No More Learning

BRIMLEY JOHNSON.
GUILDFORD: A. C. CURTIS.

MDCCCCI.




CONTENTS

SONGS OF INNOCENCE

Page
Introduction 1
The Shepherd 3
The Echoing Green 4
The Lamb 6
The Little Black Boy 7
The Blossom 9
The Chimney-Sweeper 10
The Little Boy Lost 12
The Little Boy Pound 13
Laughing Song 14
A Cradle Song 15
The Divine Image 17
Holy Thursday 19
Night 20
Spring 23
Nurse's Song 25
Infant Joy 26
A Dream 27
On Another's Sorrow 29

SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

Introduction 33
Earth's Answer 35
The Clod and the Pebble 37
Holy Thursday 38
The Little Girl Lost 39
The Little Girl Found 42
The Chimney-Sweeper 45
Nurse's Song 46
The Sick Rose 47
The Fly 48
The Angel 50
The Tiger 51
My Pretty Rose-Tree 53
Ah, Sunflower 54
The Lily 55
The Garden of Love 56
The Little Vagabond 57
London 58
The Human Abstract 59
Infant Sorrow 61
A Poison Tree 62
A Little Boy Lost 63
A Little Girl Lost 65
A Divine Image 67
A Cradle Song 68
The Schoolboy 69
To Tirzah 71
The Voice of the Ancient Bard 72




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 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.



THE SHEPHERD


How sweet is the shepherd's sweet lot!
From the morn to the evening he strays;
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 watchful 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, with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
'Such, such were the joys
When we all--girls and boys--
In our youth-time were seen
On the echoing green. '

Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry:
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest,
And sport no more seen
On the darkening green.



THE LAMB


Little lamb, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I'll tell thee;
Little lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!



THE LITTLE BLACK BOY


My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O my soul is white!