Contemporary manuscript copy of a poem titled "To the Memories of Thomas Gilpin and John Hunt who died exiles in Virginia."
N.p.: n.d. [but presumably Philadelphia, c. 1778]. 66 lines, on 3 pp., folded sheet (247 x 198 mm). In an unknown hand, signed at the end “Fidefia.” Condition : folds and wrinkles. The text begins: “The feeling bosom mourns, the widow’s woe / And shares your anguish; in the afflictive blow / Nature & friendship, With united pwers / Would taste the bitter cup, to sweeten yours; But ah this stroke too deep, and must demand, / Superior strength, to nature’s feeble hand / And may this strength sufficient, be display’d, / Support in suffering; and your weakness aid; / Through the dark vale of woe, His care extend, / The orphan’s Father, & the widow’s friend…” Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817), who used the pen name Fidelia, was arguably the most-noted Quaker poetess of the late 18th century. The daughter of Philadelphia Mayor Thomas Griffitts, her poetry is marked for its wit and its harsh criticism. “The Revolutionary War brought out the satiric side to Griffitt’s pen … Her ridicule fell on Americans and British alike” (Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English, p. 293). It is unclear why this poem, which seems likely to be by Griffitts, is signed Fidefia, rather than Fidelia, but could perhaps simply be an error by the contemporay copyist.
Contemporary manuscript copy of a poem titled "To the Memories of Thomas Gilpin and John Hunt who died exiles in Virginia."
N.p.: n.d. [but presumably Philadelphia, c. 1778]. 66 lines, on 3 pp., folded sheet (247 x 198 mm). In an unknown hand, signed at the end “Fidefia.” Condition : folds and wrinkles. The text begins: “The feeling bosom mourns, the widow’s woe / And shares your anguish; in the afflictive blow / Nature & friendship, With united pwers / Would taste the bitter cup, to sweeten yours; But ah this stroke too deep, and must demand, / Superior strength, to nature’s feeble hand / And may this strength sufficient, be display’d, / Support in suffering; and your weakness aid; / Through the dark vale of woe, His care extend, / The orphan’s Father, & the widow’s friend…” Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817), who used the pen name Fidelia, was arguably the most-noted Quaker poetess of the late 18th century. The daughter of Philadelphia Mayor Thomas Griffitts, her poetry is marked for its wit and its harsh criticism. “The Revolutionary War brought out the satiric side to Griffitt’s pen … Her ridicule fell on Americans and British alike” (Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English, p. 293). It is unclear why this poem, which seems likely to be by Griffitts, is signed Fidefia, rather than Fidelia, but could perhaps simply be an error by the contemporay copyist.
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