J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Work for Earls Egremont and Lonsdale ... > Lowther Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Verses (Inscriptions by Turner) 1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Verses (Inscriptions by Turner)’ 1809
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 64 Verso:
Verses (Inscriptions by Turner) 1809
D07953
Turner Bequest CXIII 64a
Inscribed by Turner in ink (see main catalogue entry) on white wove paper, 114 x 83 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s verses read:
The sparkling gem upon her breast
Shines not so bright as Lauras tears
Formed thought [through inserted] compassion quite distrests
I kiss the jewel and its influence fears
Take it on but from the downy nest
That lap of peace tis beautys throne
Thy value lurks by being dispossest
And I should blush and every kiss disown
I envy thee for thou dost riot there
Thou feelst the warmth of her [anxious inserted] I love
Clasping the robe it looks like jealous care
To shiled her bosom from the prying air
Dull in the attraction heavy in desire
No longer hold what
thou canst neer enjoy
The gently loosen to a lovers fire
A sight which nature made without alloy
These stanzas and more on folio 65 verso (D07955), together with the title ‘On a Jewel [Brooch] guarding a Ladies breast’ written on 65 recto (D07944), were published by Lindsay as Turner’s own work. In fact those on 65 verso are based on Charles Cotton’s poem Laura Sleeping, which was presumably Turner’s inspiration throughout. See note to 65 verso for fuller comment.

David Blayney Brown
August 2009

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Verses (Inscriptions by Turner) 1809 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-verses-inscriptions-by-turner-r1135909, accessed 01 April 2026.