I learned How Sweet I Roamed from the unique dobro player Gene Tortora. He learned it from a recording of the Fugs and made it musically beautiful. The text was written by the English poet William Blake in his mid teens.There are parts I don’t understand. What, for instance does “fired my vocal rage” mean?
How Sweet I Roamed (William Blake)
How sweet I roam'd from field to field,
And tasted all the summer's pride,
'Till I the prince of love beheld,
Who in the sunny beams did glide!
He shew'd me lilies for my hair,
And blushing roses for my brow;
He led me through his gardens fair,
Where all his golden pleasures grow.
With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
And Phoebus fir'd my vocal rage;
He caught me in his silken net,
And shut me in his golden cage.
He loves to sit and hear me sing,
Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
Then stretches out my golden wing,
And mocks my loss of liberty.