I heard an angel singing

I heard an Angel singing 
When the day was springing,
"Mercy, Pity, Peace
Is the world's release."
Thus he sung all day
Over the new mown hay,
Till the sun went down
And haycocks looked brown.
I heard a Devil curse
Over the heath and the furze,
"Mercy could be no more,
If there was nobody poor,
And pity no more could be,
If all were as happy as we."
At his curse the sun went down,
And the heavens gave a frown.
Down pour'd the heavy rain
Over the new reap'd grain ...
And Miseries' increase
Is Mercy, Pity, Peace.

by William Blake (1757-1827)

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

by William Henry Bell (1873-1946) , "I heard an angel singing", 1940, from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 12.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "I heard an angel singing", 1966 [alto and tenor/counter-tenor voices and ensemble of alto flute, harp, piano and viola], from Morning and Evening Poems, no. 2.

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