The voice of the ancient bard | The Voice of the Ancient Bard | Youth of delight, come hither

Youth of delight, come hither

Language: English

Youth of delight, come hither,
And see the opening morn,
Image of truth new-born.
Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
Dark disputes and artful teasing.
Folly is an endless maze,
Tangled roots perplex her ways.
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead,
And feel they know not what but care,
And wish to lead others, when they should be led.

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The voice of the ancient bard", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 26, 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 William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The Voice of the Ancient Bard", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hayg Boyadjian (b. 1938), "Hear the voice of the bard", 1978 [ soprano, flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, cello and bass ], from Song Cycle on Poems of William Blake, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean Coulthard (1908 - 2000), "First Song of Experience", 1968, first performed 1968 [ alto voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "The voice of the ancient bard (reprise)", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 32 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Frandsen (b. 1956), "The Voice of the Ancient Bard", 1991 [ voice and guitar ], from Songs of Experience, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "The voice of the ancient bard", op. 27a no. 26 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 26 [sung text not yet checked]
by John H. Harbison (b. 1938), "The voice of the ancient bard", 1971, published c1975, first performed 1973 [ four soli, SATB chorus, string quartet, and percussion ], from Five Songs of Experience, no. 4, New York, Associated Music Publishers [sung text not yet checked]
by Chester Edward Ide (1878 - 1944), "The voice of the ancient bard", c1928 [ vocal duet for treble voices a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence -- Eight Poems by William Blake, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Sharon E. Kanach (b. 1957), "The voice of the ancient bard", 1977 [ baritone and instrumental ensemble (nine instruments) ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Joan Littlejohn (b. 1937), "Voice of the ancient bard", 1969 [ unaccompanied voice ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Leo Smith (1881 - 1952), "Voice of the ancient bard", c1900 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Michael Spearing (b. 1950), "Youth of delight", 1976, first performed 1976 [ baritone, SATB chorus, and small orchestra ], from Visions of William Blake, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "The voice of the ancient bard" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 20 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 68