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Creator:
William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by Thomas Gray, 1716–1771
Title:
"Somevillage-Hampden, that with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood..," (Design 111)
Additional Title(s):

Verso: "Many a holy text around she strews..." (Design 112)

Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard
Part Of:

Collective Title: The Poems of Thomas Gray

Date:
between 1797 and 1798
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with pen and black ink and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
Dimensions:
Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in black ink upper right: "7"; in graphite center: "x"; on verso in black ink upper left: "8"; in graphite center: "x"

Lettered on inlaid page: "COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD 153 | Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast, | The little tyrant of his fields withstood, | Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, | Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. | Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, | The threats of pain and ruin to despise, | To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, | And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes, | Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone | Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd; | Forbade to wade thro' slaughter to a throne, | And shut the gates of mercy to mankind. | The struggling pangs of conscious Truth to hide, | To quench the blushes of ingenuous Shame, | Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride | With incense kindled at the Muses flame. | Far"; Lettered on verso, on inlaid page: "154 ELEGY WRITTEN IN A | Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, | Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray; | Along the cool sequester'd vale of life | They kept the noiseless tenour of their way. | Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect | Some frail memorial still erected nigh, | With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture | Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. [deck'd, | Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd | The place of fame and elegy supply; [Muse, | And many a holy text around she strews, | That teach the rustic moralist to die. | For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey, | This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd, | Left the warm precincts of the chearful day, | Nor cast one longing ling'ring look behind? | On"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.11(56)
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
cemetery | deed | document | grave | hill | house | literary theme | lyre | men | mountain | shovel | sky | text | tomb | tombstone | trees | women
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:3592
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William Blake - The Artist (Tate Britain, 2019-09-11 - 2020-02-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazine [ORBIS]

Arnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical Archive [ORBIS]


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