Spring and Three Flowers

Song Cycle by Eugene Hartzell (1932 - 2000)

1. Spring song [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 lily [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 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]

4. Ah! Sun‑flower! weary of time [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime,
Where the traveller's journey is done:

Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Ah! Sun-flower! weary of time", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 14, first published 1794

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Total word count: 203