Arts & Sciences

These are the Idiots' chiefest arts

by William Blake 1757–1827

From The Rossetti Manuscript (c. 1793–1818)

Arts & Sciences

These are the Idiots' chiefest arts:
To blend and not define the parts.
The Swallow sings, in Courts of Kings,
That Fools have their high finishings.

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.

MLA

Blake, William. “These are the Idiots' chiefest arts.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/blake/201/.

Chicago

Blake, William. “These are the Idiots' chiefest arts.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/blake/201/.

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