Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford AnthologyRoger Lonsdale, Roger H. Lonsdale Oxford University Press, 1990 - 555 pages In the first decade of the eighteenth century, only two women published collections of verse. By the 1790s, more than thirty had done so. Yet, in the two intervening centuries, most of that verse has disappeared from view--now either ignored or forgotten. This delightful anthology takes us back to Augustan England, introducing over one hundred of these lost poets from Lady Mary Chudleigh and Octavia Walsh to Mary Locke and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. Their poetry speaks with vigor and immediacy, in a range of moods from the resentful and melancholic to the humorous and exuberant, as they unveil their individual worlds to us. They came from all levels of society--including washerwomen and duchesses--and from both the town and country. The volume reveals that as eighteenth-century women poets gained confidence, their writing eventually spanned a variety of poetic forms and encompassed both public and private topics. Eighteenth-Century Women Poets offers a compelling reassessment of a neglected aspect of eighteenth-century literature. |
Contents
Introduction | xxi |
MARY LADY CHUDLEIGH née LEE 16561710 | 1 |
from The Ladies Defence | 2 |
To the Ladies | 3 |
The Resolve ANNE FINCH née KINGSMILL COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA 16611720 | 4 |
from The Spleen A Pindaric Poem | 6 |
A Sigh 6 Lifes Progress | 8 |
A Pastoral Dialogue between Two Shepherdesses | 9 |
Song | 266 |
CHRISTIAN CARSTAIRS fl 176386 | 267 |
On Loch Leven | 268 |
Nightingale | 269 |
177 On Viewing her Sleeping Infant | 270 |
The World Not Our Rest | 271 |
PRISCILLA POINTON later PICKERING c 17401801 | 272 |
from To the Critics | 273 |
Adam Posed 9 A Tale of the Miser and the Poet | 12 |
from The Petition for an Absolute Retreat | 15 |
The Hog the Sheep and Goat Carrying to a Fair | 18 |
Enquiry after Peace A Fragment xxi 123 + 4 6 48889 12 15 18 40 42 43 t wwwww wwN N N N N N N N N N N 23 26 26 27 29 22 22 19 | 19 |
To the Nightingale | 20 |
Reformation | 21 |
Friendship between Ephelia and Ardelia 16 A Nocturnal Reverie | 22 |
A Ballad to Mrs Catherine Fleming in London | 23 |
A Song on the South Sea SARAH EGERTON née FYGE later FIELD 16701723 | 26 |
The Repulse to Alcander | 27 |
To Philaster 21 To One who said I must not Love | 29 |
To Marina | 30 |
The Emulation | 31 |
ELIZABETH THOMAS 16751731 | 32 |
Epistle to Clemena Occasioned by an Argument | 34 |
The Execration | 36 |
The True Effigies of a Certain Squire | 37 |
A New Litany Occasioned by an Invitation to a Wedding | 39 |
On Sir JS saying in a Sarcastic Manner My Books would make me Mad An | 40 |
from Jill A Pindaric | 42 |
The Triumvirate | 43 |
The Forsaken Wife | 44 |
ELIZABETH ROWE née SINGER 16741737 | 45 |
A Laplanders Song to his Mistress 33 A Hymn 35 Upon the Death of her Husband 36 A Hymn OCTAVIA WALSH 16771706 | 47 |
At length my soul the fatal union finds | 53 |
LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU née PIERREPONT 16891762 | 54 |
The SmallPox | 56 |
40 | 57 |
Verses Written in the Chiosk of the British Palace at Pera Overlooking the City of Constantinople | 59 |
Epitaph | 61 |
A Ballad | 62 |
Epistle to Lord Bathurst | 63 |
An Answer to a LoveLetter in Verse | 65 |
A Receipt to Cure the Vapours | 66 |
from Verses Addressed to the Imitator of the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace | 67 |
Addressed | 68 |
Hymn to the Moon 49 Verses Written in a Garden | 69 |
MARY MONCK née MOLESWORTH c 16781715 | 70 |
Masque of the Virtues against Love From Guarini 51 On a Romantic Lady | 71 |
Verses written on her Deathbed JANE HOLT née WISEMAN fl 170117 | 72 |
To Mr Wren my Valentine Six Year | 73 |
SUSANNA CENTLIVRE née FREEMAN 1669?1723 | 74 |
from An Epistle to the King of Sweden | 75 |
JANE BRERETON née HUGHES 16851740 | 78 |
from Epistle to Mrs Anne Griffiths Written from London | 80 |
from To Mr Thomas Griffith at the University of Glasgow | 81 |
Cloe to Artimesa | 83 |
MARTHA SANSOM née FOWKE 16901736 | 84 |
from Clios Picture To Anthony Hammond Esq | 86 |
To Cleons Eyes | 87 |
To Lady E H | 88 |
The Invitation from a Country Cottage | 90 |
CONSTANTIA GRIERSON née CRAWLEY c 170532 | 91 |
To Miss Laetitia Van Lewen | 92 |
56 | 93 |
On her own Birthday August 26 1723 | 94 |
An Ode Composed in Sleep | 95 |
ELIZABETH TOLLET 16941754 | 96 |
On a Deaths Head | 98 |
From Virgil | 99 |
KE 72 | 100 |
74 | 101 |
MARY DAVYS 16741732 | 102 |
75 | 103 |
ARABELLA MORETON after 1690before 1741 | 105 |
77 | 106 |
78 | 109 |
MEHETABEL WRIGHT née WESLEY 16971750 11Ο | 110 |
Address to her Husband III | 111 |
80 | 113 |
Wedlock A Satire | 114 |
81 | 115 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 116 |
MARY BARBER c 16901757 | 118 |
Written for My Son at His First Putting on Breeches | 120 |
An Unanswerable Apology for the Rich | 121 |
The Conclusion of a Letter to the Rev Mr C | 122 |
Stella and Flavia | 124 |
To Mrs FrancesArabella Kelly | 125 |
On seeing an Officers Widow distracted | 126 |
from To a Lady | 127 |
MISS W | 129 |
The Gentlemans Study In Answer to The Ladys DressingRoom | 130 |
ELIZABETH BOYD fl 172745 | 134 |
On the Death of an Infant of five Days old | 135 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 136 |
Memory a Poem | 138 |
Sorrow | 140 |
JEAN ADAMS 171065 | 141 |
A Dream or the Type of the Rising Sun | 142 |
On the Phoenix | 143 |
To the Muse | 145 |
On being charged with Writing Incorrectly | 146 |
A Letter to my Love All alone past 12 in the Dumps | 147 |
To my Love | 148 |
ANNE INGRAM VISCOUNTESS IRWIN née HOWARD later DOUGLAS c 16961764 | 149 |
from An Epistle to Mr Pope | 150 |
MARY CHANDLER 16871745 | 151 |
My Own Epitaph | 152 |
A True Tale | 153 |
MARY JONES 170778 | 155 |
An Epistle to Lady Bowyer | 156 |
The Lass of the Hill | 160 |
Stellas Epitaph | 161 |
Epistle from Fern Hill | 163 |
ELIZABETH CARTER 17171806 | 165 |
On the Death of Mrs Rowe | 167 |
A Dialogue | 168 |
I12 Ode to Wisdom | 169 |
MARY COLLIER 1690?c 1762 | 171 |
from The Womans Labour An Epistle to Mr Stephen Duck | 172 |
SARAH DIXON A 16721765 | 174 |
To Strephon | 175 |
The Returned Heart | 177 |
Lines Occasioned by the Burning of Some Letters | 178 |
ELIZABETH FRANCES AMHERST later THOMAS | 179 |
c 171679 179 120 A Prize Riddle on Herself when 24 | 180 |
The Welford Wedding | 181 |
From a Young Woman to an Old Officer who Courted her | 183 |
Verses designed to be Sent to Mr Adams | 184 |
ANNABELLA BLOUNT née GUISE fl 170041 | 185 |
A Cure for Poetry | 186 |
CHARLOTTE BRERETON b c 1720 | 188 |
FRANCES GREVILLE née MACARTNEY c 172489 | 190 |
Miss Fanny Macartney to Miss Peggly Banks | 191 |
A Prayer for Indifference | 192 |
MARY LEAPOR 172246 | 194 |
The Headache To Aurelia | 195 |
Strephon to Celia A Modern LoveLetter | 197 |
Soto A Character | 198 |
Man the Monarch | 202 |
from An Epistle to Artemisia | 204 |
Advice to Sophronia | 206 |
An Essay on Woman | 207 |
The Epistle of Deborah Dough | 209 |
from Crumble Hall | 210 |
Upon her Play being returned to her | 211 |
The Visit | 212 |
from Miras Picture A Pastoral | 213 |
Miras Will | 214 |
An Epistle to a Lady | 215 |
ELIZABETH TEFT b 1723 | 217 |
On Viewing Herself in a Glass | 218 |
On SnuffTaking | 219 |
A Song | 222 |
HENRIETTA KNIGHT née ST JOHN LADY LUXBOROUGH 16991756 | 223 |
Written in a tempestuous Night 1748 | 224 |
The Bullfinch in Town | 225 |
A Mirror for Detractors Addressed to a Friend | 226 |
Advice to a Young Lady lately married | 230 |
from A Letter to a Lady in London | 233 |
CATHERINE JEMMAT née YEO 171466 | 234 |
The Rural Lass | 235 |
To Stella | 237 |
ANNA WILLIAMS 170683 | 240 |
Verses to Mr Richardson on Sir Charles Grandison | 241 |
The Nunnery | 242 |
ANONYMOUS OPHELIA | 244 |
CLARA REEVE 17291807 | 247 |
from To my Friend Mrs | 248 |
A Character | 249 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 251 |
MARY LATTER 1722?77 | 253 |
from Soliloquies on Temporal Indigence | 255 |
MARY WHATELEY later DARWALL 17381825 | 256 |
58 | 257 |
Ode to Truth | 258 |
59 | 259 |
The Vanity of External Accomplishments | 260 |
On the Authors Husband Desiring her to Write Some Verses | 261 |
ALISON COCKBURN née RUTHERFORD 171394 | 262 |
The Flowers of the Forest | 263 |
JANE ELLIOT 17271805 | 264 |
The Flowers of the Forest | 265 |
Address to a Bachelor on a Delicate Occasion | 274 |
from Letter to a Sister | 275 |
LADY ANNE LINDSAY later BARNARD 17501825 | 276 |
Auld Robin Gray | 277 |
SUSANNA BLAMIRE 174794 | 278 |
Epistle to her Friends at Gartmore | 279 |
from Stoklewath or The Cumbrian Village | 283 |
Written on a Gloomy Day in Sickness | 287 |
Ive Gotten a Rock Ive Gotten a Reel | 288 |
When Home We Return | 289 |
The Siller Croun | 290 |
Auld Robin Forbes | 292 |
O Jenny Dear | 293 |
ANNE PENNY née HUGHES formerly CHRISTIAN | 294 |
192 Odes Sung in Commemoration of the Marine Society | 295 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 296 |
The Visit | 297 |
ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD née AIKIN 17431825 | 299 |
The Mouses Petition to Doctor Priestley | 302 |
Tomorrow | 304 |
The Rights of Woman | 305 |
To the Poor | 306 |
To a Little Invisible Being | 307 |
WashingDay | 308 |
To Mr S T Coleridge | 310 |
ANNA SEWARD 17421809 | 311 |
Sonnet To Honora Sneyd | 313 |
Verses Inviting Stella to Tea on the Public FastDay | 314 |
Sonnet December Morning | 315 |
Sonnet To Colebrook Dale | 316 |
Sonnet To the Poppy | 318 |
An Old Cats Dying Soliloquy | 319 |
MARY SCOTT later TAYLOR 1752?93 | 320 |
from The Female Advocate | 321 |
ANONYMOUS A FEMALE HAND | 322 |
HANNAH MORE 17451833 | 323 |
from Epilogue to The Search after Happiness | 325 |
Inscription in a Beautiful Retreat called Fairy Bower | 326 |
A Poetical Epistle | 328 |
Or Conversation | 329 |
from Slavery A Poem | 330 |
Patient Joe or The Newcastle Collier | 331 |
from The GinShop or A Peep into Prison | 334 |
ANONYMOUS | 336 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 338 |
On meeting Esq in St Jamess Park | 339 |
LADY SOPHIA BURRELL née RAYMOND later CLAY 1750?1802 340 224 from Verses to a Lady | 340 |
The Picture of a Fine Gentleman | 343 |
The School for Satire | 344 |
MARY SAVAGE fl 176377 | 345 |
Letter to Miss E B at Bath | 346 |
from Letter to Miss E B on Marriage | 348 |
To a SchoolBoy at Eton Yes and No | 349 |
The Disaster | 351 |
ANNE WILSON A 1778 | 354 |
FRANCES BURNEY later DARBLAY 17521840 | 355 |
To Charles Burney | 356 |
ANN MURRY c 1755after 1816 | 357 |
ANN THOMAS fl 178495 | 361 |
ANNE HUNTER née HOME 17421821 | 363 |
North American Death Song | 364 |
CHARLOTTE SMITH née TURNER 17491806 | 365 |
Sonnet Written at the Close of Spring | 367 |
ThirtyEight | 368 |
A Poem | 370 |
Fragment Descriptive of the Miseries of War | 371 |
Sonnet On being Cautioned against Walking on an Headland | 372 |
JANE CAVE later WINSCOM c 17541813 | 373 |
A Poem for Children | 374 |
An Elegy on a Maiden Name | 376 |
from The HeadAche Or An Ode to Health | 377 |
JANE WEST née ILIFFE 17581852 | 379 |
from To a Friend on her Marriage | 380 |
To the Hon Mrs Clockayne | 382 |
HANNAH COWLEY née PARKHOUSE 17431809 | 385 |
An Elegiac Ballad | 386 |
Departed Youth | 387 |
Blank Verse Written on the Sea Shore | 388 |
HESTER LYNCH PIOZZI née SALUSBURY formerly THRALE 17411821 | 389 |
An Ode to Society | 390 |
ANN YEARSLEY née CROMARTIE 17521806 | 392 |
On Mrs Montagu | 395 |
from Remonstrance in the Platonic Shade | 397 |
from To Mira On the Care of her Infant | 398 |
Familiar Poem from Nisa to Fulvia of the Vale | 399 |
ELIZABETH MOODY née GREENLY 17371814 | 401 |
Dr Johnsons Ghost | 402 |
To a Gentleman Who Invited Me to Go AFishing | 404 |
The Housewifes Prayer To Economy | 405 |
Sappho Burns her Books and Cultivates the Culinary Arts | 406 |
HANNAH WALLIS A 1787 | 407 |
To Mrs on the Death of her Husband | 408 |
The Females Lamentations or The Village in Mourning | 409 |
To a Sick Friend | 412 |
HELEN MARIA WILLIAMS 1761?1827 | 413 |
Sonnet on the Mountain Daisy by Mr Burns | 414 |
Elegy on a Young Thrush | 415 |
To Dr Moore in Answer to a Poetical Epistle | 416 |
On the Death of the Rev Dr Kippis | 418 |
HELEN LEIGH fl 1788 | 420 |
ELIZABETH HANDS fl 1789 | 422 |
On an Unsociable Family | 424 |
A Poem On the Supposition of an Advertisement of a Volume of Poems by a ServantMaid | 425 |
A Poem on the Supposition of the Book having been Published and Read | 427 |
JOANNA BAILLIE 17621851 | 429 |
from A Winter Day | 430 |
from A Summer Day | 432 |
The Ghost of Edward | 435 |
A Reverie | 438 |
from An Address to the Muses | 440 |
A Mother to her Waking Infant | 442 |
A Child to his Sick Grandfather | 443 |
The Horse and his Rider | 444 |
REBEKAH CARMICHAEL later HAY fl 17901806 | 445 |
A Young Lasss Soliloquy | 446 |
ANN FRANCIS née GITTINS 17381800 | 447 |
ANN RADCLIFFE née WARD 17641823 | 448 |
Song of a Spirit | 449 |
MARIA b 1771? and HARRIET b 1774? FALCONAR | 451 |
A Prefatory Epistle to the Reviewers | 452 |
JANET LITTLE later RICHMOND 17591813 | 453 |
Given to a Lady Who Asked me to Write a Poem | 454 |
ELLEN TAYLOR f 1792 | 455 |
Written by the Barrow side where she was sent to wash Linen | 456 |
HENRIETTA ONEILL née BOYLE 175893 | 457 |
Ode to the Poppy | 458 |
Written on Seeing her Two Sons at Play | 459 |
MARY LOCKE later MISTER fl 17861816 | 460 |
Sonnet | 461 |
Instructions for the Mob in England | 462 |
The ChimneySweepers Complaint | 463 |
Written in Ireland | 464 |
Modern Manners | 465 |
A Receipt for Writing a Novel | 466 |
MARY ROBINSON née DARBY 17581800 | 468 |
Stanzas Written between Dover and Calais | 471 |
Londons Summer Morning | 472 |
January 1795 | 474 |
Stanzas | 475 |
The BirthDay | 476 |
The Haunted Beach | 478 |
MARIA LOGAN fl 1793 | 480 |
ISABELLA KELLY née FORDYCE later HEDGELAND | 481 |
c 1759?1857 481 309 To an Unborn Infant | 482 |
ANNE BATTEN CRISTALL 17691848 | 484 |
Morning Rosamonde | 485 |
Evening Gertrude | 486 |
A Fragment The Blind Man | 490 |
Song | 491 |
ANNABELLA PLUMPTRE 17611838 | 492 |
from Ode to Moderation | 493 |
ANONYMOUS ELIZA | 495 |
from A Tour to the Glaciers of Savoy | 496 |
MATILDA BETHAM 17761852 | 499 |
In a Letter to A R C | 500 |
Written on WhitsunMonday 1795 | 501 |
The Power of Women | 502 |
ANNA SAWYER fl 17941801 | 503 |
Sunday Schools | 505 |
ANONYMOUS A LADY | 506 |
Sources and Notes | 507 |
62 | 516 |
63 | 517 |
65 | 520 |
526 | |
531 | |
533 | |
534 | |
537 | |
544 | |
550 | |
553 | |
Common terms and phrases
admired Anna Seward Anne appeared beauty bless breast brother Charlotte Smith charms cheerful Constantia Grierson Countess cried daughter dear death dedicated died dress e'er early edition Elizabeth Elizabeth Carter Elizabeth Rowe eyes fair fame fate father fear female Gentleman's Magazine grace heart heaven Helen Maria Williams hope Horace Walpole husband Jane Brereton John John Duncombe Johnson Lady Laetitia Pilkington later learned letter literary lived London Lord lover maid married Mary mind Miscellany mother Muse ne'er née never night o'er pain passion pleasure Poems poet poetic poetry poor praise pride published Ralph Griffiths Samuel Johnson Samuel Richardson Seward sighs sister smile soft Sonnet soul subscribers subscription sweet tear thee thou thought trembling verse vols Whilst wife William William Shenstone woman women wretched write wrote young youth