Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean
The children walking two & two in red & blue & green
Grey headed beadles walked before with wands as white as snow
Till into the high dome of Pauls they like Thames waters flow
O what a multitude they seemed these flowers of London town
Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own
The hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs
Thousands of little boys & girls raising their innocent hands
Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song
Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among
Beneath them sit the aged men wise guardians of the poor
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door
An interesting line that clinches the veiled irony of the preceding lines. The ‘pity’ is what is needed to rescue these children. Their potential to be ‘angels’ — typical of William Blake’s belief in the spirituality and nobility of humans — can only be realised with compassionate care. The ‘angels’, the good adults, can only develop if properly nurtured as children.
Holy Thursday Songs of Innocence