I rose up at the dawn of day

by William Blake

Blake manuscript - Notebook - page 089

Edited text:^[1]

cxxx

1 I rose up at the dawn of day —
'Get thee away! get thee away!
Pray'st thou for Riches? away! away!
This is the Throne of Mammon grey.'

5Said I: this, sure, is very odd;
I took It to be the Throne of God.
For everything besides I have:
It is only for Riches that I can crave.
 
9 I have Mental Joy, & Mental Health,
And Mental Friends, & Mental wealth;
I've a Wife I love, & that loves me;
I've all But Riches Bodily.

13 I am in God's presence night & day,
And he never turns his face away ;
The accuser of sins by my side doth stand,
And he holds my money bag in his hand.

17 For my worldly things God makes him pay,
And he'd pay for more if to him I would pray;
And so you may do the worst you can do;
Be assur'd, Mr Devil, I won't pray to you.

21 Then if for Riches I must not Pray,
God knows, I little of Prayers need say;
So, as a Church is known by its Steeple,
If I pray it must be for other People.

25 He says, if I do not worship him for a God,
I shall eat coarser food, & go worse shod;
So, as I don't value such things as these.
You must do, Mr Devil, just as God please.

MS. Book. p. 89, written immediately under and partly around an entry
dated Aug. 1807. R¹ has stanzas 1, 2, 3, the first couplet of 6, then 4 and 7;
Gil. i. 309, 310, prints 1, 2, 3, a fourth stanza formed of the first couplets of
6 and 4, a fifth stanza formed of the second couplet of 4 and the first couplet
of 5, then 7 ; Swinb. p. 128 (with title 'Prayer') arranges stanzas in the
order 1, 2, 3, 6. 4, 5, 7 ; WMR follows Gilchrist with title 'Mammon' ; EY
(i. 228) and WBY place stanzas in correct order, the latter with title 'The
Two Thrones.'
5 Said 1] I said R¹ EY, WBY. 7 For everything] Everything R¹,
Gil., WMR ; Everything else EY, WBY. 8 It . . . crave] It's only
riches that I can crave Gil., WMR ; It's only riches I can crave EY, WBY.
It is] It's R¹.
9 Joy] joys R¹ and all edd. 10 And Mental Friends] R¹ and all
edd. except Swinb. omit 'And.' 11 Wife I love] Wife that I love R¹
and all edd. except Swinb. 13-20 I am ... to you] Written later in
margin, and marked for insertion here. 14 And he] R¹ and all edd.
except Swinb. omit 'And.' 15, 16 Cp. 'The Laocoon' (Prophetic
Books, 21) : ' Money, which is The Great Satan or Reason the Root of Good
& Evil In the Accusation of Sin.' 15 doth] does Swinb., EY, WBY.
16 money bag] money-bags EY, WBY. 19 And so you] And you
EY, WBY. 22 God . . . say] God knows it 's little prayers I need
say R¹. Gil., WMR, EY. 25 if . . . him] if I worship not him R¹, Gil.,
WMR ; if I don't worship him EY, WBY. 27 So] But R¹, Gil.,
WMR, EY, WBY.

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The original text:^[2]

*

I rose up at the dawn of day
Get thee away get thee away
Prayst thou for Riches away away
This is the Throne of Mammon grey

5 Said I this sure is very odd
I took it to be the Throne of God
For every Thing besides I have
It is only for Riches that I can crave

I have Mental Joy & Mental Health
10And Mental Friends & Mental wealth
Ive a Wife I love & that loves me
Ive all But Riches Bodily

I am in Gods presence night & day
And he never turns his face away
15The accuser of sins by my side does stand
And he holds my money bag in his hand

For my worldly things God makes him pay
And hed pay for more if to him I would pray
And so you may do the worst you can do
20Be assurd Mr Devil I wont pray to you

Then If for Riches I must not Pray
God knows I little of Prayers need say
So as a Church is known by its Steeple
If I pray it must be for other People

25He says if I do not worship him for a God
I shall eat coarser food & go worse shod
So as I dont value such things as these
You must do Mr Devil just as God please

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Notes

1. The poetical works of William Blake; a new and verbatim text from the manuscript engraved and letterpress originals; With variorum readings and bibliographical notes and prefaces, edited by Sampson, John, Clarendon Press Oxford 1905, c. 238-9.
2. "The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake", ed. by David V. Erdman, Anchor Books, 1988, p. 481.