Page:The Poems of William Blake (Shepherd, 1887).djvu/115

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INNOCENCE.
93

And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the sun.


Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father and never want joy.


And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold Tom was happy and warm:
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.


FATHER! father! where are you going?
O, do not walk so fast.
Speak, father, speak to your little boy,
Or else I shall be lost.


The night was dark, no father was there;
The child was wet with dew;
The mire was deep and the child did weep,
And away the vapour flew.