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Drawings

Illustration 7 to Milton's "Comus": Sabrina Disenchanting the Lady

Type
Drawings(Opens in new tab)
Date
ca. 1801
Accession number
000.26
Maker
William Blake(Opens in new tab) (British, 1757–1827)
Dimensions
8 9/16 x 7 1/16 in. (21.7 x 18 cm.) mount: 21 15/16 x 17 7/8 in. (55.7 x 45.4 cm.)
Medium
pen and watercolor
Description
Sabrina, goddess of the River Severn, "rises, attended by water-Nymphs," to "sprinkle…drops…from [her] fountain pure" on the Lady to free her from Comus' spell (stage direction following 889 and 911-12). Sabrina's stylish coiffure may have been prompted by the "twisted braids" in the attendant Spirit's song to her (863), although her hair is described as a "loose train" in the next line. The Spirit, still in his shepherd's costume, points heavenward, a gesture appropriate for his words at the end of this scene: "Come let us haste, the Stars grow high,/But night sits monarch yet in the mid sky" (956-57). We can still see the strap of his satchel crossing his chest, but he no longer has a crook. The Lady's Brothers bow toward Sabrina and hold their hands palm to palm as if in prayer. The Lady, seated in the center of action, holds her arms and hands in a gesture hinting at astonishment, but also showing a freedom she lacked in the previous two designs. As heavenly magic replaces beastly forces, Sabrina's four attendants constitute a virtuous counterpart to Comus' rout. The nymph far right holds a covered cup or a vase, perhaps containing "vial'd liquors" (847), her adult companion holds a conch shell, and the child left of Sabrina clasps a turbinate shell, perhaps a whelk, with both hands. The top of a shell can be seen just above the left shoulder of the remaining nymph. These aquatic forms may have been suggested to Blake by "Triton's winding shell" (873). The beads in Sabrina's hair, around her wrists, and on the left arm of the figure far right are hinted at by "their pearled wrists" (834) described by the attendant Spirit. These jewels are similar to those worn by the finny woman swimming underwater on plate 11 of Jerusalem (ca. 1804-20). The nymph far right and the girl right of Sabrina each wears a small circular earring. The waters of the Severn lap gently below their feet. The burst of radiance above the distant hills fails to dispel four "Stars" (956). In the Boston version, there are no tree trunks or stars and Sabrina has only two diminutive attendants, at least one of which holds a large spiral shell. Sabrina has no jewels, but holds a large clam or oyster shell in her left hand. She sprinkles the magical water with her right hand directly on the Lady's "breast" (as the text directs, 911) rather than above her head as in the Huntington version. The Lady's arms extend up and out from the elbow, but her open hands express much the same emotion as in the Huntington design. She sits on a large rock rather than a grassy bank. Sabrina's hair is "loose" (864) and she bends at the knees closer to the Severn than in the Huntington version. Only the more distant Brother holds his hands in prayer; the other is pictured in profile with his right arm at his side. A rainbow extends from the Lady to the right margin, arching just above Sabrina's head. This prominent motif is given textual precedent by the attendant Spirit's references to "Iris' Woof" (83) and "humid bow" (992) and Comus' to "the colors of the Rainbow" (300).
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
A river goddess, Sabrina, and her female attendants, releases the Lady from Comus's spell. The brothers show their thanks while the attendant Spirit, in his guise as a shepherd, points heavenward.

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