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Creator:
Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827
Hand colored by William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by Edward Young, 1683–1765
Published by Richard Edwards, active 1796–1797
Title:
'His hand the good man fastens on the skies' (Page 86)
Part Of:

Collective Title: Young's Night Thoughts

Date:
ca. 1797
Materials & Techniques:
Etching, line engraving, and letterpress, with hand coloring in watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Spine: 16 3/4 inches (42.5 cm), Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 7/8 inches (41.9 x 32.7 cm), Plate: 15 1/2 x 12 7/8 inches (39.4 x 32.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Lettered inside image: "86 | Supporter sole of man above himself; | Even in this night of frailty, change, and death, | She gives the soul a soul that acts a God. | Religion! providence! an after-state! | Here is firm footing--here is solid rock-- | This can support us--all is sea besides-- | Sinks under us--bestorms, and then devours. | *His hand the good man fastens on the skies, | And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl. | As when a wretch, from thick polluted air, | Darkness and stench, and suffocating damps, | And dungeon-horrors by kind fate discharged, | Climbs some fair eminence, where ether pure | Surrounds him, and elysian prospects rise; | His heart exults, his spirits cast their load; | As if new-born he triumphs in the change; | So joys the soul, when, from inglorious aims | And sordid sweets, from feculence and froth | Of ties terrestrial set at large, she mounts | To reason's region, her own element, | Breathes hopes immortal and affects the skies. | Religion! thou the soul of happiness; | And, groaning Calvary, of thee! there shine | The noblest truths; there strongest motives sting; | There sacred violence assaults the soul; | There nothing but compulsion is forborn. | Can love allure us? or can terror awe? | HE weeps!--the falling drop puts out the sun; | HE sighs!--the sigh earth's deep foundation shakes: | If in his love so terrible, what then"; lower right: " in. & s | WB"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.1412
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
angel | clouds | earth | globe | literary theme | men | planet | pointing | text
Access:
Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:2338
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The Romantic Print in the Age of Revolutions: Hero, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (Yale Center for British Art, 2003-01-23 - 2003-06-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]


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