{"id":2485,"date":"2019-05-04T14:40:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T14:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/142.150.46.75\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2019-05-04T14:41:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T14:41:21","slug":"to-the-lady-newcastle-on-her-book-of-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485","title":{"rendered":"To the Lady Newcastle, on Her Book of Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"<span id='easy-footnote-1-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-1-2485' title='The poem is by her husband William Cavendish. It is rarely found in 1653 copies; see the Textual Introduction on this site for more on the history of this poem. While in the first edition of 1653 this poem is addressed to \u201cTo the Lady Newcastle\u201d (i.e., Margaret Cavendish), her title changes in the title of each subsequent version: in 1664, the poem is addressed to \u201cTHE LADY MARCHIONESS OF NEWCASTLE,\u201d and in 1668, to \u201cHER GRACE THE Duchess of Newcastle.\u201d '><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<p>I saw your poems, and then wished them mine,<br \/>\nReading the richer dressings of each line;<br \/>\nYour newborn,<span id='easy-footnote-2-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-2-2485' title='Newborn] New-borne, 1653. Though this spelling difference is likely accidental, we added the textual note in case there is a pun at stake, where her poems are not just newly born, but, perhaps, newly carried. '><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> sublime fancies\u2014and such store\u2014<br \/>\nMay make our poets blush, and write no more.<br \/>\nNay, Spenser\u2019s ghost will haunt you in the night,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 5<br \/>\nAnd Jonson rise, full fraught with venom\u2019s spite;<br \/>\nFletcher and Beaumont, troubled in their graves,<br \/>\nLook out some deeper and forgotten caves;<br \/>\nAnd gentle Shakespeare weeping, since he must,<br \/>\nAt best, be buried, now, in Chaucer\u2019s dust.<span id='easy-footnote-3-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-3-2485' title='William compares his wife\u2019s poetry to that of Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, and Geoffrey Chaucer, some of the most famous poets and playwrights by the seventeenth century. At this point, all but Shakespeare were honored with burial in Westminster Abbey, in what is now called the \u201cPoet\u2019s Corner\u201d of the Abbey. '><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10<br \/>\nThus dark oblivion covers their each name,<br \/>\nSince you have robbed them of their glorious fame.<br \/>\nSuch metaphors, such allegories fit,<br \/>\nYour judgment weighing out your fresher wit,<br \/>\nBy similizing to the life so like.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15<br \/>\nYour fancy\u2019s pencil\u2019s far beyond van Dyck,<span id='easy-footnote-4-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-4-2485' title='van Dyck is the Flemish painter, especially of portraits, Anthony van Dyck, who worked in the English court in the 1630s. His name is spelled \u201cVandike\u201d in the original printings, making the rhyme more apparent. '><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><br \/>\nDrawing all things to all things, at your pleasure,<br \/>\nWhich shows, your storehouse is the Muses\u2019 treasure,<br \/>\nYour head the limbeck,<span id='easy-footnote-5-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-5-2485' title=' The word \u201climbeck\u201d is an archaic form of alembic, an apparatus used for distilling, creating (in this case) the \u201cquintessence\u201d or highly refine essence of wit. '><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> where the Muses sit,<br \/>\nDistilling there the quintessence of wit,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20<br \/>\nSpirits of fancy, essences so sweet,<br \/>\nIn your just numbers walk on velvet feet.<span id='easy-footnote-6-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-6-2485' title='Both numbers and feet are puns for the metrical feet of poetry; her imaginative creations here are given gentle steps on soft (presumably even) \u201cfeet.\u201d '><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span><br \/>\nI thought to praise you, but, alas! My way<br \/>\nTo yours, is night unto a glorious day.<\/p>\n<p>W. NEWCASTLE<span id='easy-footnote-7-2485' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485#easy-footnote-bottom-7-2485' title='i.e., William Cavendish, Marquis and then Duke of Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish\u2019s husband. '><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I saw your poems, and then wished them mine, Reading the richer dressings of each line; Your newborn, sublime fancies\u2014and such store\u2014 May make our poets blush, and write no more. Nay, Spenser\u2019s ghost will haunt you in the night,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 5 And Jonson rise, full fraught with venom\u2019s spite; Fletcher and Beaumont, troubled &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/?p=2485\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">To the Lady Newcastle, on Her Book of Poems<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prefatory-material-section"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2485"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2488,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions\/2488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library2.utm.utoronto.ca\/poemsandfancies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}