Night-Thoughts - Wikipedia Night-Thoughts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   (Redirected from Night Thoughts) Jump to navigation Jump to search Long poem by Edward Young published in nine parts between 1742 and 1745 "Night Thoughts" redirects here. For the Suede album, see Night Thoughts (album). For other uses, see Night-Thoughts (disambiguation). A page from Night-Thoughts, illustrated by William Blake The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, better known simply as Night-Thoughts, is a long poem by Edward Young published in nine parts (or "nights") between 1742 and 1745. The poem is written in blank verse. It describes the poet's musings on death over a series of nine "nights" in which he ponders the loss of his wife and friends, and laments human frailties. The best-known line in the poem (at the end of "Night I") is the adage "procrastination is the thief of time", which is part of a passage in which the poet discusses how quickly life and opportunities can slip away. Night-Thoughts had a very high reputation for many years after its publication, but is now best known for a major series of illustrations by William Blake in 1797. A lesser-known set of illustrations was created by Thomas Stothard in 1799. The nine nights are each a poem of their own. They are: "Life, Death, and Immortality" (dedicated to Arthur Onslow); "Time, Death, Friendship" (dedicated to Spencer Compton); "Narcissa" (dedicated to Margaret Bentinck); "The Christian Triumph" (dedicated to Philip Yorke); "The Relapse" (dedicated to George Lee); "The Infidel Reclaim'd" (in two parts, "Glories and Riches" and "The Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality"; dedicated to Henry Pelham); "Virtue's Apology; or, The Man of the World Answered" (with no dedication); and "The Consolation" (dedicated to Thomas Pelham-Holles). In his 1791 book, Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell called Night-Thoughts "the grandest and richest poetry that human genius has ever produced". Contents 1 Blake's illustrations of 1795–1797 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links Blake's illustrations of 1795–1797[edit] William Blake was commissioned in 1795 to illustrate Night-Thoughts for a major new edition of the poem to be published by Richard Edwards. Blake began by making a series of 537 watercolour illustrations from which he planned to engrave about 200 for publication. The first volume – with forty-three engravings by Blake – was published in 1797, but it was a commercial failure and the expensive publishing venture was abandoned. Because the principal evidence of Blake's work on these illustrations was the comparatively short series of engravings, art history has been slow to recognise the significance of the project within Blake's œuvre. In 1980, the Oxford University Press began publication of a projected five-volume scholarly edition of Blake's version of Night-Thoughts, edited by J. E. Grant et al.; two volumes have so far appeared and the fifth has apparently been abandoned.[1] In 2005, the Folio Society published in two volumes a fine edition facsimile accompanied by a commentary by Robyn Hamlyn. The Folio Society facsimile was the first (and thus far only) time that all 537 of Blake's illustrations have been published together in full colour.[2] See also[edit] Träd fram du Nattens Gud, a poem by Carl Michael Bellman, inspired by Night-Thoughts Notes[edit] ^ Night-Thoughts ^ Night-Thoughts. Folio Society External links[edit] Night Thoughts complete text and bibliography at 18th Century Poetry Archive Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Complaint: or Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality Digital Scans of Blake's illustrations of Night Thoughts from the William Blake Archive v t e William Blake Literary works Early writings Poetical Sketches An Island in the Moon All Religions are One There is No Natural Religion Songs of Innocence and of Experience Songs of Innocence The Shepherd The Ecchoing Green The Lamb The Little Black Boy The Blossom The Chimney Sweeper The Little Boy Lost The Little Boy Found Laughing Song A Cradle Song The Divine Image Holy Thursday Night Spring Nurse's Song Infant Joy A Dream On Another's Sorrow Songs of Experience Introduction Earth's Answer The Clod and the Pebble Holy Thursday The Little Girl Lost The Little Girl Found The Chimney Sweeper Nurse's Song The Sick Rose The Fly The Angel The Tyger My Pretty Rose Tree Ah! Sun-flower The Lilly The Garden of Love The Little Vagabond London The Human Abstract Infant Sorrow A Poison Tree A Little Boy Lost A Little Girl Lost To Tirzah The School Boy The Voice of the Ancient Bard A Divine Image (found only in Copy BB) Prophetic books The continental prophecies America a Prophecy Europe a Prophecy The Song of Los Other Tiriel The Book of Thel The Marriage of Heaven and Hell The French Revolution Visions of the Daughters of Albion The Book of Urizen The Book of Ahania The Book of Los The Four Zoas Milton Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion The Pickering Manuscript "Auguries of Innocence" "The Mental Traveller" The Rossetti Manuscript "Never pain to tell thy love" Mythology Ahania Albion Beulah Bromion Enion Enitharmon Fuzon Golgonooza Grodna Har Leutha Los Luvah Orc Palamabron Spectre Tharmas Thiriel Tiriel Urizen Urthona Utha Vala Art Paintings and prints Relief etching Engravings for Original Stories from Real Life The Ancient of Days Europe Supported by Africa and America The Night of Enitharmon's Joy Newton Nebuchadnezzar Illustrations for Night-Thoughts Illustrations of The Grave The Four and Twenty Elders Casting their Crowns before the Divine Throne Illustrations of Paradise Lost A Vision of the Last Judgement Descriptive Catalogue The Great Red Dragon Paintings Pity The Ghost of a Flea Agony in the Garden Illustrations of On the Morning of Christ's Nativity The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides Illustrations of the Book of Job Sketches Visionary Heads Criticism, scholarship, and in popular culture Scholarly works Life of William Blake The Works of William Blake: Poetic, Symbolic and Critical Fearful Symmetry Blake: Prophet Against Empire Witness Against the Beast Musical Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (1943) Ten Blake Songs (1958) Songs and Proverbs of William Blake (1965) The Lamb (1982) Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998) Related William Blake in popular culture William Blake Archive Blake (1983 monologue) In Lambeth (1989 play) Catherine Blake (wife) Ancients Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night-Thoughts&oldid=962524088" Categories: 1740s poems English poems Art by William Blake Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Italiano עברית Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 14 June 2020, at 15:16 (UTC). 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