The Lonely Tower

The Lonely Tower 1879 by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881). Etching

In this 1879 impression of a state 4 of 7 etching the composition shows a starry night with a crescent moon just above the horizon. On the right a young couple recline near to their flock of sheep, their gaze directed across a deep ravine with a barn owl in flight, towards a tower on the rocky hilltop opposite. A bright light issues from its window. To left, a man leads an oxen pulling a covered wagon along the road.

Palmer wished to include coded messages to his dead son in this composition. It depicts Leith Hill near Dorking, Surrey, close to High Ashes Farm where his son died. Palmer could see Leith Hill from his studio in Redhill at this time. It shows the waning moon only visible in early morning, the time of day his son died. The position of the constellation of stars, which shows the Bear in accordance with Milton’s poem, was also seen on the day of his son’s death.

This is Palmer’s twelfth etching and is regarded as his most successful. It was conceived as the last in Palmer’s Milton series based on lines from his poem Il Penseroso: Or let my lamp at midnight hour, Be seen in some high lonely tower, Where I may oft outwatch the Bear, With thrice great Hermes. S

amuel Palmer is considered to be one of Britain’s most original artists, and a key figure in the Romantic movement.