There are ten lines of what appears to be a draft of poetry here; each line here comprises about six to eight words, and continues for anything up to three or four words inside the back cover opposite (
D41221). Finberg did not attempt a transcription,
1 nor is the passage mentioned in the most detailed survey of Turner’s own poetry, which concentrates on his most prolific period, much earlier in his career.
2The transcription attempted here is extremely patchy and speculative, and no overall sense emerges. The whole of each line across the two pages is given, with the ellipses often indicating several words, and the gutter marked ‘|’:
And [‘lured’ or ‘lurid’ inserted above] is [?their] one yes one any | [?he ... opend]
Of [?S... p... velur] – he [...] | [...]
D[...] the self [?pr...] the [?sly ch...] | who
[...] T[...] grandeur to rule the [... | ...]
Change the [...] | [?he ...]
[?C...] and [...] in the [...] | [...]
But by [?in...] and [... | ... ?a]
[?on] the [...] of the [...] | –
Yet he [...] [?he ... | ...]
The [?C...] and the [... | ...]
This page and the recto (
D28946) are listed separately in Finberg’s 1909
Inventory, albeit both as page ‘42’; an ‘a’ suffix has been since added to the Turner Bequest number in line with Finberg’s customary way of indicating a verso.
