In Matrimony’s Golden Cage, Illustrations to the songs from William Blake’s “Island in the Moon”

Charles Seliger, In Matrimony's Golden Cage, Illustrations to the songs from William Blake's "Island in the Moon", 1945, white ink on black ink on paper, sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld, 1992.53.6

Artwork Details

Title: In Matrimony’s Golden Cage, Illustrations to the songs from William Blake’s “Island in the Moon”
Artist: Charles Seliger
Date: 1945
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Michael Rosenfeld
Mediums: ink
Mediums Description: white ink on black ink on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: Literature — Blake — Island in the Moon
Allegory — other — marriage
Abstract
Object Number: 1992.53.6
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1992.53.6

Artwork Description

At age nineteen, Charles Seliger drew illustrations for songs from the unfinished satire, An Island in the Moon by William Blake (1757-1827), an English poet, painter, and printmaker.
Written around 1785, the manuscript combines classical Greek satire with a critique of one of the intellectual salons of the London bourgeoisie. Each of Seliger’s drawings depict one or more of the absurdly named characters from Blake’s fictional island, some of whom also represent friends and contemporaries of the author. Suction, the Epicurean, for example, is believed to correspond to Blake’s brother Robert, and Quid, the Cynic refers to Blake himself.
Blake’s song lyrics range from vulgar to menacing to humorous. While Old Corruption is considered an allegory for sin, the song for which Seliger drew O, I Say You Joe, Throw Us the Ball was the first recorded poem to focus on cricket, an English bat-and-ball sport.

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