I labour incessantly

I labour incessantly: a William Blake to do list

Set of three ruled notepads, twenty pages each, inkjet printed onto 70 lb text weight paper. Created 2019.

8 ½ x 3 5/8”
open edition

Finally a realistic to do list. Each sheet is topped with a (non) motivational phrase by 18th century poet William Blake excusing your inability to accomplish any task. The text is excerpted from a letter to Blake’s long suffering patron Thomas Butts.

Save one as an artists’ book, use the second, gift the third to excuse an unproductive loved one.

Phrases include:
Time flies
I labour incessantly
I accomplish not one half of what I intend
only now I approach the prospect
my seeming neglect
my want of steady perseverance
labouring
matchless industry
I shall have an opportunity
who shall deliver me
I endeavour
which you may expect soon
which I have nearly completed
Alas! wretched, happy, ineffectual labourer
I, with my whole might, chain my feet to the world of duty
But in vain!
still unfinished, but is in a finishing way
perhaps, or rather certainly
but such as I can be, I will