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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

The morning comes, the night decays, the...
Language: English 
The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations;
The grave is burst, the spices shed, the linen wrapped up;
The bones of death, the cov'ring clay, the sinews shrunk & dry'd.
Reviving shake, inspiring move, breathing! awakening!
Spring like redeemed captives when their bonds & bars are burst;

Let the slave grinding at the mill, run out into the field:
Let him look up into the heavens & laugh in the bright air;
Let the inchained soul shut up in darkness and in sighing,
Whose face has never seen a smile in thirty weary years;
Rise and look out, his chains are loose, his dungeon doors are open.
And let his wife and children return from the opressors scourge;
They look behind at every step & believe it is a dream.
Singing. The Sun has left his blackness, & has found a fresher morning
And the fair Moon rejoices in the clear & cloudless night;
For Empire is no more, and now the Lion & Wolf shall cease.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), no title, appears in America: a Prophecy, in A Prophecy, lines 37-51 [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 Colin Eatock (b. 1958), "The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations; ", 1987 [bass-baritone and piano], from Three Songs from Blake’s "America", no. 3. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Herbert Reynolds Inch (1904 - 1988), "Song of Liberation", published c1944. [SSA chorus and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 171

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