Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827, BritishHand colored by William Blake, 1757–1827, BritishText by Edward Young, 1683–1765, BritishPublished by Richard Edwards, active 1796–1797, British
Title:
'Swift on His Downy Pinion Flies from Woe' (Page 1)
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)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Lettered inside image: "1 | NIGHT THE FIRST | TIRED nature's sweet restorer, balmy Sleep! | He, like the world, his ready visit pays | Where fortune smiles; the wretched he forsakes: | *Swift on his downy pinion flies from woe, | And lights on lids unsullied with a tear. | From short, as usual, and disturb'd repose, | I wake: how happy they, who wake no more! | Yet they were vain, if dreams infest the grave. | I wake, emerging from a sea of dreams | Tumultuous; where my wreck'd, desponding thought | From wave to wave of fancied misery, | At random drove, her helm of reason lost: | Though now restored, 'tis only change of pain, | A bitter change! severer for severe: | The day too short for my distress! and night, | Even in the zenith of her dark domain, | Is sunshine, to the colour of my fate."; lower left: "Pubd. June 27th 1796, by R. Edwards, No. 142 New Bond Street."
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection