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Revolution and Romanticism
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A facsimile reprint in the Revolution & Romanticism series chosen and introduced by Jonathan Wordsworth ISBN 1 85477 196 5 |
ANN YEARSLEY Poems on Various Subjects 1787 Ann Yearsley, 'the Bristol milkwoman', wrote poetry in moments snatched from her life as the wife of a labourer and mother of six. She was discovered and promoted by Hannah More, who organised the publication of her first book in 1785. But More’s ideas of patronage, and Yearsley’s self-respect, clashed, and clashed bitterly. Yearsley’s account of the quarrel is set out in her preface to this, her second book. She wished to live up to the public perception of her as a literary phenomenon, and she did so, producing further volumes of verse, a tragedy, and a novel, before her death in 1806. £55 $95 ‘Are you mad, Mrs Yearsley? or have you drank a glass too much? Who are your advisers? I am certain you have drank, or you would not talk to me in this manner.’ I replied, ‘Madam, you are very wrong to think I have drank. I am only anxious on my children’s account. Circumstances may change, ten or twenty years hence, when perhaps I am no more; and I only wish for a copy of the deed, as a little memorandum for my children; nor do I think the requisition unreasonable.’ |
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