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Creator:
Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:
Chapter VII, "Stretch'd for a work of eternity..." (Plate 22)
Part Of:

Collective Title: The First Book of Urizen, Copy A

Date:
1794
Materials & Techniques:
Color-printed relief etching in orange-brown ink, with watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 10 x 7 1/8 inches (25.4 x 18.1 cm), Plate: 5 7/8 x 4 1/8 inches (14.9 x 10.5 cm), Spine: 10 1/4 inches (26 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in graphite upper right: "18"

Lettered inside image, center: "Urizen C: VII"; left: "Stretch'd for a work of eternity; | No more Los beheld Eternity. | 11. In his hands he siez'd the infant | He bathed him in springs of sorrow | He gave him to Enitharmon. | Chap.VII. | 1. They named the child Orc, he grew | Fed with milk of Enitharmon | 2. Los awoke her; O sorrow & pain! | A tight'ning girdle grew. | Around his bosom. In sobbings | He burst the girdle in twain, | But still another girdle | Opress'd his bosom. In sobbings | Again he burst it. Again | Another girdle succeeds | The girdle was form'd by day; | By night was burst in twain. | 3. These falling down on the rock | Into an iron Chain | In each other link by link lock'd | 4. They took Orc to the top of a | mountain. | O how Enitharmon wept! | They chain'd his young limbs to the | rock | With the Chain of Jealousy | Beneath Urizens deathful shadow"; right: "5. The dead heard the voice of the | child | And began to awake from sleep | All things, heard the voice of the child | And began to awake to life. | 6. And Urizen craving with hunger. | Stung with the odours of Nature | Explor'd his dens around | 7. He form'd a line & a plummet | To divide the Abyss beneath. | He form'd a dividing rule: | 8. He formed scales to weigh: | He formed massy weights; | He formed a brazen quadrant: | He formed golden compasses | And began to explore the Abyss | And he planted a garden of fruits | 9. But Los encircled Enitharmon | With fires of Prophecy | From the sight of Urizen & Orc. | 10. And she bore an enormous race | Chap. VIII. | 1. Urizen explor'd his dens | Mountain, moor, & wilderness. | With a globe of fire lighting his | journey | A fearful journey, annoy'd | By cruel enormities: forms"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.5(22)
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
children | darkness | fire | flames | infant | literary theme | nudes | religious and mythological subject | text
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:3911
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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) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake, Libros profe´ticos, vol. 1, Atalanta, Vilau¨r, Spain, 2013, p. 322, PR4142 .S35 2013 [ORBIS]


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