The Piper by Alice Meynell — Read

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 sang the same again, / While he wept with joy to hear.

‘Piper, sit thee down and write / In a hook 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.