The poem
I heard an Angel Singing When the day was springing: "Mercy, pity, and peace, Are the world's release."
So he sang all day Over the new-mown hay, Till the sun went down, And the haycocks looked brown.
I heard a devil curse Over the heath and the furse: "Mercy vould be no more If there were nobody poor, And pity no more could be If all were happy as ye: And mutual fear brings peace, Misery's increase Are mercy, pity, and peace."
At his curse the sun went down, And the heavens gave a frown.