Page:Life of William Blake 2, Gilchrist.djvu/316

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212
LISTS OF BLAKE'S WORKS.

(f) Spenser.

Accessories from the Faery Queen.

(g) Tasso.

Accessories, a figure of a woman in prayer, &c.

(h) Shakespeare.

Like the Droeshout portrait, which Blake rated highly (see p. 392, Vol. I.). Accessories, Hamlet and the Ghost.

(i) Sidney.

A good, portrait-like head, in armour.

(j) Camoens.

Undisguisedly one-eyed: good. Accessory, an anchor.

(k) Milton.

More than usually worked up. Wreath of bay and oak intertwined. Accessories, the Serpent holding the apple in his mouth, and a harp against a palm-tree.

(l) Dryden.

Good; greatly dilapidated at one side. Accessory, Alexander's Feast.

(m) Otway.

An able, thoughtful head. Accessories, the City of Venice, unspeakably unlike it, and the appeal of Belvidera and Jaffier.

(n) Pope.

Wreath, ivy and other leaves. Accessories, Heloisa praying, and another female figure not easy to identify; both agreeable.

(o) Young.

Wreath, bramble and palm. Accessory, a figure which may stand for a Recording Angel.

(p) Cowper.

Still more colourless than usual. Wreath of lily-of-the valley. Accessories, a dog and a school-boy.

(q) Voltaire.

Young and extremely sprightly. The wreath is distinguished from all the others by the variety and brightness of its floral colours-honeysuckle, convolvulus, pimpernel, &c.; a rather curious distinction, as one is not at all accustomed to associate the idea of Voltaire with any special vividness of natural beauty. Accessories, the Pucelle d'Orléans, (disappointing,) and some knights.

(r) Hayley.

A pleasing, youngish face.

39. 1802.—Portrait of Mr. Butts, Sen. [Butts.] Miniature.

Half-length. An unpretending but by no means unsatisfactory example of miniature-painting. The sitter, with powdered hair and dark eyes, in an artillery uniform, holds a book. See Vol. I. p. 180, showing that this portrait was painted (wholly or partly) without nature.