Milcah Martha Moore's book includes Hannah Griffitt's reflections on the poems of Elizabeth Carter. Elizabeth Carter's Poems On Several Occasions (1762) is probably the work that Griffitts was familiar with; it includes the following poem, on another female poet, Elizabeth Singer Rowe, who wrote on religious things and was enormously popular in North America as well as England during the C18. Here's the poem, from the 1825 edition of Carter's collected works (edited by her nephew):
Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, With a New Edition of Her Poems, Some of which Have Never Appeared Before; to which are Added, Some Miscellaneous Essays in Prose, Together with Her Notes on the Bible, ... By Montagu Pennington, Elisabeth CarterYour thoughts?
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I don't really know how to write this post without sounding like an apathetic jerk, but I'm going to try anyway. This poem seems really fake. I don't mean like, someone is trying to pass it off as the author's when really it's someone else's. I mean it sounds like the author is really overindulging the flattery of the departed. Every line is about how amazing Rowe's poetry was or how she could "warm the bosom with seraphic fire." I mean, I re-read this and was almost wondering if it was sarcasm just because the praise was being laid on so thick and extravagantly. The part of it I found most interesting comes at the end, but I can't tell if it's intentional or not. The final couplet:
"My justest pride, my best attempt for fame, / That joins my own to Philomela's name."
Which basically says "the only way I could become famous is to write a poem about her." So she does and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If it's intentional, it's ingenious. If it's not, then it's a very fortunate accident for the author.
This poem also contains the condemning 'you' found in Griffitts poem. The first two lines blame 'intrigue' for 'blacken[ing] the records of female wit'. This is an undefined identity, but it seems to be powerful in it's ability to take down the author. Also the "muse, for vices not her own accused" implies the idea of a culprit behind the 'fall' of the poet. She is blamed for vices not her own. It is also interesting to note that both of these poems promote the fact that the author's are no longer living. It is implied that both are in a better place, and can act as inspiration to the author's writing about it.
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