The Norton Anthology of English literature. Volume 2

5 "Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil'd among the winter's snow; They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

"And because I am happy, & dance & sing,

IO They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King, Who make up a heaven of our misery."

1790-92 1794

Nurse's Song

When the voices of children are heard on the green And whisperings are in the dale, The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind, My face turns green and pale.

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T H E F L Y / 9 1 5 Then come home my children, the sun is gone down And the dews of night arise; Your spring & your day are wasted in play, And your winter and night in disguise. 1794 The Sick Rose O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm 5 Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy, And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. 1794 The Fly Little Fly Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brush'd away 5 Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? 10For I dance And drink & sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing. 15If thought is life And strength & breath, And the want Of thought is death; 20Then am I A happy fly, If I live, Or if I die. 179 4

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92 / WILLIAM BLAKE

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"The Tyger"

The Tyger1

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

5 In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

10 Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?

1. For the author's revisions while composing "The Tyger," see "Poems in Process," in the appendices to this volume.

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A H SUN-FLOWE R / 9 3 isWhat the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? 20When the stars threw down their spears2 And water'd heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 1790-92 1794

My Pretty Rose Tree

A flower was offerd to me; Such a flower as May never bore, But I said, "I've a Pretty Rose-tree," And I passed the sweet flower o'er.

5 Then I went to my Pretty Rose-tree, To tend her by day and by night. But my Rose turnd away with jealousy, And her thorns were my only delight.

1794

Ah Sun-flower

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun, Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveller's journey is done;

5 Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow, Arise from their graves and aspire, Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

2. "Threw down" is ambiguous and may signify that the stars either "surrendered" or "hurled down" their spears.

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94 / WILLIAM BLAKE

The Garden of Love

I went to the Garden of Love, And saw what I never had seen: A Chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green.

5 And the gates of this Chapel were shut, And "Thou shalt not" writ over the door; So I turn'd to the Garden of Love, That so many sweet flowers bore,

And I saw it was filled with graves,

10 And tomb-stones where flowers should be; And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, And binding with briars my joys & desires.

1794

London I wander thro' each charter'd' street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. 5 In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban,2 The mind-forg'd manacles I hear: 10How the Chimney-sweeper's cry Every blackning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldier's sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls. 15But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlot's curse Blasts the new-born Infant's tear,3 And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.4 1794