Author: William Blake

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My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black as if bereav'd of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east began to say.

Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning joy in the noon day.

And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love,
And these black bodies and this sun-burnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear
The cloud will vanish we shall hear his voice,
Saying: come out from the grove my love & care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.

Thus did my mother say and kissed me,
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy:

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear,
To lean in joy upon our father's knee.
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me.

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Type of Poem: Lyric Poem

Date Written: 1789-01-01

Date Published: 1789-01-01

Language: English

Keywords: Black, Boy, Innocence, Equality, Love

Source: Songs of Innocence

Publisher: W. Blake

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: A poem from Songs of Innocence, addressing the themes of racial equality and spiritual unity, with the black boy expressing his hope for divine love and acceptance.