Blake's Garden

Song Cycle by Michael Richard Miller (b. 1932)

Word count: 259

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

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.

Authorship

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Spring", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 15, first published 1789 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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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 text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

2. The modest rose puts forth a thorn [sung text not yet checked]

The modest rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threatening horn, 
While the lily white shall in love delight, 
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

Authorship

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The lily", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 15, first published 1794 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. The blossom [sung text not yet checked]

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 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. The sick rose [sung text not yet checked]

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 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Больная роза", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Pablo Sabat) , "Elegía"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

5. The fly [sung text not yet checked]

Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brush'd away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink & sing:
Till some blind hand 
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength & breath
And the want 
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

Authorship

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The fly", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 10, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Мотылёк", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]