Portraits · Poets · XI of XIV

William Blake

1757–1827 · Poet and painter

Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
William Blake · Proverbs of Hell, c. 1790–93

William Blake etched this line around 1790–93, among the Proverbs of Hell in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: sayings his narrator claims to have collected while walking among the fires of hell.

The frame is playful; the line has outlived it. Blake wrote, lettered, etched, printed and coloured the book himself.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 'Proverbs of Hell', plate 7, c. 1790–93. Illuminated book, copy I, plate 7 (Wikimedia Commons image, from the William Blake Archive); also The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (Boston: J. W. Luce, 1906), p. 14.

The originals

Portrait of William Blake with greying hair, looking up and to the side, in a dark coat — **The likeness**PAINTED BY THOMAS PHILLIPS · 1807Our portrait is painted after it.Public domain (painter died 1845; NPG 212; Commons tags it PD and notes third-party claims over NPG photos).

An etched page of hand-lettered proverbs in brown ink over washes of yellow and blue, including Eternity is in love with the productions of time — **Proverbs of Hell · plate 7**The plate that carries this line, etched in relief and coloured by hand. Blake wrote, lettered, etched and printed his books himself.The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, copy I, plate 7, relief etching coloured by hand. Image: William Blake Archive, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.