Page:Life of William Blake 2, Gilchrist.djvu/51

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SONGS OF INNOCENCE.
29

Piping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he, laughing, said to me:


'Pipe a song about a Lamb!'
So I piped with merry cheer.
'Piper, pipe that song again;'
So I piped: he wept to hear.


'Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
Sing thy songs of happy cheer!'
So I sang the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.


'Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book, that all may read.'
So he vanish'd from my sight.
And I plucked a hollow reed,


And I made a rural pen.
And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.