William Blake
Songs of Experience

Introduction

Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who Present, Past, and Future, sees;
Whose ears have heard,
The Holy Word
That walk'd among the ancient trees.

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,
Is given thee till the break of day."