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:
'The goddess bursts in thunder and in flame' (Page 95)
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: "95 | By the great edict, the divine decree, | Truth is deposited with man's last hour; | An honest hour, and faithful to her trust; | Truth, eldest daughter of the Deity; | Truth, of his council when he made the worlds, | Nor less when he shall judge the worlds he made; | Though silent long, and sleeping ne'er so sound | Smother'd with errors, and oppress'd with toys; | That heaven-commission'd hour no sooner calls, | But from her cavern in the soul's abyss, | Like him they fable under AEtna whelm'd, | *The goddess bursts in thunder and in flame; | Loudly convinces, and severely pains: | Dark demons I discharge, and hydra-stings; | The keen vibration of bright truth--is hell: | Just definition! though by schools untaught. | Ye deaf to truth! peruse this parson'd page, | And trust for once a prophet and a priest; | 'Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die'."; lower right: "inv & s | WB"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.1417
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
lightning | flames | text | nudes | pointing | literary theme | rocks (landforms) | fire
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)