Text page for "Getting Away" (Primary Title)
Hunting Qualifications (Series Title)
Henry Thomas Alken, English, 1785–1851 (Artist)
Printed on front: "GETTING AWAY. / TO get away well requires great nerve and determined courage ; but / the great requisite is a well-qualified horse : that is indeed indispensable. / In a quick affair, unless you get a good place, you have little chance of / seeing the run ; but as being in a good place for a start depends, in a / great measure, on the whim of your fox, you may, even with the best / judgment, be just where you ought not to be. Your only chance then / is, to catch those to whom Dame Fortune has been more indulgent : / [verse] Since, like a torrent, on they rush, / And all alike seem careless / Which of their sporting friends they crush, / Of broken bones quite fearless: // For they have all one point in sight, / And eagerly pursue it : / So go along with all your might, / Though you or others rue it! // Here as in other fields they race, / And dash and spur and whip it; / Exert themselves to get a place, / And then they try to keep it."
Inscribed in graphite on verso: "HRH 20 / 22A / 1"
Paul Mellon Collection
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.