| William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908. | | | | On Friends and Foes | | For this is being a friend just in the nick |
| | XXIX —FOR 1 this is being a friend just in the nick, | |
| Not when he’s well, but waiting till he’s sick; | |
| He calls you to his help; be you not mov’d | |
| Until, by being sick, his wants are prov’d. | |
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| You see him spend his soul in prophecy: | 5 |
| Do you believe it a confounded lie, | |
| Till some bookseller, and the public fame, | |
| Prove there is truth in his extravagant claim. | |
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| For ’tis atrocious in a friend you love | |
| To tell you anything that he can’t prove, | 10 |
| And ’tis most wicked in a Christian nation | |
| For any man to pretend to inspiration. | |
| | | Note 1. XXIX Following a wholly erased stanza in the MS. 9 atrocious] most wicked MS. 1st rdg. del. [back] | | |
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