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.