Page:The poetical works of William Blake; a new and verbatim text from the manuscript engraved and letterpress originals (1905).djvu/174

132 This was cancelled and followed by — 'But most front every alt. to through wintry] streets I hear, How the midnight harlot's curse Blasts the new born infant's tear, And hangs alt. to smites] with plagues the marriage hearse.' Compare Blake's use of the same epithets in a quatrain twice repeated in the MS. Book (pp. 107 and 99 reversed): —

'An Ancient Proverb. 'Remove away that black'ning church, Remove away that marriage hearse, Remove away that place Sjxlt. to man] of blood, 'Twill [alt. to You'll] quite remove the ancient curse.' A Little Girl Lost Children of the future Age, i Reading this indignajit page, Know that in a former time, Love, sweet Love, was thought a crime! In the Age of Gold, 5 Free from winter's cold, Youth and maiden bright To the holy light, Naked in the sunny beams delight. Once a youthful pair, 10 Fill'd with softest care, Met in garden bright Where the holy light Had just remov'd the curtains of the night. There, in rising day, 15 On the grass they play ; Parents were afar. Strangers came not near, And the maiden soon forgot her fear. Engraved on a single plate. Not in the MS. Book. -4 In the engraved original this introductory stanza is written indented in roman characters, the body of the poem being in italic. 15 There] Then all except Shep., WBY.