DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31843#0128
ENGRAVED DESIGNS OF WILLIAM BLAKE
288. Page 1. Preludium.
A grinning assassin lying in wait behind a rock for a youthful
pilgrim who comes round a bend in the road. Text below, with
decorations : sinuous lines of vegetation, spider, fly, etc. Below, a
man falling headlong with a weight attached to his wrists ; in the
centre a face enclosed in a circle with bat’s wings.
9! X 6f in.
The design seems to have been suggested by a poem by Anne
Radcliff, quoted in the Print Room copy.
Ellis and Yeats compare the lines in Milton, p. 43,11. 22-24.
“ The idiot Questioner who sits with a sly grin
. . . Like a thief in a cave.’'
289. Page 2. The text is written on a cloud. Into a gulf of blackness
below a nude and hairless demon carries off two other nude forms.
Another male form, seen from behind, mounts right.
9i X 6f in.
Cf. the water-colour in the Boston Museum (Figgis, Plate 96), in
which two female figures are added. But surely this is not by
Blake.
290. Page 3. A winged figure (“ a comet ”) flies across clouds with
her head clasped in her hands and hair dropping down. Below,
in a dark space, is a seated figure in flames within an orb (“ some
malignant planet ”). Small figures float or embrace above and
below.
9f X 6| in.
291. Page 4. Orc lies prone, asleep on the ground, a fiery halo round
his hair. Enitharmon, on a cloud, comes above him, and lifting up
the coverlet from his body, calls on him to wake him. Beyond are
forms of lovers embracing or lying exhausted on the cloud (“ that
Woman, lovely Woman ! may have dominion ”). Text above.
9i X 6| in.
292. Page 5. War,
A male figure entirely covered with scales, and wearing a crown,
stands grasping his sword by the hilt. On either side of him stand
angels of peace. Text below.
9i X 6f in.
108
288. Page 1. Preludium.
A grinning assassin lying in wait behind a rock for a youthful
pilgrim who comes round a bend in the road. Text below, with
decorations : sinuous lines of vegetation, spider, fly, etc. Below, a
man falling headlong with a weight attached to his wrists ; in the
centre a face enclosed in a circle with bat’s wings.
9! X 6f in.
The design seems to have been suggested by a poem by Anne
Radcliff, quoted in the Print Room copy.
Ellis and Yeats compare the lines in Milton, p. 43,11. 22-24.
“ The idiot Questioner who sits with a sly grin
. . . Like a thief in a cave.’'
289. Page 2. The text is written on a cloud. Into a gulf of blackness
below a nude and hairless demon carries off two other nude forms.
Another male form, seen from behind, mounts right.
9i X 6f in.
Cf. the water-colour in the Boston Museum (Figgis, Plate 96), in
which two female figures are added. But surely this is not by
Blake.
290. Page 3. A winged figure (“ a comet ”) flies across clouds with
her head clasped in her hands and hair dropping down. Below,
in a dark space, is a seated figure in flames within an orb (“ some
malignant planet ”). Small figures float or embrace above and
below.
9f X 6| in.
291. Page 4. Orc lies prone, asleep on the ground, a fiery halo round
his hair. Enitharmon, on a cloud, comes above him, and lifting up
the coverlet from his body, calls on him to wake him. Beyond are
forms of lovers embracing or lying exhausted on the cloud (“ that
Woman, lovely Woman ! may have dominion ”). Text above.
9i X 6| in.
292. Page 5. War,
A male figure entirely covered with scales, and wearing a crown,
stands grasping his sword by the hilt. On either side of him stand
angels of peace. Text below.
9i X 6f in.
108