The Dog Strove to Attract His Attention

What it is

This is an etching by William Blake, dated 1791, printed as a page from Mary Wollstonecraft's children's book Original Stories from Real Life. The page is numbered 24. It shows a gaunt man with curly hair beside a bench with a body stretched out on it, and a shaggy dog leaning against the bench. The caption reads: 'The Dog strove to attract his attention. He said, Thou wilt not leave me!'

Why it matters

Wollstonecraft wrote stories that taught children about feeling, loss and kindness. This page shows how the book's illustrations gave visual form to a sad moment in the text. The image is a reproduction from a copy of the book, so it shows the 1791 printed page rather than the original plate.

Look closer

• How does the artist show the man's grief without words?
• Why might the dog be placed in the picture, and what role does it play?
• What does the picture not tell us about who the dead person was?