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Creator:
William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by Thomas Gray, 1716–1771
Title:
"We the reins to slaughter give..." (Design 73)
Additional Title(s):

Verso: The Fatal Sisters Riding thro the Battle (Design 74)

The Fatal Sisters
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: "AN ODE. 113 | (Weave the crimson web of war,) | Let us go, and let us fly, | Where our friends the conflict share, | Where they triumph, where they die. | As the paths of fate we tread, | Wading thro' th' ensanguin'd field, | Gondula, and Geira, spread | O'er the youthful King your shield. | We the reins to slaughter give, | Ours to kill, and ours to spare: | Spite of danger he shall live. | (Weave the crimson web of war.) | They, whom once the desert-beach | Pent within its bleak domain, | Soon their ample sway shall stretch | O'er the plenty of the plain. | H4 Low"; Lettered on verso, on inlaid page: "114 THE FATAL SISTERS. | Low the dauntless Earl is laid, | Gor'd with many a gaping wound: | Fate demands a nobler head: | Soon a King shall bite the ground. | Long his loss shall Eirin weep, | Ne'er again his likeness see; | Long her strains in sorrow steep: | Strains of immortality! | Horror covers all the heath, | Clouds of carnage blot the sun. | Sifters, weave the web of death. | Sifters, cease: The work is done. | Hail the task, and hail the hands! | Songs of joy and triumph sing; | Joy to the victorious bands; | Triumph to the younger King. | Mortal,"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.11(37)
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
armor | bodies | dead | feathers | helmets | horses (animals) | knights (landholders) | literary theme | men | 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:3665
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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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