Poems of William Blake

By William Blake

Rethinking Milton's "Paradise Lost", William Blake examines 'innocence' and 'experience' in this beautiful collection. "Poems of William Blake" combines three classic books of his essential poetry. In "The Book of Thel", Blake tells the story of Thel who wanders from her home in the Vales of Har to the underground realm of the dead. In the deceptively simple and lyrical "Songs of Innocence" and its counterpoint "Songs of Experience", Blake further explores this dichotomy, juxtaposing poems such as "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", and "The Blossom" and "The Sick Rose".-

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Oct 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9789176394052

William Blake

William Blake (1757-1827) was a nonconformist who associated with some of the leading radical thinkers of his day, such as Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft. A skilled engraver and illustrator, his illustrated poetry collections resembled the illuminated books of the Middle Ages.

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William Blake

Poems of William Blake

SAGA Egmont

Poems of William Blake

Cover image: Shutterstock

Copyright © 1879, 2020 William Blake and SAGA Egmont

All rights reserved

ISBN: 9789176394052

1. e-book edition, 2020

Format: EPUB 2.0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievial system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor, be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

SAGA Egmont www.saga-books.com – a part of Egmont, www.egmont.com

Songs of innocence and of experience

Songs of innocence

Introduction

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 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.

The shepherd

How sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot!

From the morn to the evening he stays;

He shall follow his sheep all the day,

And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

For he hears the lambs' innocent call,

And he hears the ewes' tender reply;

He is watching while they are in peace,

For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.

The echoing green

The sun does arise,

And make happy the skies;

The merry bells ring

To welcome the Spring;

The skylark and thrush,

The birds of the bush,

Sing louder around

To the bells' cheerful sound;

While our sports shall be seen

On the echoing Green.

Old John,