Better Gutenberg
Free, beautifully formatted public-domain ebooks

Songs of Innocence and of Experience

by William Blake

20 of 47 · Contents · Download EPUB

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 trees;

Calling the lapséd 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,
Is given thee till the break of day.’

← Back to Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Scroll to Top