Blake's Garden

Song Cycle by Michael Richard Miller (b. 1932)

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.

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Spring", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 15, first published 1789

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View original text (without footnotes)

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

Language: English

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.

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The lily", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 15, first published 1794

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. The blossom [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

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.

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The blossom", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 6, first published 1789

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

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

Language: English

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.

Text 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

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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]

Language: English

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.

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The fly", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 10, first published 1794

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]

Total word count: 264