by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
I dreamt a dream! what can it mean?
Language: English
I dreamt a dream! what can it mean? And that I was a maiden Queen, Guarded by an Angel mild: Witless woe was ne'er beguil'd! And I wept both night and day, And he wip'd my tears away, And I wept both day and night, And hid from him my heart's delight. So he took his wings and fled; Then the morn blush'd rosy red; I dried my tears, and arm'd my fears With ten thousand shields and spears. Soon my Angel came again: I was arm'd, he came in vain; For the time of youth was fled, And grey hairs were on my head.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The angel", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 11, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Rodney Ash (b. 1931), "The angel", 1972, from Songs of Experience, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The angel", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume One, no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960), "Maiden's song", 1928, published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elyse Donathan Curtis (b. 1929), "The angel", c1974, first performed 1974 [ medium voice, chorus, and piano ], from Nine Songs of William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by James D'Angelo (b. 1939), "The angel", 1964 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacqueline Fontyn (b. 1930), "The Angel", copyright © 1996 [ mezzo-soprano or contralto and woodwinds ], from Blake's Mirror, no. 1, Molenaar Edition B.V., Wormerveer, Holland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Scott Gendel (b. 1977), "The angel", 2002 [ soprano, alto flute, 2 violins, harpsichord, and cello ], from Evensong, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "The angel", op. 27a no. 11 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Holab , "The angel" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin Lees, né Benjamin George Lisniansky (1924 - 2010), "The angel", published 1968, first performed 1968 [ alto and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 3, London, NY : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leif Segerstam (b. 1944), "The angel", 1970-1 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Six Songs of Experience, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "The Angel" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Paul Vollrath (b. 1931), "The angel", 1963, first performed 1963 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Five Short Songs by William Blake [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roderick Williams (b. 1965), "The Angel" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by W. Wilhelm ; composed by Michael Thiele.
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 105