"The Night is Worn" by Celia Levetus

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The Night is Worn

Celia Levetus

Illustration for Blake, Songs of Experience.

Source: Bromhead 239

H. W. Bromhead feels that the illustrations for Blake's Songs of Experience "possess a distinct lyrical value, and are both harmonious in spirit with, and pertinent in feeling to, the Songs. It can be claimed for them that they are sincere and sympathetic, and of high technical value" (239). [Commentary continues below.]

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This is the introductory lyric to the book, when the "Bard" takes into account the perils of experience, but nevertheless asks us to listen, and not to turn away: "The starry floor / The watry shore / Is giv'n thee till the break of day." Despite the recognition of nature's wonders, and the promise of dawn, there is something foreboding about the way the angel of morning treads down the night. What is to come? Levetus captures the unstoppable energy of the recurring cycle, the sense of our subjection to it, and a certain restless dis-ease accompanying it.

Bibliography

[Ultimate source]Blake, William. Songs of Experience. London: Wells, Gardner, Darton and Co, 1899.

Bromhead, H. W. "An Illustrator of Blake." Art Journal. Vol. 62 (1900). Internet Archive. 237-39. Contributed by the Getty Research Institute. Web. 7 August 2020.

Created 7 August 2020