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 Sun beheld it – No, the shocking scene' (Page 75)
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: "75 | Not thus, our infidels th' ETERNAL draw, | 'A GOD all o'er, consummate, absolute, | 'Full orb'd, in his whole round of rays complete'; | They set at odds heaven's jarring attributes, | And with one excellence another wound; | Maim heaven's perfection, break its equal beams, | Bid mercy triumph over--GOD himself, | Undeified by their opprobrious praise: | A GOD all mercy is a GOD unjust. | Ye brainless wits! ye baptized infidels! | Ye worse for mending! wash'd to fouler stains! | The ransom was paid down; the fund of heaven, | Heaven's inexhaustible exhausted fund, | Amazing and amazed, pour'd forth the price | All price beyond; though curious to compute | Archangels fail'd to cast the mighty sum: | Its value vast ungrasp'd by minds create, | For ever hides and glows in the SUPREME. | And was the ransom paid? it was: and paid-- | What can exalt the bounty more? for you: | The sun beheld it--no, the shocking scene | Drove back his chariot; midnight veil'd his face, | Not such as this, not such as nature makes; | A midnight nature shudder'd to behold; | A midnight new! a dread eclipse, without | Opposing spheres, from her CREATOR's frown! | Sun! didst thou fly thy MAKER's pain? or start | At that enormous load of human guilt, | Which bow'd his blessed head; o'erwhelm'd his cross; | Made groan the centre; burst earth's marble womb"; lower left: 'in. & s | WB"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1978.43.1410
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
sun | horse (animal) | horses (animals) | clouds | literary theme | flames | men | text | 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)