Lyric Poem · Nature

The Little Vagabond

by William Blake

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1Dear mother, dear mother, the Church is cold;

2But the Alehouse is healthy, and pleasant, and warm.

3Besides, I can tell where I am used well;

4The poor parsons with wind like a blown bladder swell.

5But, if at the Church they would give us some ale,

6And a pleasant fire our souls to regale,

7We'd sing and we'd pray all the livelong day,

8Nor ever once wish from the Church to stray.

9Then the Parson might preach, and drink, and sing,

10And we'd be as happy as birds in the spring;

11And modest Dame Lurch, who is always at church,

12Would not have bandy children, nor fasting, nor birch.

13And God, like a father, rejoicing to see

14His children as pleasant and happy as he,

15Would have no more quarrel with the Devil or the barrel,

16But kiss him, and give him both drink and apparel.

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“The Little Vagabond” by William Blake — quilloak.com/poems/the-little-vagabond

Quick facts

Poem: The Little Vagabond
Poet: William Blake
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Peace, Childhood

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 10-13 syllables (median 11). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

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Author record: William Blake1757–1827
Source record: PoetryDBThe Little Vagabond by william-blake, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 d104df65e1f2b2ab…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Peace Childhood

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