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.
Three Thoughtful Songs
Song Cycle by Horace Ian Parrott (b. 1916)
1. The fly  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
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
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- 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. Thee, God, I come from  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Thee, God, I come from, to thee go, All day long I like fountain flow From thy hand out, swayed about Motelike in thy mighty glow. What I know of thee I bless, As acknowledging thy stress On my being and as seeing Something of thy holiness. Once I turned from thee and hid, Bound on what thou hadst forbid; Sow the wind I would; I sinned; I repent of what I did. Bad I am, but yet thy child. Father, be thou reconciled, Spare thou me, since I see With thy might that thou art mild. I have life before me still And thy purpose to fulfill; Yea a debt to pay thee yet: Help me, sir, and so I will. But thou bidst, and just thou art, Me shew mercy from my heart Towards my brother, every other Man my mate and counterpart.
Text Authorship:
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), appears in Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse, first published 1895
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Researcher for this page: Victoria BragoTotal word count: 214