Introduction [to Songs of Experience]

Hear the voice of the Bard
Who present, past, and future, sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walked among the ancient trees;

Calling the lapséd soul
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole
And fallen, fallen light renew!

‘O Earth, O Earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass!
Night is worn
And the morn
Rises from the slumbrous mass

‘Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor
The watery shore
Is given thee till the break of day.’