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The Land of Dreams

"Awake, awake, my little boy!
Thou wast thy mother's only joy;
Why dost thou weep in thy gentle sleep?
O wake! thy father does thee keep."

--"O what land is the Land of Dreams?
What are its mountains, and what are its streams?
O father! I saw my mother there
Among the lilies by waters fair.

"Among the lambs, clothed in white,
She walk'd with her Thomas in sweet delight:
I wept for joy; like a dove I mourn:--
O when shall I again return!"

--"Dear child! I also by pleasant streams
Have wander'd all night in the Land of Dreams:--
But, though calm and warm the waters wide,
I could not get to the other side."

--"Father, O father! what do we here,
In this land of unbelief and fear?--
The Land of Dreams is better far,
Above the light of the morning star."

_--W. Blake_

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