Poetry / Performance

The Imagination (song version)

Wrapped in swaddling bands,
A child bursts forth upon the world;
A new life, from love created!
Spirits dance and greet the child.
Oh, glorious world adorned with flowers,
Unhindered by chains of days and hours!

A band of infant angels with their drums, and flutes and strings
Free the heart on its journey,
Ah, Bright new world, in the everlasting!
Where Mother Nature treads dressed in all her finery,
Blessing with her hand as she goes
All the creatures of the earth and meadows.

Such is the vision of our William,
That all should share in this glory
But he was well aware that there was yet another story;

Deep in the darkness of the mills,
Women bent double with the weight of sacks
Carried them with very little sleep,
Filled their lungs with dust and could not breathe -
While a child up the chimney of a wealthy man
Caught his last breath too and fell to the ground,
Being of love and comfort so bereft,
Living in filth and toil for no-one’s sake.

Ah! Our William, William Blake!
He asked this question for our children’s sakes;
“Should not every soul with nature’s glories shine?”
“Should not every soul with nature’s glories shine?”