Page:The poetical works of William Blake; a new and verbatim text from the manuscript engraved and letterpress originals (1905).djvu/11



literary remains of William Blake fall into three broad and generally recognized divisions, poetry, prose, and the prophetic books. The present work is a complete collection of Blake's poems, including all lyrical and metrical pieces scattered throughout his prose works and visionary writings.

This edition furnishes readers with a new text, literally reproduced from the original manuscript, engraved, and printed sources. The primary object has been to recover and present Blake's own version of his poetry without the customary attempts at emendation. Apart from the natural question whether most editors of Blake are competent to effect improvement in the works of a man of singular and individual genius, it may perhaps be pertinent to recall that no writer would have more strongly resented interference with his own mode of expression than he who held that 'every minute particular is holy' and that 'no one can finish so high as the original inventor.' Even if we assume, with one of these critics, that what he styles a 'disservice' is done to the poet by reprinting his works without correction, there may still be some so curious as to desire to refer to his poems in the form which commended itself to their author.

That such a restoration of text should be necessary at all in the case of a modern writer whose works have passed through many editions may seem to require explanation. The reasons, however, lie on the surface. First should be specified the difficulties encountered in referring to the originals. It should be remembered that during Blake's lifetime few of his poems were either