I asked a thief to steal me a peach:
He turned up his eyes.
I ask'd a lithe lady to lie her down:
Holy and meek, she cries.

As soon as I went
An Angel came:
He wink'd at the thief,
And smil'd at the dame;

And without one word [said]1
Had a peach from the tree,
[And still as a maid]2
Enjoy'd the lady.

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Mitchell: "spoke"
² Mitchell: "And between earnest and joke"

Text Authorship:

• by William Blake (1757 - 1827), written 1793, appears in Notebook [author's text not yet checked 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 Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "I asked a thief", 1945, from Three Blake Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Dickinson (b. 1934), "Thief and Angel: I asked a thief to steal me a peach", 1957, first performed 1959 [ tenor, horn, clarinet, and bassoon ], from Five Blake Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "I asked a thief", op. 138 no. 6 (c1977) [ double chorus of mixed chorus a cappella ], from Nine poems from the note-book (1793) of William Blake, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Peter) Alexander Goehr (b. 1932), "I asked a thief to steal me a peach ", op. 17 no. 4 (1964), published c1965 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Five Poems and an Epigram of William Blake, no. 4, London : Schott [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Křenek (1900 - 1991), "I ask'd a thief", op. 226a (1976), published c1977, first performed 1977 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Two Settings of Poems by William Blake, no. 1, NY : Rongwen Music (Broude Bros.) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Richard Miller (b. 1932), "I asked a thief", 1965 [ tenor, bass, and 2 baritone soli, TTBB chorus, and piano ], from Blasphemies of Blake, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "I asked a Thief", op. 25 no. 5 (1977), from Visions from the Flame, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Elie Siegmeister (1909 - 1991), "The thief and the angel", 1966, published 1979 [ alto or bass voice, viola, and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 5, NY : C. Fischer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "I asked a thief to steal me a peach", 1917, published 1972 [ medium voice and piano ], London : Thames Publ. Co [sung text not yet checked]
• by Judith Lang Zaimont , "I ask'd a thief to steal me a peach", 1974 [ soprano, tenor, flute, violoncello, and harp ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 3 [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: 12
Word count: 67