Dictionary Poems

I Heard an Angel by William Blake 1 I heard an Angel singing 2 When the day was springing, 3 “Mercy, Pity, Peace 4 Is the world’s release.” 5 Thus he sung all day 6 Over the new mown hay, 7 Till the sun went down 8 And haycocks looked brown. 9 I heard a … Continued

Human Abstract by William Blake Pity would be no more, If we did not make somebody Poor; And Mercy no more could be, If all were as happy as we; And mutual fear brings peace, Till the selfish loves increase; Then Cruelty knits a snare, And spreads his baits with care. He sits down with … Continued

Holy Thursday by William Blake Is this a holy thing to see In a rich and fruitful land, — Babes reduced to misery, Fed with cold and usurous hand? Is that trembling cry a song? Can it be a song of joy? And so many children poor? It is a land of poverty! And their … Continued

Holy Thursday by William Blake ‘Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, Came children walking two and two, in read, and blue, and green: Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow, Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames waters flow. Oh what a multitude they seemed, these … Continued

Hear the Voice of the Bard by William Blake 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 lapsed soul, And weeping in the evening dew; That might control The starry pole, And fallen, fallen, light … Continued

Grey Monk, The by William Blake “I die, I die!” the Mother said, “My children die for lack of bread. What more has the merciless Tyrant said?” The Monk sat down on the stony bed. The blood red ran from the Grey Monk’s side, His hands and feet were wounded wide, His body bent, his … Continued

Garden of Love, The by William Blake I laid me down upon a bank, Where Love lay sleeping; I heard among the rushes dank Weeping, weeping. Then I went to the heath and the wild, To the thistles and thorns of the waste; And they told me how they were beguiled, Driven out, and compelled … Continued

French Revolution, The by William Blake 84 Thee the ancientest peer, Duke of Burgundy, rose from the monarch’s right hand, red as wines 85 From his mountains; an odor of war, like a ripe vineyard, rose from his garments, 86 And the chamber became as a clouded sky; o’er the council he stretch’d his red … Continued

Four Zoas, The by William Blake 1.1 “What is the price of Experience? do men buy it for a song? 1.2 Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No, it is bought with the price 1.3 Of all that a man hath, his house, his wife, his children. 1.4 Wisdom is sold in the … Continued

Fly, The by William Blake Little Fly, Thy summer’s play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? For I dance And drink, and sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing. If thought is life And strength and breath And … Continued