The Piper

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.