Nurse's song

When the voices of children are heard on the green 
And laughing is heard on the hill, 
My heart is at rest within my breast 
And everything else is still. 

"Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down 
And the dews of night arise; 
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away 
Till the morning appears in the skies." 

"No, no, let us play, for it is yet day 
And we cannot go to sleep; 
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly 
And the hills are all cover'd with sheep." 

"Well, well, go & play till the light fades away 
And then go home to bed." 
The little ones leaped & shouted & laugh'd 
And all the hills echoed.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "Nurse's song", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 16, published 1789

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

by (Thomas) Athanasios Aronis (1935-) , "Nurse's song", from Blake Song Cycle, no. 2.
by Grant Beglarion (1927-) , "Nurse's song", 1960. [satb chorus and orchestra or piano]
by Phillip Thomas Bezanson (1916-1975) , "Nurse's song", published 1959, from Songs of Innocence, no. 5.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "Nurse's song", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Innocence, no. 10.
by A. (Alfred or Arthur?) Herbert Brewer (1865-1928) , "The Voices of the Children", published c1912.
by John Charlton Crawford (1931-) , "Nurse's song", first performed 1976 [women's chorus and piano], from Three Blake Songs, no. 1.
by John Charlton Crawford (1931-) , "Nurse's song", published 1978 [women's chorus (SSA) and piano], from Two Blake Songs, no. 1.
by William E. Crofut, III , "Nurse's song", 1973.
by Geoffrey Gwyther , "Nurse's song", published 1917 [medium voice and piano], from Seven Poems from Blake's "Songs of Innocence", no. 3, London, The Poetry Bookshop
by (John) Michael Jacques (1944-) , "Nurse's song", 1966 [soprano voices and piano with optional accompaniment for strings, two clarinets, and piano], from Six Songs of Innocence, no. 6.
by Frederick Keel (1871-1954) , "The nurse's song", published 1952.
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "Nurse's song", published 1889 [voice and piano], from Five Songs of Innocence (formerly Four Songs of Innocence), no. 4, London, Stanley Lucas & Co.

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