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Creator:
William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by Thomas Gray, 1716–1771
Title:
"Leaning from her golden cloud, The venerable Marg'ret see!..." (Design 99)
Additional Title(s):

Verso: "The laureate wreath, that Cecil wore..." (Design 100)

Ode for Music
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: "ODE FOR MUSIC. 139 | V. | 'What is grandeur, what is Power? | 'Heavier toil, superior pain. | 'What the bright reward we gain? | 'The grateful memory of the Good. | 'Sweet is the breath of vernal shower, | 'The bee's collected treasures sweet, | 'Sweet music's melting fall, but sweeter yet | 'The still small voice of Gratitude.' | VI. | Foremost and leaning from her golden cloud | The venerable Marg'ret see! | 'Welcome, my noble Son, (she cries aloud) | 'To this, thy kindred train, and me: | 'Pleas'd in thy lineaments we trace | 'A Tudor's fire, a Beaufort's grace. | 'Thy liberal heart, thy judging eye, | 'The flower unheeded shall descry, | K 'And"; Lettered on verso, on inlaid page: "140 ODE FOR MUSIC. | 'And bid it round heav'ns altars shed | 'The fragrance of its blushing head: | 'Shall raise from earth the latent gem | 'To glitter on the diadem. | VII. | 'Lo, Granta waits to lead her blooming band, | 'Not obvious, not obtrusive, She | | 'No vulgar praise, no venal incense flings: | 'Nor dares with courtly tongue refin'd | 'Profane thy inborn royalty of mind: | 'She reveres herself and thee. | 'With modest pride to grace thy youthful | 'brow | 'The laureate wreath, that Cecil wore, she | 'brings, | 'And to thy just, thy gentle hand | 'Submits the Fasces of her sway, | 'While"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.11(50)
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
angel | cape | clouds | laurel | leaf | literary theme | man | religious and mythological subject | sky | text | woman
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:3693
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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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