On H——ys Friendship

by William Blake

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Blake manuscript - Notebook 1808 - 35 On H y Friendship

Edited text:^[1]

On H[ayle]y’s Friendship

WHEN H——y finds out what you cannot do,
That is the very thing he’ll set you to;
If you break not your neck, ’tis not his fault;
But pecks of poison are not pecks of salt.

5[And when he could not act upon my wife
Hired a Villain to bereave my Life]

The original text:^[2]

On H——ys Friendship

When H——y finds out what you cannot do
That is the Very thing hell set you to
If you break not your Neck tis not his fault
But pecks of poison are not pecks of salt^[3]
5And when he could not act upon my wife
Hired a Villain to bereave my Life

Notes

1. The Poetical Works of William Blake, including the unpublished French Revolution together with the Minor Prophetic Books and Selections from The Four Zoas, Milton & Jerusalem; edited with an introduction and textual notes by John Sampson, Hon. D.Litt. Oxon., 1862–1931. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1908.
2. "The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake", ed. by David V. Erdman, Anchor Books, 1988, p. 506.
3. A peck of poisons not a peck of salt 1st rdg