all the hills echo ha ha, he he
innocence images (The Window pt 54)
Merry, merry sparrow!/Under leaves so green/A happy blossom/Sees you, swift as arrow,/Seek your cradle narrow, /Near my bosom
-THE BLOSSOM
An angst-antidote — excerpts from Songs of Innocence by William Blake, paired with images from The Window photo installation series:
Pretty joy! / Sweet joy, but two days old. / Sweet joy I call thee: / Thou dost smile, / I sing the while; / Sweet joy befall thee!
-JOY
‘Well, well, go and play till the light fades away, / And then go home to bed.’ / The little ones leaped, and shouted, and laughed, / And all the hills echoèd.
-NURSE’S SONG
When the meadows laugh with lively green, / And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene; / When Mary and Susan and Emily / With their sweet round mouths sing ‘Ha ha he!
-THE LAUGHING SONG
Little lamb, who made thee? / Does thou know who made thee, / Gave thee life, and bid thee feed …/
…By the stream and o’er the mead; / Gave thee clothing of delight, / Softest clothing, woolly, bright
-THE LAMB
Sound the flute! / Now it’s mute! / Birds delight, / Day and night,
-SPRING
And all must love the human form, / In heathen, Turk, or Jew. / Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell, / Their God is dwelling too.
-THE DIVINE IMAGE
’Twas on a holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, / The children walking two and two, in red, and blue, and green: / Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow, / Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames waters flow…
-HOLY THURSDAY
When wolves and tigers howl for prey, / They pitying stand and weep; / Seeking to drive their thirst away, / And keep them from the sheep. / But, if they rush dreadful, / The angels, most heedful, / Receive each mild spirit, / New worlds to inherit…
-NIGHT
Little girl, / Sweet and small; / Cock does crow, / So do you; /Merry voice, / Infant noise; / Merrily, merrily to welcome in the year.
-SPRING
Can I see another’s woe, / And not be in sorrow too? / Can I see another’s grief, / And not seek for kind relief?
-ON ANOTHER’S SORROW
NOTES:
— And I made a rural pen,/ And I stained the water clear,/ And I wrote my happy songs/ Every child may joy to hear. -INTRODUCTION to Songs of Innocence and Experience
—“Songs of Innocence and Experience” original work with drawings by Blake: LINK (apparently he only made 18 copies)
—The illustrations in Songs of Innocence and of Experience do more than simply depict what is in the poem. They serve to intensify and translate the poems and are central to a full understanding of what each poem attempts to convey. (Wikipedia)
— Matisse’s famous painting “Dance” has been linked to Blake’s painting “Oberon” (1786), but you can also see a tiny version of in his illustration for the poem Nurse’s Song
— Yes, there will be a Songs of Experience re: The Window at some point
— an actual song of innocence (acoustic) to soundtrack the shots & it counts I s’pose as this posts poem; hear it on Spotify (etc) here : Hummingbird — She talks with delicate hands / two tiny hummingbirds / when she's mad /so eloquent… //She tries to fly away/ on little lies / when she’s bad / pretty pretend… // Turns my heart /to a flower / has to hover near / when she's sad / she’s heaven sent… // Humming hummingbird (hover near) / laughing lovingbird (fly away)… [by the way by K.I.A.]
— “…a farrago of nonsense, unintelligibleness, and egregious vanity,” said the only review of Blake’s 1810 retrospective exhibition. (It was held above his family’s hosiery store). According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, it caused him to withdraw more and more into obscurity and fall deeper into poverty. A mere 200+ years later Blake is known as “a major visionary poet” and has influenced everyone from T.S. Eliot to U2; his artwork has shown in the Tate, The Met, (etc), and both his writing and art have appeared in countless novels, comics, songs, and movies worldwide.
— last photo: this man also appears in the Protest/Antitest series; see his sign there for a bit of his backstory)
— All photos from “The Window”, 24/7/365/1 photo installation by K.I.A.
BONUS IMAGE: In the age of gold,/ Free from winter’s cold, /Youth and maiden bright, /To the holy light, / Naked in the sunny beams delight.
-A LITTLE GIRL LOST
