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The Poems of 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 walked among the ancient tree;

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,

Are given thee till the break of day."