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Lyric Poem · Death & Loss

The Voice of the Ancient Bard

by William Blake

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.

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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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