Featured Source: Winged Time

Winged Time
Blake, William. [Winged Time] in Edward Young. The Complaint, and the Consolation, or, Night Thoughts. London: R. Noble for R. Edwards, 1797. Hand-colored engraving. Rosenwald Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.

Curator’s note from the Library of Congress online exhibition: The Dream of Flight

On these pages, the English poet and illustrator, William Blake, depicts the personification of “Time” as having wings. On the left page, Time has his traditional scythe and conceals his wings as he creeps stealthily toward the viewer. On the right, Time has passed us, unfurling his wings as he goes on about his endless journey. Blake uses powerful imagery to interpret the words of the poet Edward Young, whose poem has been described as a Christian apologetic inspired by the deaths of Young’s wife, step-daughter, and son-in-law.

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