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 sung 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 vanished from my sight
And I plucked a hollow reed
And I made a rural pen
And I stained the water clear
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.
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Taken from MAD YOU SAY?
A Clear-Eyed Review of William Blake
Martin Heavisides
William Blake 1789
Published in Linnet's Wings Winter Issue 2013