If you play a Game of Chance know before you begin

by William Blake

Blake manuscript - Notebook 1808 - 67 If you play a game of Chance

Edited text:^[1]

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IF you play a game of chance, know, before you begin,
If you are benevolent you will never win.

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The original text:^[2]

* * *

If you play a Game of Chance know before you begin
If you are benevolent you will never win

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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 The Poetical Works of William Blake, including the unpublished French Revolution together with the Minor Prophetic Books and Selections from The Four Zoas, Milton & Jerusalem; edited with an introduction and textual notes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. 511.