Introduction to Songs of Innocence

Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me,

"Pipe a song about a Lamb!";
So I piped with merry cheer;
"Piper, pipe that song again." -
So I piped, he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe
Sing thy songs of happy cheer";
So I sung the same again
While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read" -
So he vanished from my sight.
And I plucked a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.