These are the Idiots chiefest arts

by William Blake

Blake manuscript - Notebook 1808 - 47-49 Swelld limbs... etc.

Edited text:^[1]

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THESE are the idiots’ chiefest arts:
To blend and not define the parts
The swallow sings,^[2] in courts of kings,
That fools have their high finishings.

5 And this the princes’ golden rule,
The laborious stumble of a fool.
To make out the parts is the wise man’s aim,
But to loose them the fool makes his foolish game.

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The original text:^[3]

 
* * *

These are the Idiots chiefest artst
To blend & not define the Parts
The Swallow sings in Courts of Kings
That Fools have their high finishings
5And this the Princes golden rule
The Laborious stumble of a Fool
To make out the parts is the wise mans aim
But to lose them the Fool makes his foolish Game

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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 The Poetical Works of William Blake, including the unpublished French Revolution together with the Minor Prophetic Books and Selections from The Four Zoas, Milton & Jerusalem; edited with an introduction and textual notes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. 3 The swallow sings] Let it be told MS. 1st rdg. del.
3. "The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake", ed. by David V. Erdman, Anchor Books, 1988, p. 513.