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Inspired by the visionary poet and painter William Blake, Palmer settled in the Kentish village of Shoreham where he evolved a symbolic imagery celebrating rural fruitfulness and pastoral simplicity. Painted shortly after his return from a visit to Italy in 1839, this landscape was inspired by the lines from 'L'Allegro' by John Milton, perhaps the artist's favourite poet:

'To hear the lark begin his flight And singing, startle the dull night, From his watch tower in the skies, Till the dappled dawn doth rise'.