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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

The little black boy
 (Sung text for setting by H. Cowell)
 See original
Language: English 
 ... 

My mother taught me underneath a tree, 
  And, sitting down before the heat of day, 
She took me on her lap and kissèd me, 
  And, pointing to the East, began to say: 

"Look on the rising sun: there God does live, 
  And gives His light, and gives His heat away, 
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive 
  Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday. 

"And we are put on earth a little space, 
  That we may learn to bear the beams of love; 
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face 
  Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove. 

"For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear, 
  The cloud will vanish; we shall hear His voice, 
Saying: `Come out from the grove, my love and care,
  And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.' " 

 ... 

Composition:

    Set to music by Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 - 1965), "The little black boy", L. 783 (1947), published c1964, first performed 1954, stanzas 2-5 [ high voice or medium voice, piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The little black boy", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 5, first published 1789

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-16
Line count: 28
Word count: 250

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