Let age & sickness silent rob 5
The vineyards in the night ;
But those who burn with vig'rous youth
Pluck fruits before the light.
vineyards] vineyard all edd.
XVI They said this mystery never shall cease: The priest promotes war, & the soldier peace. MS. Book, p. 107. Cp. note to ' The Lilly ' {Songs of Experience^. 2 promotes] loves MS. Book st rdg. del. XVll Love to faults is always blind ; i Always is to joy inclin'd, Lawless, wing'd & unconfin'd, And breaks all chains from every mind. Deceit to secresy confin'd, 5 Lawful, cautious & refin'd ; To anything but interest blind. And forges fetters for the mind. MS. Book, written in pencil at top right-hand corners of pp. 107, 106. I print the two stanzas as one poem, their connexion being obvious, though not indicated by Blake himself. Not in DGR, WMR, or Swinb. EY and WBY (the latter with the title ' Freedom and Captivity ') print the first stanza and an altered version of the fragment by which it is immediately followed in the MS. (' There souls of men are bought & sold ') as a single poem. See also WBY (Notes), p. 246.
Lawless . . . unconfin'd] Always . . . unconfin'd MS. Book 1st rdg.
' Always ' is underlined, which was probably a hasty attempt at erasure ; Lawless, winged, unconfined EY, WBY. 5-8 Deceit . . . mind] MS. Book 15/ rdg. : — ' Deceit to secresy inclin'd, Modest, prudish & confin'd, Never is to interest blind. And chains in fetters every mind.'
