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
See other settings of this text.
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
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
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]