“The language of the heart is not confined to any particular situation or time.”

Expressing the lasting and broadly human reach of emotional poetry · Prefatory prose to Elegiac Sonnets

• Poetry
• Truth

“The indulgence with which the public has received these poems has encouraged the author to offer them again.”

Showing how readership sustained her continuing literary work · Preface to Elegiac Sonnets

• Fame
• Hope

“The greater part of the following poems were written during a period of considerable difficulty and distress.”

Linking poetic composition with hardship and emotional endurance · Preface to Elegiac Sonnets

• Despair
• Poetry

“The public has been so indulgent to the former editions of these poems.”

Acknowledging the unusual generosity of her readers · Preface to Elegiac Sonnets

• Fame
• Poetry

“The sonnet is perhaps the most difficult species of poetry.”

Reflecting on the formal difficulty and expressive possibilities of the sonnet · Preface to Elegiac Sonnets

• Art
• Poetry