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| Isabel Dacre Italian Women in Church ca. 1880 oil on canvas Manchester Art Gallery |
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| John Roddam Spencer Stanhope The Rescue ca. 1880 oil on canvas National Trust, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton |
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| Anonymous Artist Académie ca. 1880 oil on paper, mounted on panel Edinburgh College of Art |
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| Robert Payton Reid Académie ca. 1880 oil on canvas Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh |
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| George Frederic Watts The Court of Death 1881 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
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| Edward Burne-Jones The Tree of Forgiveness 1882 oil on canvas Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool |
A Country Incident
Absorbed in planting bulbs, that work of hope,
I was startled by a loud human voice,
"Do go on working while I talk. Don't stop!"
And I was caught upon the difficult choice –
To yield the last half hour of precious light,
Or to stay on my knees, absurd and rude;
I willed her to be gone with all my might,
This kindly neighbor who destroyed my mood;
I could not think of next spring any more,
I had to re-assess the way I live.
Long after I went in and closed the door,
I pondered on the crude imperative.
What it is to be caught up in each day
Like a child fighting imaginary wars,
Converting work into this passionate play,
A rounded whole made up of different chores
Which one might name haphazard meditation.
And yet an unexpected call destroys
Or puts to rout my primitive elation:
Why be so serious about mere joys?
Is this where some outmoded madness lies,
Poet as recluse? No, what comes to me
Is how my father looked out of his eyes,
And how he fought for his own passionate play.
He could tear up unread and throw away
Communications from officialdom,
And, courteous in every other way,
Would not brook anything that kept him from
Those lively dialogues with man's whole past
That were his intimate and fruitful pleasure.
Impetuous, impatient to the last,
"Be adamant, keep clear, strike for your treasure!"
I hear the youthful ardor in his voice
(And so I must forgive a self in labor).
I feel his unrepentant smiling choice,
(And so I ask forgiveness of my neighbor).
– May Sarton (1961)
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| Alfred Edward Emslie Dinner at Haddo House, 1884 (Prime Minister Gladstone at the Hostess's right) 1884 oil on canvas National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| James McNeill Whistler Harmony in Red: Lamplight ca. 1884-86 oil on canvas Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow |
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| Luke Fildes Venetians 1885 oil on canvas Manchester Art Gallery |
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| William Blake Richmond Orpheus returning from the Shades 1885 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| George Denholm Armour Académie ca. 1886 oil on canvas Edinburgh College of Art |
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| George Denholm Armour Académie ca. 1886 oil on canvas Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh |
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| Pascal Blanchard Samson and Delilah 1886 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
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| William Skeoch Cumming Académie 1889 oil on paper Edinburgh College of Art |
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| Charles Napier Kennedy Neptune 1889 oil on canvas Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |