The little vagabond

Dear Mother, dear Mother, the Church is cold,
But the Ale-house is healthy & pleasant & warm;
Besides I can tell where I am used well,
Such usage in heaven will never do well.

But if at the Church they would give us some Ale,
And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,
We'd sing and we'd pray all the live-long day,
Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray.

Then the Parson might preach, & drink, & sing,
And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;
And modest dame Lurch, who is always at Church,
Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.

And God, like a father rejoicing to see
His children as pleasant and happy as he,
Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the Barrel,
But kiss him, & give him both drink and apparel.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "The little vagabond", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 17, published 1794

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

by George Antheil (1900-1959) , "The little vagabond", 1948, from Songs of Experience, no. 5.
by Rodney Ash (1931-) , "The little vagabond", 1972, from Songs of Experience, no. 7.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "The little vagabond", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Experience, Volume One, no. 12.
by John Charlton Crawford (1931-) , "The little vagabond", published 1965 [bass voice, string quartet], from Three Songs of Experience, no. 2.
by Walter Kemp (1938-) , "The little vagabond", 1957-8, from Five Poems of William Blake, no. ?
by Otto Luening (1900-1996) , "The little vagabond", 1980, first performed 1980. [medium voice and piano]
by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875-1958) , "The little vagabond", published 1923 [voice and piano], London, J. B. Cramer & Co.
by Øistein Sommerfeldt (1919-1994) , "The little vagabond", op. 53 no. 3 (1979), from From William Blake's Poetry, no. 3.
by Gerard Victory (1921-) , "The little vagabond", 1978, from Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Carl Paul Vollrath (1931-) , "The little vagabond", 1966, from Songs of Experience, no. ?

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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