Aphra Behn, born around 1640 and dead on 16 April 1689, occupies a singular position in English literary history: she was a successful Restoration playwright, a daring poet, an innovator in prose fiction, a political writer, and, most importantly for later generations, a woman who openly made writing her profession. Her precise origins remain uncertain, a fact that has invited both scholarly caution and romantic spec…
“I shall omit, for brevity, the many adventures that befell him in his youth.”
Neighbourhood:
LGBTQ+ Poets, Love Poets, Political Poets, Restoration Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Sensuality
Hannah More was born on 2 February 1745 at Fishponds, then a village near Bristol in Gloucestershire, and died on 7 September 1833 at Clifton, Bristol. During her long life she became, in succession and sometimes simultaneously, a schoolteacher, playwright, poet, essayist, novelist, religious writer, philanthropist, educational campaigner, abolitionist, and one of the most recognizable female public intellectuals in…
“Those who are pleased with flattery must be ignorant of their own merit.”
Neighbourhood:
Augustan Poets, Devotional Poets, Political Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Spirituality, Joy, Peace
