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.
From William Blake's Poetry
Song Cycle by Øistein Sommerfeldt (1919 - 1994)
1. The fly  [sung text not yet checked]
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]
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La mouche", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Мотылёк", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. The Garden of Love  [sung text not yet checked]
I went to the Garden of Love, and saw what I never had seen: A chapel was built in the midst, where I used to play on the green. And the gates of this chapel were shut, and "Thou shalt not" writ over the door; So I turn'd to the Garden of Love, that so many, many sweet flowers bore; And I saw it was filled with graves, and tombstones where flowers should be; and priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, and binding with briars my joys and desires.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The Garden of Love", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 16, 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):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Der Garten der Liebe", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
3. The Little Vagabond  [sung text not yet checked]
Dear Mother, dear Mother, the Church is cold, But the Ale-house is healthy & pleasant & warm; Besides I can tell where I am used well, Such usage in heaven will never do well. But if at the Church they would give us some Ale, And a pleasant fire our souls to regale, We'd sing and we'd pray all the live-long day, Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray. Then the Parson might preach, & drink, & sing, And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring; And modest dame Lurch, who is always at Church, Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch. And God, like a father rejoicing to see His children as pleasant and happy as he, Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the Barrel, But kiss him, & give him both drink and apparel.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The Little Vagabond", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 17, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 305