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On Another's Sorrow

By William Blake

Topics: classic

Can I see another's woe,     And not be in sorrow too?     Can I see another's grief,     And not seek for kind relief?     Can I see a falling tear,     And not feel my sorrow's share?     Can a father see his child     Weep, nor be with sorrow filled?     Can a mother sit and hear     An infant groan, an infant fear?     No, no! never can it be!     Never, never can it be!     And can He who smiles on all     Hear the wren with sorrows small,     Hear the small bird's grief and care,     Hear the woes that infants bear--     And not sit beside the next,     Pouring pity in their breast,     And not sit the cradle near,     Weeping tear on infant's tear?     And not sit both night and day,     Wiping all our tears away?     Oh no! never can it be!     Never, never can it be!     He doth give his joy to all:     He becomes an infant small,     He becomes a man of woe,     He doth feel the sorrow too.     Think not thou canst sigh a sigh,     And thy Maker is not by:     Think not thou canst weep a tear,     And thy Maker is not year.     Oh He gives to us his joy,     That our grief He may destroy:     Till our grief is fled an gone     He doth sit by us and moan.

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"Can I see another's woe,..."

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Author:William Blake

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"Can I see another's woe,..." by William Blake

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Blake

About William Blake

William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker who created his own illuminated books. His collections "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" contain poems like "The Tyger" and "London," exploring innocence, oppression, and visionary imagination.

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