The Piper

Piping down the valleys wild,

Piping songs of pleasant glee,

On a cloud I saw a child,

And he, laughing, said to me:

"Pipe a song about a lamb!"

So I piped with merry cheer.

"Piper, pipe that song again."

So I piped: he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;

Sing thy songs of happy cheer!"

So I sung the same again,

While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down and write

In a book, that all may read."

So he vanished from my sight;

And I plucked a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,

And I stained the water clear,

And I wrote my happy songs

Every child may joy to hear.