To S[tothar]d: You all your youth observ'd the golden rule. On Friends and Foes. William Blake. 1908. The Poetical Works

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William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908.

On Friends and Foes

To S[tothar]d: You all your youth observ’d the golden rule


XIV YOU 1 all your youth observ’d the golden rule,
Till you’re at last become the golden fool:
I sport with fortune, merry, blithe and gay,
Like to the lion sporting with his prey.
Take you the hide and horns which you may wear,	5
Mine is the flesh—the bones may be your share.

Note 1. XIV In its original form this epigram was written in the third person, ‘he’ for ‘you’, ‘his’ for ‘your’, ‘he ’s’ for ‘you’re’ in l. 2, and ‘He has’ for ‘Take you’ in l. 5. [back]

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