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And the dews of night arise;
Come; come; leave off play; and let us away;
Till the morning appears in the skies。〃
〃No; no; let us play; for it is yet day;
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides; in the sky the little birds fly;
And the hills are all covered with sheep。〃
〃Well; well; go and play till the light fades away;
And then go home to bed。〃
The little ones leaped; and shouted; and laughed;
And all the hills echoed。
INFANT JOY
〃I have no name;
I am but two days old。〃
What shall I call thee?
〃I happy am;
Joy is my name。〃
Sweet joy befall thee!
Pretty joy!
Sweet joy; but two days old。
Sweet Joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile;
I sing the while;
Sweet joy befall thee!
A DREAM
Once a dream did weave a shade
O'er my angel…guarded bed;
That an emmet lost its way
Where on grass methought I lay。
Troubled; wildered; and forlorn;
Dark; benighted; travel…worn;
Over many a tangle spray;
All heart…broke; I heard her say:
〃Oh my children! do they cry;
Do they hear their father sigh?
Now they look abroad to see;
Now return and weep for me。〃
Pitying; I dropped a tear:
But I saw a glow…worm near;
Who replied; 〃What wailing wight
Calls the watchman of the night?
〃I am set to light the ground;
While the beetle goes his round:
Follow now the beetle's hum;
Little wanderer; hie thee home!〃
ON ANOTHER'S SORROW
Can I see another's woe;
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief;
And not seek for kind relief?
Can I see a falling tear;
And not feel my sorrow's share?
Can a father see his child
Weep; nor be with sorrow filled?
Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan; an infant fear?
No; no! never can it be!
Never; never can it be!
And can He who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small;
Hear the small bird's grief and care;
Hear the woes that infants bear
And not sit beside the next;
Pouring pity in their breast;
And not sit the cradle near;
Weeping tear on infant's tear?
And not sit both night and day;
Wiping all our tears away?
Oh no! never can it be!
Never; never can it be!
He doth give his joy to all:
He becomes an infant small;
He becomes a man of woe;
He doth feel the sorrow too。
Think not thou canst sigh a sigh;
And thy Maker is not by:
Think not thou canst weep a tear;
And thy Maker is not year。
Oh He gives to us his joy;
That our grief He may destroy:
Till our grief is fled an gone
He doth sit by us and moan。
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
INTRODUCTION
Hear the voice of the Bard;
Who present; past; and future; sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walked among the ancient tree;
Calling the lapsed soul;
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole;
And fallen; fallen light renew!
〃O Earth; O Earth; return!
Arise from out the dewy grass!
Night is worn;
And the morn
Rises from the slumbrous mass。
〃Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor;
The watery shore;
Are given thee till the break of day。〃
EARTH'S ANSWER
Earth raised up her head
From the darkness dread and drear;
Her light fled;
Stony; dread;
And her locks covered with grey despair。
〃Prisoned on watery shore;
Starry jealousy does keep my den
Cold and hoar;
Weeping o're;
I hear the father of the ancient men。
〃Selfish father of men!
Cruel; jealous; selfish fear!
Can delight;
Chained in night;
The virgins of youth and morning bear?
〃Does spring hide its joy;
When buds and blossoms grow?
Does the sower
Sow by night;
Or the plowman in darkness plough?
〃Break this heavy chain;
That does freeze my bones around!
Selfish; vain;
Eternal bane;
That free love with bondage bound。〃
THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE
〃Love seeketh not itself to please;
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives it ease;
And builds a heaven in hell's despair。〃
So sang a little clod of clay;
Trodden with the cattle's feet;
But a pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:
〃Love seeketh only Self to please;
To bind another to its delight;
Joys in another's loss of ease;
And builds a hell in heaven's despite。〃
HOLY THURSDAY
Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land;
Babes reduced to misery;
Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!
And their son does never shine;
And their fields are bleak and bare;
And their ways are filled with thorns:
It is eternal winter there。
For where'er the sun does shine;
And where'er the rain does fall;
Babes should never hunger there;
Nor poverty the mind appall。
THE LITTLE GIRL LOST
In futurity
I prophetic see
That the earth from sleep
(Grave the sentence deep)
Shall arise; and seek
for her Maker meek;
And the desert wild
Become a garden mild。
In the southern clime;
Where the summer's prime
Never fades away;
Lovely Lyca lay。
Seven summers old
Lovely Lyca told。
She had wandered long;
Hearing wild birds' song。
〃Sweet sleep; come to me
Underneath this tree;
Do father; mother; weep?
Where can Lyca sleep?
〃Lost in desert wild
Is your little child。
How can Lyca sleep
If her mother weep?
〃If her heart does ache;
Then let Lyca wake;
If my mother sleep;
Lyca shall not weep。
〃Frowning; frowning night;
O'er this desert bright
Let thy moon arise;
While I close m