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 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.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Glee : delight
Vanished : disappeared
Plucked : picked
Hollow : having empty space inside
