by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Infant sorrow
Language: English
My mother groaned, my father wept, Into the dangerous world I leapt; Helpless, naked, piping loud, Like a fiend hid in a cloud. Struggling in my father's hands, Striving against my swaddling bands, Bound and weary, I thought best To sulk upon my mother's breast.
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Infant sorrow", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 20, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by George Antheil (1900 - 1959), "Infant sorrow", 1948, from Songs of Experience, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rodney Ash (b. 1931), "Infant sorrow", 1972, from Songs of Experience, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christopher Hugh Blake (b. 1949), "Infant sorrow", 1972 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "Infant sorrow", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Infant sorrow", op. 138 no. 9 (c1977) [ double chorus of mixed chorus a cappella ], from Nine poems from the note-book (1793) of William Blake, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "Infant sorrow", op. 27a no. 20 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 20 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Richard) Kenneth Haxton (b. 1919), "Infant sorrow", 1948 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sidney Homer (1864 - 1953), "Infant sorrow", op. 26 (Two "Songs of Experience") no. 2, published c1912 [ voice and piano ], NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mary Margaret Kelly (b. 1957), "Infant sorrow ", c1985 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Five Poems from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Thomas) Timothy Lenk (b. 1952), "Infant sorrow", c1977 [ tenor, bass-baritone, flute (piccolo), clarinet, bass clarinet, and violin ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William James Mathias (1934 - 1992), "Infant sorrow ", op. 82 no. 3 (1979), published c1987, first performed 1979 [ mezzo-soprano, celesta, harp, piano, and strings ], from Songs of William Blake, no. 3, Oxford : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arto Rintamäki (b. 1950), "Infant sorrow " [ voice, guitar, contrabass, piano, and percussion ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christopher Steel (b. 1939), "Infant sorrow ", 1971 [ baritone and piano ], from Piping Down the Valleys Wild, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "Infant sorrow" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 16 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wesley Allan Ward , "Infant sorrow", 1972 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Children's Songs : Poems of William Blake, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Werder (b. 1922), "Infant sorrow ", 1961-2 [ soprano and piano ], from From the Blake Collection, op. 42 and op. 50, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Margaret Lucy Wilkins (b. 1939), "Infant sorrow ", op. 15 no. 4 (1970) [ mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano ], from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 45