Lyric Poem · Death & Loss
The Voice of the Ancient Bard
Youth of delight! come hither
And see the opening morn,
Image of Truth new-born.
Doubt is fled, and clouds of reason,
Dark disputes and artful teazing.
Folly is an endless maze;
Tangled roots perplex her ways;
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead;
And feel — they know not what but care;
And wish to lead others, when they should be led.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“The Voice of the Ancient Bard” by William Blake — quilloak.com/poems/the-voice-of-the-ancient-bard
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Voice of the Ancient Bard
- Poet
- William Blake
- Length
- 11 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Death & Loss, Childhood
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- William Blake1757–1827
- Source record
- PoetryDBThe Voice of the Ancient Bard 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 d70111353501cb73…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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