Page:The poetical works of William Blake; a new and verbatim text from the manuscript engraved and letterpress originals (1905).djvu/213

Rh xx

Soft Snow

I walked abroad on a snowy day : 1 I ask'd the soft snow with me to play : She play'd & she melted in all her prime; And the winter call'd it a dreadful crime.

MS. Book, p. 107. The last line is in pencil. Title added later. DGR, WMR, EY and WBY ('Couplets and Fragments,' i ), Swinb. pp. 135, 136 (note). 1 walked] walked MS. Book and all edd. : snowy] sunny Swinb. 2 ask'd] wooed Swinb., WBY. 4 And. . . crime] Oil, that sweet love should be thought a crime ! MS. Book 1''st rdg. del.'' ; Ah ! that, &c. R', Swinb, note).

xxi

Merlin's Prophecy

The harvest shall flourish in wintry weather i When two virginities meet together : The King & the Priest must be tied in a tether Before two virgins can meet together.

MS. Book, p. 106. Only printed by EY, i. 207. I wintry] windy EY (Index to MS. Book), i. 205. 3 The King & the Priest] The king and priest EY.

xxii

Day

The sun arises in the East, r Cloth'd in robes of blood & gold ; Swords & spears & wrath increast All around his bosom roll'd, Croun'd with warlike fires & raging desires. 5

MS. Book, p. 105. Printed here for first time. EY quote title and first line in their index to the MS. Book, i. 205. I sun] day MS. Book 15/ rdg. del., EY {Index). 4 bosom] ancles MS. Book 1st rdg. del.