Title
The Deserted Village
Object Type
Creator
Date
1795
Description
An engraving entitled "The Deserted Village" (English, 1795) by Francesco Barolozzi (Italian, 1728-1815) after a painting by Francis Wheatley (English, 1747-1801) published by Thomas Macklin Poets Gallery. The scene depicts a family with a dog in a rural village setting looking sadly away from their cottage. In the background on the right another group of peasants is loading their belongings into a cart, and a church spire rises in the distance. Printed beneath the image on the bottom left is "F. Wheatly R.A. pinx", on the bottom right is "F. Bartolozzi sculpt." On either side of the title is an excerpt from Oliver Goldsmith’s (English, 1728-1774) poem condemning rural depopulation entitled "The Deserted Village" published in 1770:
Good Heaven! What sorrows gloom’d that parting day, / That call’d them from their native walks away; / When the poor exiles every pleasure past, / Hung round the bowers and fondly look’d their last, / The good old sire the first prepar’d to go / To new-found worlds, and wept for other’s wore, / But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, / He only wish’d for worlds beyond the grave. / His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, / The fond companion of his helpless years, / Silent went next, neglectful of her charms, / And left a lover’s for her father’s arms. / With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, / And blest the cot where every pleasure rose; / And kist her thoughtless babes with many a fear, / And claspt them close, in sorrow doubly dear.
Printed on the bottom edge at center is "London Published May 1st 1795 by Tho. Macklin Poets Gallery, Fleet Street."
Good Heaven! What sorrows gloom’d that parting day, / That call’d them from their native walks away; / When the poor exiles every pleasure past, / Hung round the bowers and fondly look’d their last, / The good old sire the first prepar’d to go / To new-found worlds, and wept for other’s wore, / But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, / He only wish’d for worlds beyond the grave. / His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, / The fond companion of his helpless years, / Silent went next, neglectful of her charms, / And left a lover’s for her father’s arms. / With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, / And blest the cot where every pleasure rose; / And kist her thoughtless babes with many a fear, / And claspt them close, in sorrow doubly dear.
Printed on the bottom edge at center is "London Published May 1st 1795 by Tho. Macklin Poets Gallery, Fleet Street."
Cultural Origin
English
Medium
ink on paper
wood frame
Extent
24 1/2" x 27 1/4"
Collection
Source
Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Morris Smith, 1986.
Identifier
PSNC.7358
For more information about this item, please contact its owning institution.