Piping down the valleys wild Piping songs of pleasant glee On a cloud I saw a child And he laughing said to me 'Pipe a song about a Lamb' So I piped with merry cheer 'Piper, pipe that song again' So I piped: he wept to hear 'Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe Sing thy songs of happy cheer' So I sang the same again While he wept with joy to hear 'Piper, sit thee down and write In a book, that all may read' So he vanished from my sight And I plucked a hollow reed And I made a rural pen And I stained the water clear And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear