bread and onions with one hand
And copies music with the other.
He is fat and has a bald head,
So I do not look at him,
But run quickly past his window.
There is always the sky to look at,
Or the water in the well!

But when night comes and he plays his flute,
I think of him as a young man,
With gold seals hanging from his watch,
And a blue coat with silver buttons.
As I lie in my bed
The flute-notes push against my ears and lips,
And I go to sleep, dreaming.

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. A river of honey
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The fluteplayer
 [ ... ]

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Total word count: 270