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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

[No title]
 (Sung text for setting by C. Eatock)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations;
The grave is burst, the spices shed, the linen wrapped up;
The bones of death, the cov'ring clay, the sinews shrunk & dry'd.
Reviving shake, inspiring move, breathing! awakening!
Spring like redeemed captives when their bonds & bars are burst;

Let the slave grinding at the mill, run out into the field:
Let him look up into the heavens & laugh in the bright air;
Let the inchained soul shut up in darkness and in sighing,
Whose face has never seen a smile in thirty weary years;
Rise and look out, his chains are loose, his dungeon doors are open.
And let his wife and children return from the opressors scourge;
They look behind at every step & believe it is a dream.
Singing. The Sun has left his blackness, & has found a fresher morning
And the fair Moon rejoices in the clear & cloudless night;
For Empire is no more, and now the Lion & Wolf shall cease.

Composition:

    Set to music by Colin Eatock (b. 1958), no title, 1987 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Three Songs from Blake’s "America", no. 3

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), no title, appears in America: a Prophecy, in A Prophecy, lines 37-51

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 171

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