A Lovely Wallpaper
A Lovely Wallpaper
Abby Walthausen
"Piping Down the Valleys Wild" with Susie Boyt
36 minutes Posted Feb 17, 2024 at 12:00 am.
Piping Down the Valleys WildWilliam BlakePiping 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 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.
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In this episode, Abby interviews Susie Boyt, author of several books, among them the novel Loved and Missed and the memoir My Judy Garland Life. Together, they present the poem "Piping Down the Valleys Wild," by William Blake.Recitation begins at 25:10Piping Down the Valleys WildWilliam BlakePiping 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 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.