This is an uncorrected duplicate copy of the first proof of Signature S of
the 1881 Poems
Five copies of this proof signature are preserved in the library of the
Delaware Art Museum. They include a
* The scene is in the house-porch, where Christ holds a bowl of
blood from which Zacharias is sprinkling the posts and lintel.
Joseph has brought the lamb and Elizabeth lights the pyre. The
shoes which John fastens and the bitter herbs which Mary is gather-
ing form part of the ritual.
* In the drawing Mary has left a procession of revellers, and
is
ascending by a sudden impulse the steps of the house where she
sees
Christ. Her lover has followed her and is trying to turn her
back.
* The subject shows Cassandra prophesying among her kindred,
as
Hector leaves them for his last battle. They are on the
platform
of a fortress, from which the Trojan troops are
marching out. Helen
is arming Paris; Priam soothes Hecuba; and
Andromache holds the
child to her bosom.