Tag Archives: Anne Finch

Anne Finch, “Man’s Injustice towards Providence”

ANNE FINCH

“Man’s Injustice towards Providence”

A Thriving Merchant, who no Loss sustain’d,
In little time a mighty Fortune gain’d.
No Pyrate seiz’d his still returning Freight;
Nor foundring Vessel sunk with its own Weight:
No Ruin enter’d through dissever’d Planks;                                                                         5
No Wreck at Sea, nor in the Publick Banks.
Aloft he sails, above the Reach of Chance,
And do’s in Pride, as fast as Wealth, advance.
His Wife too, had her Town and Country-Seat,
And rich in Purse, concludes her Person Great.                                                               10
A Duchess wears not so much Gold and Lace;
Then ’tis with Her an undisputed Case,
The finest Petticoat must take the Place.
Her Rooms, anew at ev’ry Christ’ning drest,
Put down the Court, and vex the City-Guest.                                                                    15
Grinning Malottos in true Ermin stare;
The best Japan, and clearest China Ware
Are but as common Delft and English Laquar there.
No Luxury’s by either unenjoy’d,
Or cost withheld, tho’ awkwardly employ’d.                                                                      20
How comes this Wealth? a Country Friend demands,
Who scarce cou’d live on Product of his Lands.
How is it that, when Trading is so bad
That some are Broke, and some with Fears run Mad,
You can in better State yourself maintain,                                                                         25
And your Effects still unimpair’d remain!
My Industry, he cries, is all the Cause;
Sometimes I interlope, and slight the Laws:
I wiser Measures, than my Neighbours, take,
And better speed, who better Bargains make.                                                                 30
I knew, the Smyrna-Fleet wou’d fall a Prey,
And therefore sent no Vessel out that way:
My busy Factors prudently I chuse,
And in streight Bonds their Friends and Kindred noose:
At Home, I to the Publick Sums advance,                                                                          35
Whilst, under-hand in Fee with hostile France,
I care not for your Tourvills, or Du-Barts,
No more than for the Rocks, and Shelves in Charts:
My own sufficiency creates my Gain,
Rais’d, and secur’d by this unfailing Brain.                                                                         40
This idle Vaunt had scarcely past his Lips,
When Tydings came, his ill-provided Ships
Some thro’ the want of Skill, and some of Care,
Were lost, or back return’d without their Fare.
From bad to worse, each Day his State declin’d,                                                               45
’Till leaving Town, and Wife, and Debts behind,
To his Acquaintance at the Rural Seat
He Sculks, and humbly sues for a Retreat.
Whence comes this Change, has Wisdom left that Head,
(His Friend demands) where such right Schemes were bred?                                          50
What Phrenzy, what Delirium mars the Scull,
Which fill’d the Chests, and was it self so full?
Here interrupting, sadly he Reply’d,
In Me’s no Change, but Fate must all Things guide;
To Providence I attribute my Loss.                                                                                           55

Vain-glorious Man do’s thus the Praise engross,
When Prosp’rous Days around him spread their Beams:
But, if revolv’d to opposite Extreams,
Still his own Sence he fondly will prefer,
And Providence, not He, in his Affairs must Err!                                                                         60

 NOTES:

6 Publick Banks The Bank of England was founded in 1694 primarily to fund England’s war with France.  “The original Royal Charter of 1694, granted by King William and Queen Mary, explained that the Bank was founded to ‘promote the public Good and Benefit of our People’” (www.bankofengland.co.uk).

16 Malottos Variation of “mulattoes;” persons “of mixed black and white ancestry” (OED); Ermin Garment or accessory made from the fur of a stoat (OED).

17 Japan “A varnish of exceptional hardness, which originally came from Japan” (OED); China Ware Dishes, tableware, or other goods of Chinese origin (OED).

18 Delft Pottery glazed with tin, “decorated with blue designs on a white background…primarily produced in Delft, Holland” (OED).

31 Smyrna-Fleet Refers to France’s ambush of the Smyrna convoy in 1693 during War of the Grand Alliance, or Nine Years’ War, resulting in the loss of many merchant ships; or possibly to the English attack in 1672 on a Dutch fleet in the same region, instigating the third Anglo-Dutch war (Britannica; Maritime Stepping Stones).

33 Factors “An agent who buys and sells, or transacts other business, on behalf of another person or company” (OED).

34 noose Here a verb, “to bind or constrain” (OED).

37 Tourvills Anne-Hilarion de Contentin, Comte de Tourville (1642-1701), a French admiral under King Louis XIV. He commanded many battles in France’s wars against the Dutch, English, and other allied nations, including the attack on the Smyrna convoy (Britannica); Du-Barts Jean Bart (1650-1702), a French privateer and naval officer under Louis XIV. He served as a lieutenant in the War of the Grand Alliance and was made a member of the nobility in 1696 (Britannica).

38 charts A shortening of “sea-chart,” a map used by ship navigators (OED).

41 Vaunt “A boasting statement or brag” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1714), pp. 208-211. [HathiTrust]

Edited by Sabrina George

Anne Finch, “Cupid and Folly”

ANNE FINCH

“Cupid and Folly”
Imitated from the FRENCH

Cupid, ere depriv’d of Sight,
Young and apt for all Delight,
Met with Folly on the way,
As Idle, and as fond of Play.
In gay Sports the time they pass;                                                                   5
Now run, now wrestle on the Grass;
Their painted Wings then nimbly ply,
And ev’ry way for Mast’ry try:
‘Till a Contest do’s arise,
Who has won th’ appointed Prize.                                                                 10
Gentle Love refers the Case
To the next, that comes in Place;
Trusting to his flatt’ring Wiles,
And softens the Dispute with Smiles.
But Folly, who no Temper knows,                                                                  15
Words pursues with hotter Blows:
‘Till the Eyes of Love were lost,
Which has such Pain to Mortals cost.
Venus hears his mournful Crys,
And repeats ‘em, in the Skys,                                                                          20
To Jupiter in Council set,
With Peers for the Occasion met;
In her Arms the Boy she bears,
Bathing him in falling Tears;
And whilst his want of Eyes is shown,                                                            25
Secures the Judges by her Own.
Folly to the Board must come,
And hear the Tryal and the Doom;
Which Cytherea loudly prays
May be as heavy as the Case:                                                                          30
Which, when All was justly weigh’d,
Cupid’s Wings now useless made,
That a Staff, his Feet must guide,
Which wou’d still be apt to slide;
This Decree at last was read,                                                                            35
That Love by Folly shou’d be lead.

NOTES:

1 Cupid “Roman god of love” (Britannica), often rendered in iconography as blindfolded or blind.

3 Folly “Foolishness…unwise conduct” (OED).

19 Venus Roman goddess of love, mother of Cupid (Britannica).

21 Jupiter Roman god of the sky (Britannica).

29 Cytherea Another name for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1714), pp. 135-136. [HathiTrust]

 Edited by Hannah Heiden

Anne Finch, “Jupiter and the Farmer”

    ANNE FINCH

“Jupiter and the Farmer”

 

When Poets gave their God in Crete a Birth,
Then Jupiter held Traffick with the Earth,
And had a Farm to Lett: the Fine was high,
For much the Treas’ry wanted a Supply,
By Danae’s wealthy Show’r exhausted quite, and dry.                          5
But Merc’ry, who as Steward kept the Court,
So rack’d the Rent, that all who made Resort
Unsatisfy’d return’d, nor could agree
To use the Lands, or pay his secret Fee;
’Till one poor Clown (thought subt’ler than the rest,                             10
Thro’ various Projects rolling in his Breast)
Consents to take it, if at his Desire
All Weathers tow’rds his Harvest may conspire;
The Frost to kill the Worm, the brooding Snow,
The filling Rains may come, and Phoebus glow.                                      15
The Terms accepted, sign’d and seal’d the Lease,
His Neighbours Grounds afford their due Encrease
The Care of Heav’n; the Owner’s Cares may cease.
Whilst the new Tenant, anxious in his Mind,
Now asks a Show’r, now craves a rustling Wind                                      20
To raise what That had lodg’d, that he the Sheaves may bind.
The Sun, th’o’er-shadowing Clouds, the moistning Dews
He with such Contrariety does chuse;
So often and so oddly shifts the Scene,
Whilst others Load, he scarce has what to Glean.                                    25

O Jupiter! with Famine pinch’d he cries,
No more will I direct th’ unerring Skies;
No more my Substance on a Project lay,
No more a sullen Doubt I will be betray,
Let me but live to Reap, do Thou appoint the way.                                 30

NOTES:

Crete  Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean; classical myth holds that the infant Jupiter was sequestered on Crete in a cave to protect him from being devoured by his father, Cronus, King of the Titans (OCD).

2   Jupiter  “Roman God of the sky who also went by the name, Jove” (Britannica).

3  Fine  “A sum of money paid by a tenant on the commencement of a tenancy in order that [the] rent remain small or nominal” (OED).

Danae’s wealthy show’r  Zeus appeared to Danae in the form of a golden shower, impregnated her, and she gave birth to Perseus (OCD).

6  Merc’ry  “An ancient Roman God. He is the son of Jupiter and Maia” (OED); Steward  “One who manages the affairs of an estate on behalf of his employer” (OED).

7  rack’d  “To increase…by an excessive amount” (OED).

10  Clown  “A countryman, rustic” (OED).

15  Phoebus  “A nickname for Apollo. The name Phoebus was used in discussion related to the sun” (OCD).

21  Sheaves  “Large bundle[s] in which it is usual to bind cereal plants after reaping” (OED).

25  Glean  “To gather or pick up (ears of corn or other produce) after reaping” (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1714), pp. 49-51.  [Google Books]

 Edited by Andrea Cruz

Anne Finch, “The Lyon and the Gnat”

ANNE FINCH

“The Lyon and the Gnat”

 

To the still Covert of a Wood,
About the prime of Day,
A Lyon, satiated with Food,
With stately Pace, and sullen Mood,
Now took his lazy way.                                                            5

To Rest he there himself compos’d,
And in his Mind revolv’d,
How Great a Person it enclos’d,
How free from Danger he repos’d,
Though now in Ease dissolv’d!                                               10

Who Guard, nor Centinel did need,
Despising as a Jest
All whom the Forest else did feed,
As Creatures of an abject Breed,
Who durst not him molest.                                                     15

But in the Air a Sound he heard,
That gave him some dislike;
At which he shook his grisly Beard,
Enough to make the Woods affeard,
And stretch’d his Paw to strike.                                                20

When on his lifted Nose there fell
A Creature, slight of Wing,
Who neither fear’d his Grin, nor Yell,
Nor Strength, that in his Jaws did dwell,
But gores him with her Sting.                                                    25

Transported with th’ Affront and Pain,
He terribly exclaims,
Protesting, if it comes again,
Its guilty Blood the Grass shall stain,
And to surprize it aims.                                                               30

The scoffing Gnat now laugh’d aloud,
And bids him upwards view
The Jupiter within the Cloud,
That humbl’d him, who was so proud,
And his sharp Thunder threw.                                                  35

That Taunt no Lyon’s Heart cou’d bear;
And now much more he raves,
Whilst this new Perseus in the Air
Do’s War and Strife again declare,
And all his Terrour braves.                                                        40

Upon his haughty Neck she rides,
Then on his lashing Tail;
(Which need not now provoke his Sides)
Where she her slender Weapon guides,
And makes all Patience fail.                                                      45

A Truce at length he must propose,
The Terms to be her Own;
Who likewise Rest and Quiet chose,
Contented now her Life to close
When she’d such Triumph known.                                          50

You mighty Men, who meaner ones despise,
Learn from this Fable to become more Wise;
You see the Lyon may be vext with Flies.

NOTES:

Title  Originally an Aesop’s fable in which the moral is that no matter one’s station in life, they can always be undone.

1  Covert  “A place which gives shelter to wild animals or game” (OED).

prime of Day  “The early morning; the period between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a. m.” (OED).

11  Centinel  A guard similar to a soldier (OED).

15  durst  “Dared” (OED).

19  affeard  “Afraid” (OED).

33  Jupiter  “The supreme  deity of the ancient Romans…whose weapon was the thunderbolt” (OED).

38  Perseus  Greek demigod, slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and other monsters (Oxford Classical Dictionary).

53  vext  Vexed: Irritated or afflicted (OED).

SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1714), pp. 254-57.  [Google Books]

Edited by Lily Kratzer

Jonathan Swift, “Apollo Outwitted”

JONATHAN SWIFT

“Apollo Outwitted”

To the Honourable Mrs. FINCH, under her Name of Ardelia.
Written, 1709.

PHOEBUS now shortning every Shade,
Up to the Northern Tropick came,
And thence Beheld a Lovely Maid
Attending on a Royal Dame.

THE God laid down his Feeble Rays,                                                  5
Then lighted from his Glitt’ring Coach,
But fenc’d his Head with his own Bays
Before he durst the Nymph approach.

UNDER those Sacred Leaves, Secure
From common Lightning of the Skies,                                        10
He fondly thought he might endure
The Flashes of Ardelia’s Eyes.

THE Nymph who oft had read in Books,
Of that Bright God whom Bards invoke,
Soon knew Apollo by his looks,                                                             15
And Guest his Business e’er he Spoke.

HE in the old Celestial Cant,
Confest his Flame, and Swore by Styx,
What e’er she would desire, to Grant,
But Wise Ardelia knew his Tricks.                                                    20

OVID had warn’d her to beware,
Of Stroling Gods, whose usual Trade is,
Under pretence of Taking Air,
To Pick up Sublunary Ladies.

HOWE’ER she gave no flat Denial,                                                            25
As having Malice in her Heart,
And was resolv’d upon a Tryal,
To Cheat the God in his own Art.

HEAR my Request the Virgin said
Let which I please of all the Nine                                                       30
Attend when e’er I want their Aid,
Obey my Call, and only mine.

BY Vow Oblig’d, By Passion led,
The God could not refuse her Prayer;
He wav’d his Wreath Thrice o’er her Head,                                               35
Thrice mutter’d something to the Air.

AND now he thought to Seize his due,
But she the Charm already try’d,
Thalia heard the Call and Flew
To wait at Bright Ardelia’s Side.                                                             40

ON sight of this Celestial Prude,
Apollo thought it vain to stay,
Nor in her Presence durst be Rude,
But made his Leg and went away.

HE hop’d to find some lucky Hour,                                                               45
When on their Queen the Muses wait;
But Pallas owns Ardelia’s Power,
For Vows Divine are kept by Fate.

THEN full of Rage Apollo Spoke,
Deceitful Nymph I see thy Art,                                                               50
And tho’ I can’t my gift revoke,
I’ll disappoint its Nobler Part.

LET Stubborn Pride Possess thee long,
And be thou Negligent of Fame,
With ev’ry Muse to Grace thy Song,                                                               55
May’st thou despise a Poets Name.

OF Modest Poets thou be first,
To silent Shades repeat thy Verse,
Till Fame and Eccho almost burst,
Yet hardly dare one Line Rehearse.                                                        60

AND last, my Vengeance to Compleat,
May you Descend to take Renown,
Prevail’d on by the Thing you hate,
A [Whig] and one that wears a Gown.

NOTES:

Dedication  Ardelia  Anne Finch’s poetical name for herself.

1  PHOEBUS  “[Ancient Greek name of Apollo] god of light, poetry and music” (OED).

2  Northern Tropick  “Tropic of Cancer,” which includes Britain (Britannica).

4  Royal Dame  Finch was appointed Maid of Honour to Mary of Modena in 1682.  Mary became queen in 1685 when her husband ascended the throne as James II, though Finch had resigned her court position in 1684 after marrying.

7  Bays  “Leaves or sprigs of this tree, esp. as woven into a wreath or garland to reward a conqueror or poet; hence figurative the fame and repute attained by these” (OED).

14  Bards  “A lyric or epic poet, a ‘singer’; a poet generally” (OED).

18  Styx  “A river of the lower world or Hades, over which the shades of the departed were ferried by Charon, and by which the gods swore their most solemn oaths” (OED).

21  OVID  Roman poet (43BC-17AD), famous for Metamorphoses.

30  all the Nine  The muses.

39  Thalia  “The eighth of the muses, presiding over comedy and idyllic poetry” (OED).

47  Pallas  Epithet for Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war.

64  [Whig]  “A person who supported the exclusion of James, Duke of York (later James II), from the succession to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland on account of his Roman Catholicism during the late 1670s and 1680s” (OED); added in later printings of the poem; one that wears a Gown  Swift himself.

SOURCE:  Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (London, 1711), pp. 399–403.  [Google Books]

Edited by Jake Araiza

 

Anne Finch, “The Cautious Lovers”

ANNE FINCH

“The Cautious Lovers”

 

Silvia, let’s from the Croud retire;
For, What to you and me
(Who but each other do desire)
Is all that here we see?

Apart we’ll live, tho’ not alone;                                                            5
For, who alone can call
Those, who in Desarts live with One,
If in that One they’ve All?

The World a vast Meander is,
Where Hearts confus’dly stray;                                                   10
Where Few do hit, whilst Thousands miss
The happy mutual Way:

Where Hands are by stern Parents ty’d
Who oft, in Cupid’s Scorn,
Do for the widow’d State provide,                                                       15
Before that Love is born:

Where some too soon themselves misplace;
Then in Another find
The only Temper, Wit, or Face,
That cou’d affect their Mind.                                                         20

Others (but oh! avert that Fate!)
A well-chose Object change:
Fly, Silvia, fly, ere ‘tis too late;
Fall’n Nature’s prone to range.

And, tho’ in heat of Love we swear                                                      25
More than perform we can;
No Goddess You, but Woman are,
And I no more than Man.

Th’ impatient Silvia heard thus long;
Then with a Smile reply’d:                                                               30
Those Bands cou’d ne’er be very strong,
Which Accidents divide.

Who e’er was mov’d yet to go down,
By such o’er-cautious Fear;
Or for one Lover left the Town,                                                              35
Who might have Numbers here?

Your Heart, ‘tis true, is worth them all,
And still preferr’d the first;
But since confess’d so apt to fall,
‘Tis good to fear the worst.                                                              40

In ancient History we meet
A flying Nymph betray’d
Who, had she kept in fruitful Crete,
New Conquest might have made.

And sure, as on the Beach she stood,                                                    45
To view the parting Sails;
She curs’d her self, more than the Flood,
Or the conspiring Gales.

False Theseus, since thy Vows are broke,
May following Nymphs beware:                                                      50
Methinks I hear how thus she spoke,
And will not trust too far.

In Love, in Play, in Trade, in War
They best themselves acquit,
Who, tho’ their Int’rests shipwreckt are,                                                     55
Keep unreprov’d their Wit.

NOTES:

9 Meander “A winding course, like a labyrinth” (OED).

42 Nymph Poetical for woman in this context; an allusion to Ariadne, daughter of Minos and princess of Crete (Britannica).

43 Crete The largest island in Greece. Inhabited by the Minoans, a Bronze Age civilization, ruled by King Minos (Britannica).

45 Beach Refers to the shores of Naxos, the island where Ariadne was abandoned by her lover Theseus (Ancient History Encyclopedia).

48 Gales “A wind of considerable strength” (OED).

49 Theseus Athenian hero noteworthy for slaying the minotaur in the Cretan labyrinth with the help of Ariadne, who provided a yarn ball as aid for navigating the labyrinth (Ancient History Encyclopedia).

56 unreprov’d “Uncensured” (OED).

Source: Poems on Several Occasions (London 1714), pp. 118-122. [Google Books]

 Edited by Roland Shepherd

Elizabeth Tollet, “In Memory of the Countess of Winchelsea”

ELIZABETH TOLLET

In Memory of the Countess of Winchelsea”

 —Effugiunt avidos carmina sola rogos.  Ovid.

Sad Cypress and the Muses Tree
Shall shade Ardelia’s sacred Urn:
These with her Fame and Fate agree,
And ever live, and ever mourn.

While ev’ry Muse with vocal Breath                                           5
In moving Strains recites her Praise:
And there assumes the Cypress Wreath,
And on her Tomb resigns the Bays.

What Pow’r shall aid the Virgin Choir
To make her Worth and Virtue known?                          10
Who shall the Sculptor’s Art inspire
To write them on the lasting Stone?

The honour’d Streams of ancient Blood,
And Titles, are by Fortune giv’n:
But to be virtuous, wise, and good,                                        15
Derives a kindred Claim from Heav’n.

Virtue, and Wit in Courts admir’d,
The shining Pattern shall diffuse:
Nor, tho’ to private Life retir’d,
Are lost, but flourish with her Muse.                               20

Of those the Sister-Nine shall sing,
Yet with their Voice their Verse shall pass:
And Time shall sure Destruction bring
To wounded Stone, or molten Brass.

Tho’ Titles grace the stately Tomb,                                           25
Vain Monument of mortal Pride!
The Ruins of the mould’ring Dome
Its undistinguish’d Heap shall hide.

Wit, which outlasts the firmest Stone,
Shall, Phoenix-like, its life prolong;                                    30
No Verse can speak her but her own,
The Spleen must be her fun’ral Song.

NOTES:

Title Countess of Winchelsea The poet Anne Finch (1661-1720); she gained her title in 1712 when her husband, Heneage Finch, became the 5th Earl of Winchilsea.

Epigraph Effugiunt avidos carmina sola rogos “Only songs escape the greedy funeral pyres.” From Ovid’s “Elegy on the death of Tibullus,” Amores iii.9.

1 Cypress In ancient Greece, the cypress tree was associated with sorrow, and was often planted near graves to ward off evil spirits; Muses Tree The laurel tree, associated in ancient Greece with Apollo and the muses.

2 Ardelia Literary name or pseudonym used by Anne Finch; Sacred Urn Used to hold ashes.

21 Sister-Nine The nine muses. Goddesses of science, literature, and art.

27 mouldering Dome That is, the decaying tomb, or monument, that marks Finch’s grave.

30 Phoenix Mythological bird with the ability to resurrect. After the phoenix dies in a self-made fire, it is reborn and rises from its own ashes.

32 The Spleen An ode written by Anne Finch, first published in 1701.

 Source: Poems on Several Occasions. With Anne Boleyn to King Henry VIII. An Epistle (London, 1755), pp. 49-50. [Google Books]

 Edited by Talia Uribe