Notebook

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The Notebook (or "Rossetti Manuscript") was used by Blake from c.1787 until c.1818. See also: 1) Songs and Ballads, and 2) Satiric verses and epigrams.

199752NotebookWilliam Blake

c.1793

Poems and fragments from the Note-book	Pages:	See related texts:
Written about 1793 (ed. Jeoffrey Keynes, 1957/66)
1. "A flower was offer’d to me…"	p.115 rev	My Pretty Rose Tree
2. "Never pain to tell thy Love…"	p.115 rev	2a. "I told my love…"
2a. "I told my love…"	p.115 rev	2. "Never pain to tell thy Love…"
3. "Love seeketh not itself to please…"	p.115 rev	The Clod and the Pebble
4. "I laid me down upon a bank…"	p.115 rev
5. "I went to the garden of love…"	p.115 rev	The Garden of Love
6. "I saw a chapel all of gold…"	p.115 rev
7. "I asked a thief to steal me a peach…"	p.114 rev
8. "I heard an Angel singing…"	p.114 rev	The Human Abstract
9. A Cradle Song (Blake, 1794)	p.114 rev
10. Christian Forbearance	p.114 rev	A Poison Tree
11. "I fear'd the fury of my wind…"	p.113 rev
12. "Why should I care for the Men of Thames…"	p.113 rev
13. Infant Sorrow (Notebook)	p.113 rev	Infant Sorrow
14. "Silent, Silent Night…"	p.113 rev
15. "O Lapwing, thou fliest around the heath…"	p.113 rev
16. "Thou hast a lap full of seed…"	p.111 rev
17. Earth's Answer (Notebook)	p.111 rev	Earth's Answer
18. In a mirtle shade	p.111 rev	No. 33. To my Mirtle
19. London (Notebook)	p.109 rev	London
20. "I slept in the dark…"	p.109 rev	No. 30. The wild flower's song (stanza 1)
20a. The wild flowers song	pp.109 & 107 rev	No. 20 & 30
21. To Nobodaddy	p.109 rev
22. "The modest rose puts forth a thorn…"	p.109 rev	The Lily
23. "When the voices of children are heard on the green…"	p.109 rev	Nurse's Song
24. "Are not the joys of morning sweeter…"	p.109 rev
25. The Tyger (1st draft)	pp.109-108 rev	The Tyger
26. The Tyger (2nd draft)	p.108 rev	The Tyger
27. "How came pride in Man…"	p.107 rev
28. The human Image	p.107 rev	The Human Abstract
29. How to know Love from Deceit	p.107 rev
30. The wild flower's song (stanza 1)	p.107 rev	No. 20. I slept in the dark (The wild flower's song, stanzas 2 and 3)
31. The sick rose (1st draft)	p.107 rev	The Sick Rose
32. Soft Snow	p.107 rev
33. An ancient Proverb	p.107 rev
34. To my Mirtle	p.106 rev	No. 18. In a mirtle shade
35. "Nought loves another as itself…"	p.106 rev
36. Merlin's prophecy	p.106 rev
37. Day (Blake, Notebook)	p.105 rev
38. The Fairy (Blake, Notebook)	p.105 rev
39. "The sword sung on the barren heath…"	p.105 rev
40. "Abstinence sows sand all over…"	p.105 rev
41. "In a wife I would desire…"	p.105 rev
42. "If you trap the moment before its ripe…"	p.105 rev
43. Eternity (Blake)	p.105 rev
44. The Kid	p.105 rev
45. The little Vagabond (Notebook)	p.105 rev	The Little Vagabond
46. The Question Answer'd	p.103 rev	Several Questions Answered
47. The Chimney Sweeper (Notebook)	pp.105 & 103 rev	The Chimney Sweeper (Blake, 1794)
48. Lacedemonian Instruction	p.103 rev
49. Riches (Blake)	p.103 rev
50. An answer to the parson	p.103 rev
51. Holy Thursday (Notebook)	p.103 rev	Holy Thursday (Blake, 1794)
52. The Angel (Notebook)	p.103 rev	The Angel (Blake)
53. "The look of love alarms…"	p.103 rev
54. "Soft deceit & Idleness…"	p.103 rev
55. "Little fly…"	p.101 rev	The Fly (Blake)
56. Motto to the Songs of Innocence & of Experience (Notebook)	p.101 rev
57. "Her whole Life is an Epigram, smack-smooth & nobly pen'd…"	p.100 rev
58. "An old maid early eer I knew…"	p.100 rev
59. Several Questions Answered	p.99 rev	Copies of 46, 53, 54, 43, & 33
60. "Let the Brothels of Paris be opened…"	pp.99-98 rev
61. "When Klopstock England defied…"	p.5
62. "I say I shan't live for five years…"	p.10 rev
63. "The Hebrew Nation did not write it…"	p.39 rev
[END OF NOTE-BOOK 1793]
[FRAGMENT] Written about 1793		Written on loose scrap of paper
[64.] "A fairy skipd upon my knee…"		it was in the possession of D. G. Rossetti

c.1800-1803

Poems and Fragments from the Note-book	Pages:	See related texts:
Written about c.1800-1803 (ed. Jeoffrey Keynes, 1957/66)
1. "My Spectre around me night & day…"	pp.2-3
2. "When a Man has Married a Wife…"	p.4
3. On the Virginity of the Virgin Mary & Johanna Southcott	p.6
4. "Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau…"	p.7
5. "I saw a Monk of Charlemaine…"	p.12	The Grey Monk
6. Morning	p.12
7. "Terror in the house does roar…"	p.12
8. Each Man is in his Spectre's power…"	p.12
9. "Beneath the white thorn, lovely May…"	p.14	The Golden Net
10 The Birds (Blake, Notebook)

1807

Memoranda from the Note-book	Pages:	See related texts:
Written in 1807 (ed. Jeoffrey Keynes, 1957/66)
1. Tuesday Janry. 20. 1807	p.10
2. To Engrave on Pewter	p.10
3. To Woodcut on Pewter	p.10
4. To Woodcut on Copper	p.10
5. Sunday August. 1807	p.88-89

c.1808-1811

Epigrams, Verses, and Fragments from the Note-book	Pages:	See related texts:
Written about c.1808-1811 (ed. Jeoffrey Keynes, 1957/66)
1. "No real Style of Colouring ever appears…"	p.21
2. "You dont believe I wont attempt to make ye…"	p.21
3. "And his legs carried it like a long fork…"	p.22
4. "Was I angry with Hayley who usd me so ill…"	p.23
5. "Anger & Wrath my bosom rends…"	p.23
6. "The Sussex Men are Noted Fools…"	p.24
7. "Old acquaintance well renew…"	p.24
8. "Madman I have been calld Fool they Call thee…"	p.25
9. To H (You think Fuseli is not Great Painter)	p.25
10. To F—— ("I mock thee not…")	p.26
11. "Can there be any thing more mean…"	p.26
12. "S—— in Childhood on the Nursery floor…"	p.27
13. To Nancy F——	p.27
14. "Of H s birth this was the happy lot…"	p.27
15. "Sir Joshua Praises Michael Angelo…"	p.28
16. "Hes a Blockhead who wants a proof of what he Can't Percieve..."	p.28
17. "Cr—— loves artists as he loves his Meat…"	p.29
18. "A Petty sneaking Knave I knew…"	p.29
19. "Sir Joshua praised Rubens with a Smile…"	p.29
20. "He is a Cock would…"	p.29
21. "He has observd the Golden Rule…"	p.30
22. "To S——d ("You all your youth observed the Golden Rule…")	p.30
23. "Mr Stothard to Mr Cromek…"	p.31
24. "Mr Cromek to Mr Stothard…"	p.31
25. "I am no Homers Hero you all know…"	p.31
26. "The Angel that presided oer my birth…"	p.32
27. Florentine Ingratitude	p.32
28. A Pitiful Case	p.33
29. "To the Royal Academy	p.33
30. "If it is True What the Prophets write…"	p.33
31. On F—— & S——	p.34
32. "P—— loved me, not as he lovd his Friends…"	p.34
33. "To forgive Enemies H does pretend…"	p.34
34. To F—— ("You call me Mad tis Folly to do so…")	p.35
35. On H——ys Friendship	p.35
36. "Some Men created for destruction come…"	p.36
37. On S—— (You say reserve & modesty he has)	p.36
38. Imitation of Pope A Compliment to the Ladies	p.37
39. To H—— (Thy Friendship oft has made my heart to ake)	p.37
40. "Cosway Frazer & Baldwin of Egypts Lake…"	p.37
41. An Epitaph (Come knock your heads against this stone)	p.37	3. And his legs carried it like a long fork
42. Another Epitaph (I was buried near this Dike)	p.37	3. And his legs carried it like a long fork
43. Another Epitaph (Here lies John Trot the Friend of all mankind)	p.37	3. And his legs carried it like a long fork
44. "My title as a Genius thus is provd…"	p.38
45. "I Rubens am a Statesman & a Saint…"	p.38
46. To English Connoisseurs	p.38
47. "Swelld limbs with no outline that you can descry…"	p.38
48. A Pretty Epigram	p.38
49. "These are the Idiots chiefest arts…"	p.38
50. "Rafael Sublime Majestic Graceful Wise…"	p.39
51. "If I eer Grow to Mans Estate…"	p.39
52. "The Cripple every Step Drudges & labours…"	p.39
53. On the Great Encouragement	p.40
54. "Give pensions to the Learned Pig…"	p.40
55. "The Cunning sures & the Aim at yours…"	p.40
56. "All Pictures thats Panted with Sense & with Thought…"	p.40
57. On H—— the Pick thank	p.41
58. Cromek Speaks	p.41
59. English Encouragement of Art	p.41
60. "When you look at a picture you always can see…"	p.41
61. "You say their Pictures well Painted be…"	p.42
61a. "The Errors of a Wise Man make your Rule…"	p.42	(Erdman separates this from the previous poem)
62. The Washer Womans Song	p.42
63. "When I see a Rubens Rembrant Correggio…"	p.43
64. "Great things are done…"	p.43
65. "Delicate Hands & Heads will never appear…"	p.46
66. "I give you the end of a golden string…"	p.46
67. "If you play a Game of Chance know before you begin…"	p.47
68. William Cowper Esqre	p.50
69. "The only man that eer I knew…"	p.50
70. "I will tell you what Joseph of Arimathea…"	p.52	The Everlasting Gospel
71. "Grown old in Love from Seven till Seven times Seven…"	p.54
72. "Why was Cupid a Boy…"	p.56
73. From Bells Weekly Messenger	p.59
74. "I askd my Dear Friend Orator Prigg…"	p.60-61
74а. "O dear Mother outline of knowledge most sage…"	p.61	(Keynes regards this as a part of previous poem)
75. To Venetian Artists	p.60-61
76. "Great Men & Fools do often me Inspire…"	p.63
77. Blakes apology for his Catalogue	p.62-63
78. From Cratetos	p.64
79. "I always thought that Jesus Christ…"	p.64
80. "Having given great offence by writing in Prose…"	p.65
81. "If Men will act like a maid smiling over a Churn…"	p.65
82. "23 May 1810…"	p.67
83. "Some people admire the work of a Fool…"	p.70
84. "Jesus does not treat…"	p.72
85. To God (Blake)	p.73
86. "Since all the Riches of this World…"	p.73
87. "To Chloes breast young Cupid slily stole…"	p.78
88. "Now Art has lost its mental Charms…"	p.79
89. "Nail his neck to the Cross nail it with a nail…"	p.79	The Everlasting Gospel?
90. "The Caverns of the Grave Ive seen…"	p.87
91. "I rose up at the dawn of day…"	p.89
92. "A Woman Scaly & a Man all Hairy…"	p.93
Additional passage
93. "Every thing which is in harmony with me…"	p.92 rev
[94.] "Do what you will this life's a fiction…"	p.98 rev	The Everlasting Gospel

45 To the Queen
48 "A fairy skipd upon my knee"
49 "Around the Springs of Gray my wild root weaves"
50 To Mrs Ann Flaxman
51 The Smile
52 The Golden Net
53 The Mental Traveller
54 The Land of Dreams
55 Mary
56 The Crystal Cabinet
57 The Grey Monk
58 Auguries of Innocence
59 Long John Brown & Little Mary Bell
60 William Bond
61 Mr Blake's Nursery Rhyme

3 "Who will exchange his own fire side..."
55 "Great things are done when Men & Mountains meet...
74 "Delicate Hands & Heads will never appear..."
76 "O dear Mother outline of knowledge most sage"
79 "When a Man has Married a Wife..."

88 The Phoenix to Mrs Butts