A little girl lost (Blake, set by W. Bolcom, T. Lenk, T. Lenk) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


   Children of the future Age 
   Reading this indignant page, 
   Know that in a former time 
   Love! sweet Love! was thought a crime. 

In the Age of Gold, 
Free from winter's cold, 
Youth and maiden bright 
To the holy light, 
Naked in the sunny beams delight. 

Once a youthful pair, 
Fill'd with softest care, 
Met in garden bright 
Where the holy light 
Had just remov'd the curtains of night. 

There, in rising day, 
On the grass they play; 
Parents were afar, 
Strangers came not near, 
And the maiden soon forgot her fear. 

Tired with kisses sweet, 
They agree to meet 
When the silent sleep 
Waves o'er heaven's deep, 
And the weary tired wanderers weep. 

To her father white 
Came the maiden bright; 
But his loving look, 
Like the holy book, 
All her tender limbs with terror shook. 

``Ona! pale and weak! 
To thy father speak: 
O, the trembling fear! 
O, the dismal care! 
That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair.''

Input by Ahmed E. Ismail

Authorship

William Blake (1757-1827)

Songs of Innocence and Experience

Songs of Experience

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

William Bolcom (1938-)

Songs of Experience, Volume Two

(Thomas) Timothy Lenk (1952-)

Songs of Innocence and Experience

(Thomas) Timothy Lenk (1952-)

Songs of Innocence and Experience

Date added to the website: 2005-01-17.

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