Pygmalion and the Image

By William Morris

"Pygmalion and the Image" is a poem form The Earthly Paradise by William Morris which is a lengthy collection of retellings of various myths and legends from Greece and Scandinavia. The poem is exceptionally balanced in all its parts. Over all the other versions, its superiority is not because of the manner narration but stems from its greater spirituality, a more refined feeling rather than a more refined form. Before the appearance of "Pygmalion and the Image," each narrator of the legend had resided mainly on the physical side, sensuous according to his temperament, of the tale. It’s the only poem from the collection for the illustration of which Burne-Jones actually executed a complete series of pictures; and though the finished paintings are four in number, and the original designs, were twelve, the numerically smaller set is complete in the best sense. Not only does it illustrate fully the text and spirit of Morris's poem, but each picture in it, though finished with the loving care and elaboration which Burne-Jones lavished on his paintings, fails of its full significance unless considered in its relation to the series of which it forms a part." The illustrations consist: The Heart Desires; The Hand Refrains; The Godhead Fires; The Soul Attains

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sharp Ink
• Release date: Feb 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9788028230746

William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896) was an accomplished writer, textile designer and artist. A utopian socialist, he was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Craft Movement, and was a founding member of the Socialist League in Britain. Greatly influenced by the medieval period, Morris helped establish the modern fantasy genre though his works The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems, A Dream of John Ball, and The Well at the World’s End. Authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were greatly influenced by works like The House of the Wolfings, The Roots of the Mountains, and The Wood Beyond the World. Morris was also an accomplished publisher, founding the Kelmscott Press in 1891, whose 1896 edition of the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is considered a masterpiece of book design.

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William Morris

Pygmalion and the Image

Sharp Ink Publishing

2022

Contact: [e-mail]

ISBN 978-80-282-3074-6

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Cover

Titlepage

Text

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W ith the exception of The Doom of King Acrisius, Pygmalion and the Image is the only poem of The Earthly Paradise for the illustration of which Burne-Jones actually executed a complete series of pictures; and though the finished paintings are but four in number, and the original designs, made in 1866-1867, were twelve, the numerically smaller set is complete in the best sense, since not only does it illustrate fully the text and spirit of Morris's poem, but each picture in it, though finished with the loving care and elaboration which Burne-Jones lavished on his paintings, fails of its full significance unless considered in its relation to the series of which it forms a part.

In regard to the poem itself, the inspiration of these pictures, even the most casual study will bring in its train a conviction that the story as told by William Morris is far superior to any other version of classic or of modern times. The poem (one of the best of those comprised in The Earthly Paradise) is homogeneous and admirably balanced in all its parts; its superiority, however, over all other versions, is not due primarily to the manner of its narration, but arises from its greater spirituality—a finer feeling rather than a finer form. Prior to the appearance of Pygmalion and the Image each narrator of the legend had dwelt mainly on the physical side, sensuous or sensual according to his temperament, of the tale. In Morris's version the dominant note is the passionate delight—enthusiasm verging upon madness—of the artist and craftsman in his own handiwork, reflecting, to a marked degree, Morris's own temperament, one of the leading characteristics of which was his habit of hurling himself headlong into each new project as it claimed his attention from time to time. That