"How sweet is the Shepherds sweet lot, From the morn to the evening he strays: He shall follow his sheep all the day And his tongue shall be filled with praise." The Shepherd is a short poem by William Blake that was published in 1789 in Songs of Innocence, which was later combined and is now often read within Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.