Moral Song

Anne Kingsmill Finch 1661 – 1720 (Westminster)



Would we attain the happiest State,
   That is design'd us here;
No Joy a Rapture must create,
   No Grief beget Despair.
No Injury fierce Anger raise,
   No Honour tempt to Pride;
No vain Desires of empty Praise
   Must in the Soul abide.
No Charms of Youth, or Beauty move
   The constant, settl'd Breast:
Who leaves a Passage free to Love,
   Shall let in, all the rest.
In such a Heart soft Peace will live,
   Where none of these abound;
The greatest Blessing, Heav'n do's give,
   Or can on Earth be found.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
80

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACDEDEFGHGIJKJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 520
Words 93
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Anne Kingsmill Finch

Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (née Kingsmill), was an English poet and courtier. Finch's works often express a desire for respect as a female poet, lamenting her difficult position as a woman in the literary establishment and the court, while writing of "political ideology, religious orientation, and aesthetic sensibility". Her works also allude to other female authors of the time, such as Aphra Behn and Katherine Phillips. Through her commentary on the mental and spiritual equality of the genders and the importance of women fulfilling their potential as a moral duty to themselves and to society, she is regarded as one of the integral female poets of the Restoration Era. Finch died in Westminster in 1720 and was buried at her home at Eastwell, Kent.  more…

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