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:
'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours' (Page 31)
Date:
ca. 1797
Materials & Techniques:
Etching, 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: "31 | Heart-buried in the rubbish of the world-- | The world, that gulph of souls, immortal souls, | Souls elevate, angelic, wing'd with fire | To reach the distant skies, and triumph there | On thrones, which shall not mourn their masters changed, | Though we from earth; ethereal, they that fall. | Such veneration due, O man! to man. | Who venerate themselves, the world despise. | For what, gay friend, is this escutcheon'd world, | Which hangs out death in one eternal night? | A night, that glooms us in the noon-tide ray, | And wraps our thought, at banquets, in the shroud. | Life's little stage is a small eminence, | Inch-high the grave above; that home of man, | Where dwells the multitude; we gaze around; | We read their monuments; we sigh; and while | We sigh, we sink; and are what we deplored: | Lamenting, or lamented, all our lot! | Is death at distance? no: he has been on thee; | And given sure earnest of his final blow. | Those hours, which lately smiled, where are they now? | Pallid to thought, and ghastly! drown'd, all drown'd | In that great deep, which nothing disembogues; | And, dying, they bequeath'd thee small renown: | The rest are on the wing; how fleet their flight! | Already has the fatal train took fire; | A moment, and the world's blown up to thee; | The sun is darkness, and the stars are dust. | *'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, | And ask them, what report they bore to heaven;"; lower right: "inv & sc | WB"; lower left: "Pubd. June 27th. 1796, by R. Edwards, No.142 New Bond Street."
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.1393
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
seated | sitting | literary theme | scrolls | chairs | text | women | men | paper
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
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)