William Blake - Jerusalem - copy E - Plate 78 (detail)

Bird-Man - Jerusalem - copy E - Plate 78 (detail)
Sector AB
plate Illustration:
A left-facing nude male with the head of a bird sits on stones that overlook a body of water—probably intended to suggest the cliffs of Dover at the sea's edge (compare plate 50). He slumps forward, shoulders hunched, resting his head on his left hand. To the left, a large, mottled, rising or setting sun with a bright aura sends dark beams into a mottled sky edged by dark clouds.
Component (Sector B)
Keywords: male, nude, bird, hawk, rooster, beak, crest, eagle, sitting, leaning, shoulders hunched, hunched over, bending forward, arm bent, arm braced, head on hand, facing left, left foot, legs together
A left-facing nude male with the head of a bird sits, legs together, on white stones that overlook a body of water. He slumps forward, shoulders hunched, resting his head on his left hand. The head, with a prominent, curved beak and the suggestion of what may be a cock's comb, can be variously identified as eagle, hawk, or rooster. The head is joined to the body with a very thick neck, perhaps bird-like but featherless.

Component (Sector AB)
Keywords: sun, beams of light, aura, sunrise, sunset, dark, sky, cloud
To the left, at the horizon, the upper right quadrant of a large, mottled, rising or setting sun with a bright aura sends out highly defined dark beams into a mottled sky edged by dark clouds.

Component (Sector AB)
Keywords: stone, cliff, Dover, sea, island, waves, peninsula, Britain

A bird-man sits on white stones that overlook a body of water with foam-topped waves—probably intended to suggest the cliffs of Dover at the sea's edge (compare plate 50, etc.). The water extends somewhat down into the spaces of the upper right margin of the text.