Free Vintage Illustrated Nature Poem: Dreams by Constance Morgan

A long low sweep of clouds which trembling lie
Across the golden-glinted West, and far
Beyond the twilight gates one lonely star
Waits calm and still to watch the daylight die.

Like to the sweep of God’s white garment there,
The summer moonlight sleeps upon the sea
Like to a vision of Eternity,
Like to a love that cometh unaware.

A mystic lyre swept by the summer wind,
A far-off echo in the falling rain,
A song of joy, a wild deep sob of pain,
A whisper from the years that lie behind.

Is it a dream grown holy, grown divine,
For all life’s toling, all earth’s pain and care,
Grown perfect by the loving unaware–
Grown tender by the moonlight’s silver shine?

Perchance it may be only dreaming; yet,
When Life’s dim twilight angel spread his wings
Over the weariness of earthly things,
What shall we then remember―what forget?

Good-night! The glow has faded from the sky,
Leaving behind a ruddy starlight gleam,
And in my heart the mem’ry of a dream.
Hush! for the day lies dead. Good-night―good-bye.

Late 19th century (Victorian) poem of loss and mourning by Constance Morgan called “Dreams.” You can find a printable copy of the poem as a high-res 11” x 8” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.” Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.

Free Vintage Outdoor Illustration for Collage, Graphic Design, Papercrafts or Scrapbooking: Spring Flowers, 1881

Then came the healing time, hearts started to shine, soul felt so fine,
oh what a freeing time it was.
― Aberjhani

From all that I saw,
and everywhere I wandered,
I learned that time cannot be spent,
It only can be squandered.
― Roman Payne

Vintage illustration of a girl gathering wildflowers in the woods. From an 1881 engraving of the painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). 7.25” x 15” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale "as-is." Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Lilies by Frederick Carl Frieseke

I died as mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was human,
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die human,
To soar with angels blessed above.
And when I sacrifice my angel soul
I shall become what no mind ever conceived.
As a human, I will die once more,
Reborn, I will with the angels soar.
And when I let my angel body go,
I shall be more than mortal mind can know.
― Rumi
Artwork is titled “Lilies” and was painted c1911 by Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874–1939). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 7” x 5” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Botanical Illustration of Lilium auratum (Golden-Rayed Lily)

Lilium auratum, 1862
by Louis van Houtte (1810–1876)
Lilium auratum (山百合, yamayuri, literally “mountain lily”) is one of the true lilies. It is native to Japan and is sometimes called the golden-rayed lily or the goldband lily.

The Englishman who was the earliest collector of lily bulbs in Japan was arguably young John Gould Veitch of Veitch Nurseries, and in 1862 he sent to England the golden rayed lily, L. auratum, which became touted as the “aristocrat of lilies”. It was allegedly in 1867 that a man named John Joshua Jarmain operating from Yokohama became the first commercial exporter of Japanese lilies, though the species of lily is not clarified. The mint exporter Samuel Cocking of Yokohama also exported lilies from the early 1800s, presumably of the L. auratum species, which is the local prefectural flower [ja] of Kanagawa Prefecture. Isaac Bunting, another purveyor of plants offered L. auratum for sale, as seen in his 1885 catalog. [Source: Wikipedia.]

You can download the antique botanical illustration above as a high-res 6” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Public domain, colours digitally enhanced.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Playing with Butterflies by Alois Hans Schram

Playing with Butterflies, 1895
by Alois Hans Schram (1864–1919)
She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.
― Lisa Genova, Still Alice

But on paper, things can live forever.
On paper, a butterfly never dies.
― Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming

Vintage painting oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally altered version can be downloaded as an 8” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.