- Title:
- The Human Abstract (Plate 46)
- Part Of:
Collective Title: Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Copy F
- Date:
- 1794
- Materials & Techniques:
- Color-printed relief etching, with hand coloring in watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 7 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches (18.4 x 12.1 cm), Plate: 4 1/2 x 2 5/8 inches (11.4 x 6.7 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, upper center: "32"; in graphite, lower center: "46"
Lettered inside image: "The Human Abstract. | Pity would be no more, | If we did not make somebody Poor: | And Mercy no more could be, | If all were as happy as we; | And mutual fear brings peace; | Till the selfish loves increase. | Then Cruelty knits a snare, | And spreads his baits with care. | He sits down with holy fears, | And waters the ground with tears; | Then Humility takes its root | Underneath his foot. | Soon spreads the dismal shade | Of Mystery over his head; | And the Catterpiller and Fly: | Feed on the Mystery. | And it bears the fruit of Deceit, | Ruddy and sweet to eat; | And the Raven his nest has made | In its thickest shade. | The Gods of the earth and sea, | Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree | But their search was all in vain: | There grows one in the Human brain"
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1978.43.1577
- Classification:
- Prints
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- beard | branches | historical subject | leaf | men | net | rope | text | trees | vines
- 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:2523
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
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