P—— loved me, not as he lovd his Friends

by William Blake

Blake manuscript - Notebook 1808 - 32 P loved me not as he loved his Friend

Edited text:^[1]

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P—— ^[2] lovèd me not as he lov’d his friends;
For he lov’d them for gain, to serve his ends:
He lovèd me, and for no gain at all,
But to rejoice and triumph in my fall.

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The original text:^[3]

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P——^[4] loved me, not as he lovd his Friends
For he lovd them for gain to serve his Ends
He loved me and for no Gain at all^[5]
But to rejoice & triumph in my fall
5 To forgive Enemies H . does pretend
Who never in his Life forgave a friend

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 The Poetical Works of William Blake, including the unpublished French Revolution together with the Minor Prophetic Books and Selections from The Four Zoas, Milton & Jerusalem; edited with an introduction and textual notes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. P——] Not, perhaps, as I formerly thought, Thomas Phillips, R.A., painter of the portrait of Blake engraved for Blair’s Grave, but more probably Sir Richard Phillips, for whom Blake executed several engravings. (See Russell’s Engravings of William Blake, and edition of Blake’s Letters, passim.) With this thumb-nail sketch of Phillips the reader may be interested to compare the full-length portrait of ‘The Publisher’, drawn by George Borrow in his Lavengro (Vol. II, passim.)
3. "The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake", ed. by David V. Erdman, Anchor Books, 1988, p. 505.
4. Plausibly identified in Keynes as “Phillips”, the publisher.
5. 3 He] But 1st rdg del and] but 1st rdg del