| William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908. | | | | Songs of Innocence | | The Echoing Green |
| | | THE SUN does arise, | |
| And make happy the skies; | |
| The merry bells ring | |
| To welcome the Spring; | |
| The skylark and thrush, | 5 |
| The birds of the bush, | |
| Sing louder around | |
| To the bells’ cheerful sound, | |
| While our sports shall be seen | |
| On the Echoing Green. | 10 |
| |
| Old John, with white hair, | |
| Does laugh away care, | |
| Sitting under the oak, | |
| Among the old folk. | |
| They laugh at our play, | 15 |
| And soon they all say: | |
| ‘Such, such were the joys | |
| When we all, girls and boys, | |
| In our youth time were seen | |
| On the Echoing Green.’ | 20 |
| |
| Till the little ones, weary, | |
| No more can be merry; | |
| The sun does descend, | |
| And our sports have an end. | |
| Round the laps of their mothers | 25 |
| Many sisters and brothers, | |
| Like birds in their nest, | |
| Are ready for rest, | |
| And sport no more seen | |
| On the darkening Green. | 30 | | | |
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