William Blake

Description of the design for Blake's drawing, Mysterious Dream, and quotation from Milton's Il Penseroso: autograph manuscript, England, ca. 1816-1820.
Accompanies no. 11 of 12 watercolor designs for Milton's early poems L'Allegro and Il Penseroso that contrast the cheerful man with the melancholic, thoughtful one. Blake created them on commission for Thomas Butts about 1816-1820. The two series were separated in 1903 and were not reunited until 1949, when they were acquired by the Library. Each of the watercolors in this series is accompanied by Blake's transcription of the relevant portion of the poem as well as his notes on his design.
19 lines of text written in ink on the recto of a sheet of laid paper accompanying the watercolor, Mysterious Dream (1949.4:11, cataloged separately). Lines 1-12 are quoted from Milton's "Il Penseroso," lines 139-40, 145-54.
Transcription: "11 There in close Covert by lorne Brook / When no profaner Eye may look / With such concert as they keep / Entice the dewy featherd Sleep / And let some strange mysterious dream / Wave on his Wings in airy stream / Of liveliest Portraiture displayd. / On my Sleeping eyelids laid / And as I wake sweet Music breathe / Above; about: or underneath / Sent by some Spirit to Mortals good / Or the unseen Genius of the Wood / Milton Sleeping on a Bank. Sleep / descending with a Strange Mysterious / dream upon his Wings of Scrolls & / Nets & Webs unfolded by Spirits in the / Air & in the Brook around Milton / are Six Spirits or Fairies hovering on the / Air with Instruments of Music"