William Blake (1757-1827). Reeds of Innocence. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1909. The Book of Georgian Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

Reeds of Innocence

By William Blake (1757–1827)


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!’	5
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:’	10
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,	15
And I pluck’d 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.	20