No. 6. I Saw a Chapel All of Gold

"I Saw a Chapel All of Gold" is the fifth song and sixth movement of Frank Lewin's song cycle Innocence and Experience, which sets seven texts of William Blake with two instrumental interludes.

Date: 1961Composer: Frank LewinText: William BlakeSong Collection: Innocence and Experience

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I Saw a Chapel All of Gold
by William Blake

I saw a chapel all of gold
That none did dare to enter in,
And many weeping stood without,
Weeping, mourning, worshipping.

I saw a serpent rise between
The white pillars of the door,
And he forc’d and forc’d and forc’d,
Down the golden hinges tore.

And along the pavement sweet,
Set with pearls and rubies bright,
All his slimy length he drew
Till upon the altar white

Vomiting his poison out
On the bread and on the wine.
So I turn’d into a sty
And laid me down among the swine.

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