by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
I wonder whether the Girls are mad
Language: English
I wonder whether the Girls are mad And I wonder whether they mean to kill And I wonder if William Bond will die For assuredly he is very ill He went to Church in a May morning Attended by Fairies one two & three But the Angels Of Providence drove them away And he returnd home in Misery He went not out to the Field nor Fold He went not out to the Village nor Town But he came home in a black black cloud And took to his Bed & there lay down And an Angel of Providence at his Feet And an Angel of Providence at his Head And in the midst a Black Black Cloud And in the midst the Sick Man on his Bed And on his Right hand was Mary Green And on his Left hand was his Sister Jane And their tears fell thro the black black Cloud To drive away the sick mans pain O William if thou dost another Love Dost another Love better than poor Mary Go & take that other to be thy Wife And Mary Green shall her Servant be Yes Mary I do another Love Another I Love far better than thee And Another I will have for my Wife Then what have I to do with thee For thou art Melancholy Pale And on thy Head is the cold Moons shine But she is ruddy & bright as day And the sun beams dazzle from her eyne Mary trembled & Mary chilld And Mary fell down on the right hand floor That William Bond & his Sister Jane Scarce could recover Mary more When Mary woke & found her Laid On the Right hand of her William dear On the Right hand of his loved Bed And saw her William Bond so near The Fairies that fled from William Bond Danced around her Shining Head They danced over the Pillow white And the Angels of Providence left the Bed I thought Love livd in the hot sun Shine But O he lives in the Moony light I thought to find Love in the heat of day But sweet Love is the Comforter of Night Seek Love in the Pity of others Woe In the gentle relief of anothers care In the darkness of night & the winters snow In the naked & outcast Seek Love there
W. Bolcom sets stanza 12
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Pickering Manuscript, c1801-1803.
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "William Bond", from "William Bond".  [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), "I thought love lived in the hot sunshine", 1966, stanza 12 [ chorus of alto and tenor or counter-tenor voices, alto flute, harp, piano, and viola ], from Morning and Evening Poems, no. 4 [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: 52
Word count: 399