William Blake, To Spring (a poem, from Poetical Sketches)

Recorded in April 2022. First published in "Poetical Sketches, by W. B.," printed in the year 1783.

Poetical Sketches was Blake’s first collection of poetry. Only forty copies were printed, and it went virtually unnoticed by the public. “Nevertheless, Blake himself was proud enough of the volume that he was still giving copies to friends as late as 1808; and when he died, several unstitched copies were found amongst his belongings.”

On the basis of the last stanza, Spring, in this poem, is generally understood to be a man. But I have not thought it improper, for the concept of this video, to portray him as a woman.

Transcript:

O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell one another, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn’d
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth
And let thy holy feet visit our clime!

Come o’er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.

O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languish’d head,
Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee!

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The music is “Adrift Among Infinite Stars” by Scott Buckley, licensed and adapted under CC-BY.