- Title:
- Chapter VII, "Stretch'd for a work of eternity..." (Plate 19)
- Part Of:
- Date:
- 1794
- Materials & Techniques:
- Color-printed relief etching in green ink, with watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 11 7/8 x 9 5/8 inches (30.2 x 24.4 cm), Plate: 6 x 4 inches (15.2 x 10.2 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, lower left: "20"
Lettered inside image, center: "1 Urizen C: VII"; left: "Stretch'd for a work of eternity: | No more Los beheld Eternity. | 11. In his hands he siez'd the infant | He bathed him in springs of sorrow | He gave him to Enitharmon. | Chap.VII. | 1. They named the child Orc, he grew | Fed with milk of Enitharmon | 2. Los awoke her; O sorrow & pain! | A tight'ning girdle grew. | Around his bosom. In sobbings | He burst the girdle in twain, | But still another girdle | Opressd his bosom. In sobbings | Again he burst it. Again | Another girdle succeeds | The girdle was form'd by day: | By night was burst in twain. | 3. These falling down on the rock | Into an iron Chain | In each other link by link lock'd | 4. They took Orc to the top of a | mountain. | O how Enitharmon wept! | They chain'd his young limbs to the | rock | With the chain of Jealousy | Beneath Urizens deathful shadow"; right: "5. The dead hearo the voice of the | child | And began to awake from sleep | All things, heard the voice of the child | And began to awake to life. | 6. And Urizen craving with hunger | Stung with the odours of Nature | Explor'd his dens around | 7. He form'd a line & a plummet | To divide the Abyss beneath. | He form'd a dividing rule: | 8. He formed scales to weigh: | He formed massy weights; | He formed a brazen quadrant: | He formed golden compasses | And began to explore the Abyss | And he planted a garden of fruits | 9. But Los encircled Enitharmon | With fires of Prophecy | From the sight of Urizen & Orc. | 10. And she bore an enormous race | Chap. VIII. | 1. Urizen explor'd his dens | Mountain, moor, & wilderness, | With a globe of fire lighting his | journey | A fearful journey, annoy'd | By cruel enormities: forms"
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1978.43.1438
- Classification:
- Prints
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- children | darkness | fire | flames | infant | literary theme | nudes | 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:2364
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]
William Blake - His Art & Times (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1982-12-03 - 1983-02-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
William Blake - His Art & Times (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-09-15 - 1982-11-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
William Blake, Libros profe´ticos, vol. 1, Atalanta, Vilau¨r, Spain, 2013, p. 322, PR4142 .S35 2013 [ORBIS]