The Brahman (Emblem 44)

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The Brahman (Emblem 44)

Poem #109

Original Source

Hester Pulter, Poems breathed forth by the nobel Hadassas, University of Leeds Library, Brotherton Collection, MS Lt q 32

Versions

  • Facsimile of manuscript: Photographs provided by University of Leeds, Brotherton Collection

  • Transcription of manuscript: By Leah Knight and Wendy Wall.
  • Elemental edition: By Leah Knight and Wendy Wall.
  • Amplified edition: By Sophie Lawall.

How to cite these versions

Conventions for these editions

The Pulter Project: Poet in the Making

  • Created by Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
  • Encoded by Katherine Poland, Matthew Taylor, Elizabeth Chou, and Emily Andrey, Northwestern University
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 Editorial note

In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.
Line number 1

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“le” written over other letters
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second “i” in different ink over earlier “e”; final “e” appears added later, in different ink
Line number 13

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“re” written over other letters, possibly “er
Line number 22

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imperfectly erased descender below “c”
Line number 31

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erased descender under the “k”
Line number 31

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“yo” written over other letters, in darker ink; two following letters scribbled out in same ink
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Transcription

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[Emblem 44]
The Brahman
(Emblem 44)
Emblem 44:
The Brahman
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
With three exceptions, this edition retains the manuscript’s seventeenth-century spelling, capitalization, and punctuation throughout. First, since, in secretary hand, initial “ff” represents “F,” all initial “ff”s have been transcribed as “F”. Second, due to the difficulty of distinguishing capital short “s” from initial lowercase short “s,” initial short “s” has been transcribed as capital and initial long “s” has been transcribed as lowercase throughout. Finally, for clarity, I have silently added possessive apostrophes in lines 10, 20, and 38. This edition ignores the crossings-out, flourishes, and engrossed letters, and silently accepts minor corrections in the manuscript.
Unless stated otherwise, all definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary and all other modern reference works are in Oxford Reference Online. All references to Plutarch’s Lives are to Thomas North’s 1579 translation, titled The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. All references to Pliny’s Natural History are to Philemon Holland’s 1634 translation, titled The Historie Of The World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie Of C. Plinius Secundus. All references to the Bible are to the 1611 King James Version.
In writing footnotes, I have aimed to define unusual words, especially ones not defined in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109]; to provide context for Pulter’s classical and biblical allusions; and to point out analogues for Pulter’s ideas in other early modern works.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Burke at the University of Ottawa for introducing me to this project and for providing feedback on early drafts of this edition.


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“Who would not such a blessed change explore?” asks the speaker in this poem, contemplating a transformative suicide that will purify the soul. After all, the first two examples she conjures up suggest a glorious, if painful, rebirth: the philosopher Calanus, in frying himself on his own funeral pyre, renders his soul “pristine,” and the mythological Phoenix’s death preserves an essence that reassumes extravagantly splendid feathered form. Although she rejects the actions of two non-Christian examples, Pulter proclaims a willingness to shed her mortality like a well-worn set of clothes or a theatrical costume, with faith that God will gather up her deteriorated bits of flesh at the Last Judgment and reunite her body with her soul in eternal heaven. The poem uses the prospect of death to reflect on Pulter’s role as a writer, first in her reference to herself as Hadassah, the biblical Queen Esther whom Pulter chose as her authorial pseudonym (one of the manuscript’s titles is Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas). Second, it is telling that her future vision of death and salvation involves a re-enactment of the Word’s (God’s) creation of the world that ends in artistic production. When God will “reinspire” or breathe into her scattered mortal remains, they will convert into ascending atoms and burst forth in poetic hymns of praise.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“The Brahman” deals with the theme of self-sacrificial suicide in hopes of salvation through two lenses: first, she writes of two pagan examples of the virtuous who immolated themselves to escape mortal pains, Calanus and the phoenix; second, she contrasts her pagan examples with the death of Aaron, who, in her reading, accepts his death when it is God’s will, rather than seeking it out. Although Pulter seems to admire her pagan models, in this poem, her Christian faith means that she “cannot” and “dare[s] not” (ln. 20; 21) take their route away from the pain of mortal life; instead of suicide, she ultimately places her trust in the knowledge that, eventually, she will die by God’s will and rejoin Christ in heaven.
Pulter begins the poem by describing the death of Calanus, the titular Brahman, from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Although Pulter, on the grounds of Christian piety, rejects the actions of Calanus and the phoenix (her second example, introduced at line 9) in deliberately immolating themselves, she clearly sympathizes with the desire to be rid of the pains and impurities of the mortal body. After these two classical examples, Pulter turns to the death of the biblical Aaron, using it to express a desire to be permitted by God to die, so that she may be a spirit in Heaven until the resurrection at the end of days. In the Old Testament, after God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not see the Promised Land because they expressed doubt that God could bring forth the waters of Meribah, God tells Moses that Aaron will die:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”(KJV Numbers 20.23–28)
This passage presents Aaron as knowing his death is coming and, because it is a calling from God, he therefore willingly allows himself to die. By using Aaron as her Christian counter-example, Pulter returns to the image of deliberately removing one’s mortal life—the literal body, in the case of Calanus and the phoenix, and his priestly robes in the case of Aaron—in order to reveal the inner spirit in death. Although the biblical passage emphasizes Aaron’s passivity, as Moses is the one who removes Aaron’s clothes and gives them to Eleazar, Pulter gives Aaron some agency in his death, writing that “old Aaron did put of his Cloaths” (ln. 11), implying his active participation in accepting God’s will, and therefore in his death. Despite this agency, however, Aaron’s death is not a suicide; he accepts his death, rather than causing it.
The tension shown in this poem, between Pulter’s admiration of pagan models and her Christian faith, is present elsewhere in Pulter’s poetry. In particular, another of Pulter’s classical emblems, Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], has a similar structure of enumerating several classical examples of her theme and then embracing the proper Christian response, using an example from the Old Testament. In this emblem, Pulter explores the idea of trying to know or avoid one’s fate, offering King Hezekiah’s successful prayer for reprieve from a fatal plague as an alternative to pagan attempts to either avoid or ignore one’s fate, such as those of Aeschylus and Caesar (Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], ln. 13–16). She concludes by rejecting both foreknowledge of death and even the desire to avoid death, writing:
Then let me never Know my Destiny,
But every day So live that when I die,
I may with comfort lay these Ruins down
In dust; ’tis softer far than finest Down,
Nor is that Pillow Stuffed with Cares or fears,
Nor Shall I wake as now to Sighs and tears.
(ln. 25–30)
Here, like in “The Brahman,” Pulter finds solace in the eventual peace of death and the promise of resurrection. By embracing death as the release from life’s hardships and the first step of heaven’s reward for good Christians in both of these poems, Pulter distances her emblems’ morals from her emblems’ pagan subjects and demonstrates her own deeply Christian piety.
However, Pulter does not always reject pagan examples in her poetry; nor, indeed, does she always reject suicide, as demonstrated in Of a Young Lady at Oxford, 1646 (Poem 43) [Poem 43]. In this poem, Pulter recounts the story of a young woman who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover in battle. She then compares this young woman to pagan examples of suicide driven by honour (Lucrece) and love (Thisbe). Instead of going on to reject their examples, however, Pulter concludes by begging her soul to emulate their heroic suicides and leave her body so that she may rejoin Christ in Heaven:
Thus do these stories and these fables teach
And show to us how far our love may reach;
But He (my soul) His precious blood did lose
For us (ay me), for us: His curséd foes.
Considering this, my soul, how canst thou stay?
(ln. 67–71)
Furthermore, in this poem, Pulter even applauds the actions of the titular “young lady” who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover, and writes that “As this declares a magnanimous spirit, / So she the glory of it doth inherit” (ln. 30–31). Nowhere in this poem does Pulter state or imply that suicide is impious or will lead to damnation. As Lara Dodds notes in her Curation for “Of a Young Lady,” this poem engages with the Stoic idea of heroic suicide (Dodds Heroic Suicide and Women’s Writing), which experienced a revival during the early modern period (Hunter 242). However, in “The Brahman,” Pulter explicitly rejects “Stoicall tricks” (ln. 22) like Calanus’s heroic suicide. It is difficult to reconcile the opposing portrayals of suicide in “Of a Young Lady” and “The Brahman,” but it is worth noting that what Pulter wishes for herself in both poems is, in fact, quite similar: she seeks a natural death. Even in “Of a Young Lady,” Pulter begs her soul to follow Christ’s to heaven, like the souls of newborn infants that “Do often fly to their eternal rest” (ln. 76).
Although there are similarities in how Pulter expresses her own desire for death in these two poems, the opposition in their portrayal of heroic suicide, and Pulter’s use of classical figures in exploring both sides of it, reflect a broader conversation and anxiety about suicide during the early modern period. John Donne’s Christian defense of suicide, Biathanatos, written in 1608 but published in 1647, draws more on Catholic and Protestant theology than classical philosophy (including Stoic philosophy) in its justification of suicide (Rudick and Battin xxi-xxiv), but, as Elizabeth Hunter argues, the revival of Stoicism in this period also played a role in the conversation surrounding suicide. According to Hunter, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although many of the Neo-stoics themselves rejected the concept, the revival of the Stoic idea of heroic or honourable suicide, including in the context of early Christian martyrs, provoked counterarguments from more orthodox Protestant English clergy (Hunter 242–45). In “The Brahman,” therefore, Pulter is engaging with this conversation through the contradiction between heroic suicide and conventional Christian doctrine. In fact, Pulter’s use of Calanus in a poem arguing against suicide has an analogue in Thomas Philipot’s treatise Self-Homicide-Murther, or, Some Antidotes and Arguments Gleaned out of the Treasuries of Our Modern Casuists and Divines against That Horrid and Reigning Sin of Self-Murther by T.P., Esq (1674), in which he uses Calanus as an example of Greek authors condemning suicide: “[a]nd Strabo informs us, that the Indian Priests and Wise men, blam’d the Fact of Calanus, and that they resented with Regret and Hatred the hasty Deaths of Proud and Impatient Persons” (24). Philipot, like Pulter in “The Brahman,” rejects suicide as a sin to be avoided through faith in God (Philipot 22–23), and, by speaking against pagan examples of supposedly righteous suicide, both authors participate in their culture’s anxiety over how to incorporate un-Christian aspects of ancient writings.
In reading “The Brahman,” therefore, we see Pulter exploring the disjunction between her use of classical models and her own religious values as well as between Christianity’s rejection of suicide and its portrayal of the ecstasy of righteous souls after death. Although Pulter clearly desires her pagan examples’ purifying deaths, her Christian faith keeps her from deliberate self-destruction, leaving her to instead place her hope for heaven’s bliss following a natural death.
Works Cited
Holy Bible, King James Version. Bible Gateway, Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Hunter, Elizabeth K. “‘Between the Bridge and the Brook’: Suicide and Salvation in England, c.1550–1650.” Reformation & Renaissance Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2013, pp. 237–57. Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
Rudick, Michael, and M. Pabst Battin. “Introduction.” Biathanatos, by John Donne, edited by Michael Rudick and M. Pabst Battin, Garland, 1982.


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
44
Physical Note
poem begins two-thirds down the page; previous poem concludes at top of the page followed by blank space
The
Brackman Th’angrie Deities to appeas
The
Gloss Note
Hindu priest, here referring to the legendary philosopher and gymnosophist Calanus (or Kalanus) who self-immolated in the presence of Alexander the Great. See Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. Thomas North (London, 1579), p. 759.
Brahman
, th’angry deities to appease,
The
Gloss Note
Alternate spelling of Brahmin. Modern definition: a member of the highest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Pulter’s usage: a generic term for an Indian priest and a reference to Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great,” in which the Indian philosopher Calanus sacrifices himself upon a pyre to free himself of the agony of illness. See Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes Compared Together by That Graue Learned Philosopher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chæronea, translated by Thomas North and James Amyot, London, 1579, p. 759, Early English Books Online.
Brackman
Th’angrie Deities to appeas
2
Hee being afflicted with a Sad diſeaſe
He being afflicted with a sad disease,
Hee being afflicted with a Sad disease
3
Unwilling to bee grated thus aſunder
Unwilling to be
Gloss Note
scraped, pulverized; figuratively, irritated (here, by an intestinal disorder)
grated
thus asunder,
Unwilling to bee grated thus asunder
4
Hee did an Act made Alexander wonder
He did an act made Alexander wonder:
Hee did an Act made
Gloss Note
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia 336–323 BC. The Alexandrian empire reached all the way to India and, according to Plutarch, Calanus was sent with Alexander when he left India. Along with featuring in Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander was a popular character in medieval romances, and the most famous English Alexander romance, King Alisaunder, was printed in 1525 and 1711. See Plutarch’s Lives; Holt, Frank L., and Andrew Stewart. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, Oxford University Press, 2010; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Alexander the Great” and “King Alisaunder." The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Alexander
wonder
5
ffor on his ffunerall, fllagrant,
Physical Note
“le” written over other letters
Pile
hee lies
For on his funeral
Gloss Note
burning
flagrant
Gloss Note
that is, the heap of fuel, or pyre, for his cremation
pile
he lies,
For on his Funerall, Flagrant, Pile hee lies
6
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice
Becoming thus both priest and sacrifice.
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice.
7
What was Corporeall the ffire Conſumes
What was corporeal, the fire consumes;
What was Corporeall the Fire Consumes
8
His Soul its
Physical Note
second “i” in different ink over earlier “e”; final “e” appears added later, in different ink
Priſtine
Glory Reaſſumes
His soul its pristine glory reassumes.
His Soul its Pristine Glory Reassumes
9
Soe doth the Phœnix ffan her guilded Wings
So doth the
Gloss Note
the Egyptian bird who was reborn from her ashes after burning in a sacrificial fire
Phœnix
fan her gilded wings
Soe doth the
Gloss Note
A mythological bird which was consumed by fire and then reborn from its own ashes. By Pulter’s period, it was widely considered a symbol of the resurrection in the Christian world, and Pulter’s contemporaries, such as John Dryden, use it as a metaphor for rebirth after disaster. See Pliny the Elder. The Historie of the World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated by Philemon Holland, London, 1634, p. 271, Early English Books Online; Louth, Andrew, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2022; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Phœnix
Fan her guilded Wings
10
Till Phœbus Raiſe her Gaudy ffeathers Sings
Till
Gloss Note
the sun god’s
Phœbus’s
rays her gaudy feathers
Gloss Note
a northern British form of “singes,” pronounced to rhyme with “wings”
sings
;
Till
Gloss Note
Another name of Apollo, especially in his roles as sun god and the leader of the muses; here this is used to refer to the sun itself. See Dent, Susie, editor. “Phoebus.” Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 19th ed., Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2012.
Phœbus’
Critical Note
Possibly a pun on “rays.” See following note for possible glosses of this line.
Raise
her Gaudy Feathers
Critical Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], an alternate spelling of “singes,” or burns. Pulter’s use of this alternate spelling may also be a play on words, as the phoenix was thought to have a beautiful song (as in Lactantius. “Phoenix.” Minor Latin Poets, translated by A. M. Duff and J. Wight Duff, Harvard University Press, 2014, pp. 643–67. Loeb Classical Library, ln. 45–48; see note 7 below). This line glosses as either “Till Phoebus’ rising her gaudy feathers singes” or “Till Phoebus’ rays her gaudy feathers singe” (italics mine).
Sings
then

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11
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee ffryes
Then, in that light in which she lives, she fries—
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee Fryes
12
A glorious Virgin Victim, thus Shee Dies
A glorious virgin victim; thus she dies.
A glorious
Critical Note
There was thought to only ever be one phoenix in existence at a time, which would live in a cycle of immolation and resurrection; therefore, the phoenix is a virgin. The third-century Latin poem “The Phoenix,” attributed to the Christian poet Lactantius, reads “felix quae veneris foedera nulla colit: / mors illi venus est, sola est in morte volupta” (ln. 164–65; “she regards not any unions of love: to her, death is love; and her sole pleasure lies in death” (trans. J. Wight Duff, Arnold M. Duff)). While we do not know whether Pulter read this poem, it expresses a similar sentiment to this emblem in an equally Christian framework: namely, the desire to find love, peace, and rebirth in death.
Virgin
Victim, thus Shee Dies
13
Thus though the
Physical Note
“re” written over other letters, possibly “er
ffire
her groſſer part conſumes
Thus though the fire her
Gloss Note
more material, substantial, dense (than, by implication, the spirit or soul); more perceptible to the senses
grosser
part consumes,
Thus though the Fire her
Gloss Note
The material part; implicitly, the corporeal body.
grosser part
consumes
14
A principle is left which Reaſſumes
A principle is left which reassumes
A
Gloss Note
The source or origin; implicitly, the soul.
principle
is left which Reassumes
15
The Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
The
Gloss Note
blue
azure
, purple, scarlet, golden
Gloss Note
feathers
plumes
The
Gloss Note
See Pliny’s description of the phoenix “as yellow and bright as gold, (namely all about the necke;) the rest of the bodie a deep red purple the taile azure blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation color” (Pliny, Natural History, p. 271).
Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
16
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
Which did adorn her gorgeous
Gloss Note
highly ornate, showy (not, at this time, necessarily in a negative sense, as now)
gaudy
mother;
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
17
Thus they ſucceed and Still exceed each other
Thus they succeed and still exceed each other.
Thus they succeed and Still exceed each other
18
Who would not ſuch a bleſſed change explore
Who would not such a blessed change
Gloss Note
investigate, consider
explore
?
Who would not such a blessed change explore
19
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
Or who would such a change as this
Gloss Note
lament, regret
deplore
?
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
20
Although I cannot in Sols ffulgour ffrie
Although I cannot in
Gloss Note
the sun’s dazzling brightness
Sol’s fulgor
fry,
Although I cannot in Sol’s
Gloss Note
A bright, dazzling light.
Fulgour
Frie
21
Nor dare not like this Gymnoſophist die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
ancient Hindu mystical contemplative sect whose members wore very little clothing, ate no meat, and practiced asceticism and self-inflected hardships
Gymnosophist
die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
A member of a sect of ancient Hindu ascetic philosophers, described in Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Here it refers to Calanus, the poem’s titular Brahman, although, in Plutarch, Calanus not one of the gymnosophists (Plutarch, Lives, p. 757–9). Pulter appears to use both Brahman and Gymnosophist as generic terms for Indian philosophers.
Gymnosophist
die
22
Such
Physical Note
imperfectly erased descender below “c”
Stoicall
tricks a Chriſtian Spirit loaths
(Such
Gloss Note
traits of those practicing the philosophy of Stoicism, commonly identified as austerity, indifference to pleasure and pain, acceptance of suffering, and repression of feeling
Stoical
tricks a Christian spirit loathes),
Such
Gloss Note
Of or belonging to the Stoics; characteristic of the Stoic philosophy. This was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno and flourishing in the 4th century BCE, “characterized by the austerity of its ethical doctrines for some of which the name has become proverbial” (Oxford English Dictionary). Calanus was not a Stoic, and Pulter’s characterization of him as such is another example of her conflation of pagan philosophies (see note 12 above).
Stoicall
tricks a Christian Spirit loaths
23
Yet as old Aaron did put of his Cloaths
Yet as old
Gloss Note
On God’s command, Moses stripped his brother Aaron of his clothes before Aaron’s death (Aaron died for disobeying God). See Numbers 20: 23–29.
Aaron did put off his clothes
,
Yet as old Aaron did
Gloss Note
i.e., put off his clothes. This references Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. At God’s command, Moses removes Aaron’s priestly garments before Aaron’s death and passes them to his son Eleazar. See Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 20.22–29; Barton, John. “Aaron.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Andrew Louth, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 17 Feb. 2022.
put of his Cloaths
24
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
So I, being worn with sorrow, sin, and age,
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
25
Quite tird with Acting in this Scene and Stage
Quite tired with acting in this scene and stage,
Quite tird with Acting in this
Gloss Note
The metaphor of the world as a stage and people as actors was common in the early modern period. Today, the most famous example is William Shakespeare’s the “All the World’s a Stage” speech in As You Like It (As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans and J. J. M. Tobin, 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 2.7.139–66).
Scene and Stage
26
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
Would gladly my mortality lay by.
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
27
Who then can Say Hadaſſah here doth Lie
Who then can say, “
Gloss Note
Pulter’s chosen pseudonym, the Hebrew form of the name of the heroic biblical Queen Esther (Esther being a variant of Hester)
Hadassah
here doth
Gloss Note
to remain in a recumbent position or posture of subjection; to dwell or be quartered in; be passive, tell an untruth
lie
,”
Who then can Say
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], Hadassah, the Hebrew form of Queen Esther’s name, is Pulter’s pseudonym as a poet.
Hadassah
here doth Lie
28
When as my Soul ſhall Reaſſend above
Gloss Note
seeing that; at a time which
Whenas
my soul shall reascend above
When as my Soul shall Reassend above
29
To God the ffount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
To God, the fount of life, light, joy, and love?
To God the Fount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
30
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
Nor shall my scattered dust forgotten rest,
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
31
But
Physical Note
erased descender under the “k”
like
the
Physical Note
“yo” written over other letters, in darker ink; two following letters scribbled out in same ink
Embryo[?]
in the Phœnix Nest
But like the embryo in the Phœnix nest,
But like the Embryo in the Phœnix Nest
32
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
Gloss Note
God’s word as creative force: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 103)
That Word that nothing did create in vain
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
33
Shall Reinſpire my Dormient Duſt again
Shall reinspire my
Gloss Note
in biblical accounts, the dormant (slumbering, inert) material from which life derives to and to which it will return; see Genesis 3:19: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
dormant dust
again;
Shall Reinspire my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109] and Eardley’s edition: the material out of which the body comes and to which it will return in the Bible, e.g. Genesis 3.19; Eardley, Alice, editor. “The Brahman.” Poems, Emblems, and the Unfortunate Florinda, by Hester Pulter, University of Chicago Press, 2014, (n. to ln. 33). Pulter returns to this image of “dormant dust” repeatedly, especially in reference to resurrection, e.g. View But this Tulip (Emblem 40) [Poem 105].
Dormient Dust
again
34
And from obſcurity my Atomes Raiſe
And from obscurity my atoms raise
And from obscurity my
Gloss Note
The smallest particle of matter, in use with this meaning in scientific circles by the seventeenth century. Although it is often considered a secular or even atheistic concept, here and in other poems, Pulter spiritualizes the concept of the atom and uses it as a synonym for dust (see note 17 above).
Atomes
Raise
35
To ſing in Joy his Everlasting praiſe
To sing in joy His everlasting praise,
To sing in Joy his Everlasting praise
36
And Reunite my Body to my Spirit
Gloss Note
a reference to the Christian belief in the reunion of the dead body and spirit in heaven at the Final Judgment or end of the world. The next lines link such salvation to Christ’s sacrifice.
And reunite my body to my spirit
,
And Reunite my Body to my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], a reference to the Christian belief that the faithful will be resurrected following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Spirit
37
That wee may thoſe Eternall Joys inherit
That we may those eternal joys inherit,
That wee may those Eternall Joys inherit
38
Which I may claim by my dear Saviours Merrit.
Which I may claim by my dear Savior’s merit.
Which I may claim by my dear
Critical Note
Unlike Calanus and the phoenix, both of whom implicitly will be redeemed on the basis of their own virtues, Pulter hopes for salvation through the virtue of Christ.
Saviour’s Merrit
.
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X (Close panel)Notes: Elemental Edition

 Editorial note

The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

 Headnote

“Who would not such a blessed change explore?” asks the speaker in this poem, contemplating a transformative suicide that will purify the soul. After all, the first two examples she conjures up suggest a glorious, if painful, rebirth: the philosopher Calanus, in frying himself on his own funeral pyre, renders his soul “pristine,” and the mythological Phoenix’s death preserves an essence that reassumes extravagantly splendid feathered form. Although she rejects the actions of two non-Christian examples, Pulter proclaims a willingness to shed her mortality like a well-worn set of clothes or a theatrical costume, with faith that God will gather up her deteriorated bits of flesh at the Last Judgment and reunite her body with her soul in eternal heaven. The poem uses the prospect of death to reflect on Pulter’s role as a writer, first in her reference to herself as Hadassah, the biblical Queen Esther whom Pulter chose as her authorial pseudonym (one of the manuscript’s titles is Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas). Second, it is telling that her future vision of death and salvation involves a re-enactment of the Word’s (God’s) creation of the world that ends in artistic production. When God will “reinspire” or breathe into her scattered mortal remains, they will convert into ascending atoms and burst forth in poetic hymns of praise.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Hindu priest, here referring to the legendary philosopher and gymnosophist Calanus (or Kalanus) who self-immolated in the presence of Alexander the Great. See Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. Thomas North (London, 1579), p. 759.
Line number 3

 Gloss note

scraped, pulverized; figuratively, irritated (here, by an intestinal disorder)
Line number 5

 Gloss note

burning
Line number 5

 Gloss note

that is, the heap of fuel, or pyre, for his cremation
Line number 9

 Gloss note

the Egyptian bird who was reborn from her ashes after burning in a sacrificial fire
Line number 10

 Gloss note

the sun god’s
Line number 10

 Gloss note

a northern British form of “singes,” pronounced to rhyme with “wings”
Line number 13

 Gloss note

more material, substantial, dense (than, by implication, the spirit or soul); more perceptible to the senses
Line number 15

 Gloss note

blue
Line number 15

 Gloss note

feathers
Line number 16

 Gloss note

highly ornate, showy (not, at this time, necessarily in a negative sense, as now)
Line number 18

 Gloss note

investigate, consider
Line number 19

 Gloss note

lament, regret
Line number 20

 Gloss note

the sun’s dazzling brightness
Line number 21

 Gloss note

ancient Hindu mystical contemplative sect whose members wore very little clothing, ate no meat, and practiced asceticism and self-inflected hardships
Line number 22

 Gloss note

traits of those practicing the philosophy of Stoicism, commonly identified as austerity, indifference to pleasure and pain, acceptance of suffering, and repression of feeling
Line number 23

 Gloss note

On God’s command, Moses stripped his brother Aaron of his clothes before Aaron’s death (Aaron died for disobeying God). See Numbers 20: 23–29.
Line number 27

 Gloss note

Pulter’s chosen pseudonym, the Hebrew form of the name of the heroic biblical Queen Esther (Esther being a variant of Hester)
Line number 27

 Gloss note

to remain in a recumbent position or posture of subjection; to dwell or be quartered in; be passive, tell an untruth
Line number 28

 Gloss note

seeing that; at a time which
Line number 32

 Gloss note

God’s word as creative force: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 103)
Line number 33

 Gloss note

in biblical accounts, the dormant (slumbering, inert) material from which life derives to and to which it will return; see Genesis 3:19: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Line number 36

 Gloss note

a reference to the Christian belief in the reunion of the dead body and spirit in heaven at the Final Judgment or end of the world. The next lines link such salvation to Christ’s sacrifice.
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X (Close panel)Elemental Edition
Elemental Edition

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[Emblem 44]
The Brahman
(Emblem 44)
Emblem 44:
The Brahman
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
With three exceptions, this edition retains the manuscript’s seventeenth-century spelling, capitalization, and punctuation throughout. First, since, in secretary hand, initial “ff” represents “F,” all initial “ff”s have been transcribed as “F”. Second, due to the difficulty of distinguishing capital short “s” from initial lowercase short “s,” initial short “s” has been transcribed as capital and initial long “s” has been transcribed as lowercase throughout. Finally, for clarity, I have silently added possessive apostrophes in lines 10, 20, and 38. This edition ignores the crossings-out, flourishes, and engrossed letters, and silently accepts minor corrections in the manuscript.
Unless stated otherwise, all definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary and all other modern reference works are in Oxford Reference Online. All references to Plutarch’s Lives are to Thomas North’s 1579 translation, titled The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. All references to Pliny’s Natural History are to Philemon Holland’s 1634 translation, titled The Historie Of The World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie Of C. Plinius Secundus. All references to the Bible are to the 1611 King James Version.
In writing footnotes, I have aimed to define unusual words, especially ones not defined in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109]; to provide context for Pulter’s classical and biblical allusions; and to point out analogues for Pulter’s ideas in other early modern works.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Burke at the University of Ottawa for introducing me to this project and for providing feedback on early drafts of this edition.


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“Who would not such a blessed change explore?” asks the speaker in this poem, contemplating a transformative suicide that will purify the soul. After all, the first two examples she conjures up suggest a glorious, if painful, rebirth: the philosopher Calanus, in frying himself on his own funeral pyre, renders his soul “pristine,” and the mythological Phoenix’s death preserves an essence that reassumes extravagantly splendid feathered form. Although she rejects the actions of two non-Christian examples, Pulter proclaims a willingness to shed her mortality like a well-worn set of clothes or a theatrical costume, with faith that God will gather up her deteriorated bits of flesh at the Last Judgment and reunite her body with her soul in eternal heaven. The poem uses the prospect of death to reflect on Pulter’s role as a writer, first in her reference to herself as Hadassah, the biblical Queen Esther whom Pulter chose as her authorial pseudonym (one of the manuscript’s titles is Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas). Second, it is telling that her future vision of death and salvation involves a re-enactment of the Word’s (God’s) creation of the world that ends in artistic production. When God will “reinspire” or breathe into her scattered mortal remains, they will convert into ascending atoms and burst forth in poetic hymns of praise.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“The Brahman” deals with the theme of self-sacrificial suicide in hopes of salvation through two lenses: first, she writes of two pagan examples of the virtuous who immolated themselves to escape mortal pains, Calanus and the phoenix; second, she contrasts her pagan examples with the death of Aaron, who, in her reading, accepts his death when it is God’s will, rather than seeking it out. Although Pulter seems to admire her pagan models, in this poem, her Christian faith means that she “cannot” and “dare[s] not” (ln. 20; 21) take their route away from the pain of mortal life; instead of suicide, she ultimately places her trust in the knowledge that, eventually, she will die by God’s will and rejoin Christ in heaven.
Pulter begins the poem by describing the death of Calanus, the titular Brahman, from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Although Pulter, on the grounds of Christian piety, rejects the actions of Calanus and the phoenix (her second example, introduced at line 9) in deliberately immolating themselves, she clearly sympathizes with the desire to be rid of the pains and impurities of the mortal body. After these two classical examples, Pulter turns to the death of the biblical Aaron, using it to express a desire to be permitted by God to die, so that she may be a spirit in Heaven until the resurrection at the end of days. In the Old Testament, after God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not see the Promised Land because they expressed doubt that God could bring forth the waters of Meribah, God tells Moses that Aaron will die:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”(KJV Numbers 20.23–28)
This passage presents Aaron as knowing his death is coming and, because it is a calling from God, he therefore willingly allows himself to die. By using Aaron as her Christian counter-example, Pulter returns to the image of deliberately removing one’s mortal life—the literal body, in the case of Calanus and the phoenix, and his priestly robes in the case of Aaron—in order to reveal the inner spirit in death. Although the biblical passage emphasizes Aaron’s passivity, as Moses is the one who removes Aaron’s clothes and gives them to Eleazar, Pulter gives Aaron some agency in his death, writing that “old Aaron did put of his Cloaths” (ln. 11), implying his active participation in accepting God’s will, and therefore in his death. Despite this agency, however, Aaron’s death is not a suicide; he accepts his death, rather than causing it.
The tension shown in this poem, between Pulter’s admiration of pagan models and her Christian faith, is present elsewhere in Pulter’s poetry. In particular, another of Pulter’s classical emblems, Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], has a similar structure of enumerating several classical examples of her theme and then embracing the proper Christian response, using an example from the Old Testament. In this emblem, Pulter explores the idea of trying to know or avoid one’s fate, offering King Hezekiah’s successful prayer for reprieve from a fatal plague as an alternative to pagan attempts to either avoid or ignore one’s fate, such as those of Aeschylus and Caesar (Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], ln. 13–16). She concludes by rejecting both foreknowledge of death and even the desire to avoid death, writing:
Then let me never Know my Destiny,
But every day So live that when I die,
I may with comfort lay these Ruins down
In dust; ’tis softer far than finest Down,
Nor is that Pillow Stuffed with Cares or fears,
Nor Shall I wake as now to Sighs and tears.
(ln. 25–30)
Here, like in “The Brahman,” Pulter finds solace in the eventual peace of death and the promise of resurrection. By embracing death as the release from life’s hardships and the first step of heaven’s reward for good Christians in both of these poems, Pulter distances her emblems’ morals from her emblems’ pagan subjects and demonstrates her own deeply Christian piety.
However, Pulter does not always reject pagan examples in her poetry; nor, indeed, does she always reject suicide, as demonstrated in Of a Young Lady at Oxford, 1646 (Poem 43) [Poem 43]. In this poem, Pulter recounts the story of a young woman who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover in battle. She then compares this young woman to pagan examples of suicide driven by honour (Lucrece) and love (Thisbe). Instead of going on to reject their examples, however, Pulter concludes by begging her soul to emulate their heroic suicides and leave her body so that she may rejoin Christ in Heaven:
Thus do these stories and these fables teach
And show to us how far our love may reach;
But He (my soul) His precious blood did lose
For us (ay me), for us: His curséd foes.
Considering this, my soul, how canst thou stay?
(ln. 67–71)
Furthermore, in this poem, Pulter even applauds the actions of the titular “young lady” who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover, and writes that “As this declares a magnanimous spirit, / So she the glory of it doth inherit” (ln. 30–31). Nowhere in this poem does Pulter state or imply that suicide is impious or will lead to damnation. As Lara Dodds notes in her Curation for “Of a Young Lady,” this poem engages with the Stoic idea of heroic suicide (Dodds Heroic Suicide and Women’s Writing), which experienced a revival during the early modern period (Hunter 242). However, in “The Brahman,” Pulter explicitly rejects “Stoicall tricks” (ln. 22) like Calanus’s heroic suicide. It is difficult to reconcile the opposing portrayals of suicide in “Of a Young Lady” and “The Brahman,” but it is worth noting that what Pulter wishes for herself in both poems is, in fact, quite similar: she seeks a natural death. Even in “Of a Young Lady,” Pulter begs her soul to follow Christ’s to heaven, like the souls of newborn infants that “Do often fly to their eternal rest” (ln. 76).
Although there are similarities in how Pulter expresses her own desire for death in these two poems, the opposition in their portrayal of heroic suicide, and Pulter’s use of classical figures in exploring both sides of it, reflect a broader conversation and anxiety about suicide during the early modern period. John Donne’s Christian defense of suicide, Biathanatos, written in 1608 but published in 1647, draws more on Catholic and Protestant theology than classical philosophy (including Stoic philosophy) in its justification of suicide (Rudick and Battin xxi-xxiv), but, as Elizabeth Hunter argues, the revival of Stoicism in this period also played a role in the conversation surrounding suicide. According to Hunter, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although many of the Neo-stoics themselves rejected the concept, the revival of the Stoic idea of heroic or honourable suicide, including in the context of early Christian martyrs, provoked counterarguments from more orthodox Protestant English clergy (Hunter 242–45). In “The Brahman,” therefore, Pulter is engaging with this conversation through the contradiction between heroic suicide and conventional Christian doctrine. In fact, Pulter’s use of Calanus in a poem arguing against suicide has an analogue in Thomas Philipot’s treatise Self-Homicide-Murther, or, Some Antidotes and Arguments Gleaned out of the Treasuries of Our Modern Casuists and Divines against That Horrid and Reigning Sin of Self-Murther by T.P., Esq (1674), in which he uses Calanus as an example of Greek authors condemning suicide: “[a]nd Strabo informs us, that the Indian Priests and Wise men, blam’d the Fact of Calanus, and that they resented with Regret and Hatred the hasty Deaths of Proud and Impatient Persons” (24). Philipot, like Pulter in “The Brahman,” rejects suicide as a sin to be avoided through faith in God (Philipot 22–23), and, by speaking against pagan examples of supposedly righteous suicide, both authors participate in their culture’s anxiety over how to incorporate un-Christian aspects of ancient writings.
In reading “The Brahman,” therefore, we see Pulter exploring the disjunction between her use of classical models and her own religious values as well as between Christianity’s rejection of suicide and its portrayal of the ecstasy of righteous souls after death. Although Pulter clearly desires her pagan examples’ purifying deaths, her Christian faith keeps her from deliberate self-destruction, leaving her to instead place her hope for heaven’s bliss following a natural death.
Works Cited
Holy Bible, King James Version. Bible Gateway, Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Hunter, Elizabeth K. “‘Between the Bridge and the Brook’: Suicide and Salvation in England, c.1550–1650.” Reformation & Renaissance Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2013, pp. 237–57. Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
Rudick, Michael, and M. Pabst Battin. “Introduction.” Biathanatos, by John Donne, edited by Michael Rudick and M. Pabst Battin, Garland, 1982.


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
44
Physical Note
poem begins two-thirds down the page; previous poem concludes at top of the page followed by blank space
The
Brackman Th’angrie Deities to appeas
The
Gloss Note
Hindu priest, here referring to the legendary philosopher and gymnosophist Calanus (or Kalanus) who self-immolated in the presence of Alexander the Great. See Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. Thomas North (London, 1579), p. 759.
Brahman
, th’angry deities to appease,
The
Gloss Note
Alternate spelling of Brahmin. Modern definition: a member of the highest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Pulter’s usage: a generic term for an Indian priest and a reference to Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great,” in which the Indian philosopher Calanus sacrifices himself upon a pyre to free himself of the agony of illness. See Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes Compared Together by That Graue Learned Philosopher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chæronea, translated by Thomas North and James Amyot, London, 1579, p. 759, Early English Books Online.
Brackman
Th’angrie Deities to appeas
2
Hee being afflicted with a Sad diſeaſe
He being afflicted with a sad disease,
Hee being afflicted with a Sad disease
3
Unwilling to bee grated thus aſunder
Unwilling to be
Gloss Note
scraped, pulverized; figuratively, irritated (here, by an intestinal disorder)
grated
thus asunder,
Unwilling to bee grated thus asunder
4
Hee did an Act made Alexander wonder
He did an act made Alexander wonder:
Hee did an Act made
Gloss Note
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia 336–323 BC. The Alexandrian empire reached all the way to India and, according to Plutarch, Calanus was sent with Alexander when he left India. Along with featuring in Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander was a popular character in medieval romances, and the most famous English Alexander romance, King Alisaunder, was printed in 1525 and 1711. See Plutarch’s Lives; Holt, Frank L., and Andrew Stewart. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, Oxford University Press, 2010; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Alexander the Great” and “King Alisaunder." The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Alexander
wonder
5
ffor on his ffunerall, fllagrant,
Physical Note
“le” written over other letters
Pile
hee lies
For on his funeral
Gloss Note
burning
flagrant
Gloss Note
that is, the heap of fuel, or pyre, for his cremation
pile
he lies,
For on his Funerall, Flagrant, Pile hee lies
6
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice
Becoming thus both priest and sacrifice.
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice.
7
What was Corporeall the ffire Conſumes
What was corporeal, the fire consumes;
What was Corporeall the Fire Consumes
8
His Soul its
Physical Note
second “i” in different ink over earlier “e”; final “e” appears added later, in different ink
Priſtine
Glory Reaſſumes
His soul its pristine glory reassumes.
His Soul its Pristine Glory Reassumes
9
Soe doth the Phœnix ffan her guilded Wings
So doth the
Gloss Note
the Egyptian bird who was reborn from her ashes after burning in a sacrificial fire
Phœnix
fan her gilded wings
Soe doth the
Gloss Note
A mythological bird which was consumed by fire and then reborn from its own ashes. By Pulter’s period, it was widely considered a symbol of the resurrection in the Christian world, and Pulter’s contemporaries, such as John Dryden, use it as a metaphor for rebirth after disaster. See Pliny the Elder. The Historie of the World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated by Philemon Holland, London, 1634, p. 271, Early English Books Online; Louth, Andrew, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2022; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Phœnix
Fan her guilded Wings
10
Till Phœbus Raiſe her Gaudy ffeathers Sings
Till
Gloss Note
the sun god’s
Phœbus’s
rays her gaudy feathers
Gloss Note
a northern British form of “singes,” pronounced to rhyme with “wings”
sings
;
Till
Gloss Note
Another name of Apollo, especially in his roles as sun god and the leader of the muses; here this is used to refer to the sun itself. See Dent, Susie, editor. “Phoebus.” Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 19th ed., Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2012.
Phœbus’
Critical Note
Possibly a pun on “rays.” See following note for possible glosses of this line.
Raise
her Gaudy Feathers
Critical Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], an alternate spelling of “singes,” or burns. Pulter’s use of this alternate spelling may also be a play on words, as the phoenix was thought to have a beautiful song (as in Lactantius. “Phoenix.” Minor Latin Poets, translated by A. M. Duff and J. Wight Duff, Harvard University Press, 2014, pp. 643–67. Loeb Classical Library, ln. 45–48; see note 7 below). This line glosses as either “Till Phoebus’ rising her gaudy feathers singes” or “Till Phoebus’ rays her gaudy feathers singe” (italics mine).
Sings
then

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11
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee ffryes
Then, in that light in which she lives, she fries—
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee Fryes
12
A glorious Virgin Victim, thus Shee Dies
A glorious virgin victim; thus she dies.
A glorious
Critical Note
There was thought to only ever be one phoenix in existence at a time, which would live in a cycle of immolation and resurrection; therefore, the phoenix is a virgin. The third-century Latin poem “The Phoenix,” attributed to the Christian poet Lactantius, reads “felix quae veneris foedera nulla colit: / mors illi venus est, sola est in morte volupta” (ln. 164–65; “she regards not any unions of love: to her, death is love; and her sole pleasure lies in death” (trans. J. Wight Duff, Arnold M. Duff)). While we do not know whether Pulter read this poem, it expresses a similar sentiment to this emblem in an equally Christian framework: namely, the desire to find love, peace, and rebirth in death.
Virgin
Victim, thus Shee Dies
13
Thus though the
Physical Note
“re” written over other letters, possibly “er
ffire
her groſſer part conſumes
Thus though the fire her
Gloss Note
more material, substantial, dense (than, by implication, the spirit or soul); more perceptible to the senses
grosser
part consumes,
Thus though the Fire her
Gloss Note
The material part; implicitly, the corporeal body.
grosser part
consumes
14
A principle is left which Reaſſumes
A principle is left which reassumes
A
Gloss Note
The source or origin; implicitly, the soul.
principle
is left which Reassumes
15
The Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
The
Gloss Note
blue
azure
, purple, scarlet, golden
Gloss Note
feathers
plumes
The
Gloss Note
See Pliny’s description of the phoenix “as yellow and bright as gold, (namely all about the necke;) the rest of the bodie a deep red purple the taile azure blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation color” (Pliny, Natural History, p. 271).
Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
16
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
Which did adorn her gorgeous
Gloss Note
highly ornate, showy (not, at this time, necessarily in a negative sense, as now)
gaudy
mother;
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
17
Thus they ſucceed and Still exceed each other
Thus they succeed and still exceed each other.
Thus they succeed and Still exceed each other
18
Who would not ſuch a bleſſed change explore
Who would not such a blessed change
Gloss Note
investigate, consider
explore
?
Who would not such a blessed change explore
19
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
Or who would such a change as this
Gloss Note
lament, regret
deplore
?
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
20
Although I cannot in Sols ffulgour ffrie
Although I cannot in
Gloss Note
the sun’s dazzling brightness
Sol’s fulgor
fry,
Although I cannot in Sol’s
Gloss Note
A bright, dazzling light.
Fulgour
Frie
21
Nor dare not like this Gymnoſophist die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
ancient Hindu mystical contemplative sect whose members wore very little clothing, ate no meat, and practiced asceticism and self-inflected hardships
Gymnosophist
die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
A member of a sect of ancient Hindu ascetic philosophers, described in Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Here it refers to Calanus, the poem’s titular Brahman, although, in Plutarch, Calanus not one of the gymnosophists (Plutarch, Lives, p. 757–9). Pulter appears to use both Brahman and Gymnosophist as generic terms for Indian philosophers.
Gymnosophist
die
22
Such
Physical Note
imperfectly erased descender below “c”
Stoicall
tricks a Chriſtian Spirit loaths
(Such
Gloss Note
traits of those practicing the philosophy of Stoicism, commonly identified as austerity, indifference to pleasure and pain, acceptance of suffering, and repression of feeling
Stoical
tricks a Christian spirit loathes),
Such
Gloss Note
Of or belonging to the Stoics; characteristic of the Stoic philosophy. This was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno and flourishing in the 4th century BCE, “characterized by the austerity of its ethical doctrines for some of which the name has become proverbial” (Oxford English Dictionary). Calanus was not a Stoic, and Pulter’s characterization of him as such is another example of her conflation of pagan philosophies (see note 12 above).
Stoicall
tricks a Christian Spirit loaths
23
Yet as old Aaron did put of his Cloaths
Yet as old
Gloss Note
On God’s command, Moses stripped his brother Aaron of his clothes before Aaron’s death (Aaron died for disobeying God). See Numbers 20: 23–29.
Aaron did put off his clothes
,
Yet as old Aaron did
Gloss Note
i.e., put off his clothes. This references Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. At God’s command, Moses removes Aaron’s priestly garments before Aaron’s death and passes them to his son Eleazar. See Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 20.22–29; Barton, John. “Aaron.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Andrew Louth, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 17 Feb. 2022.
put of his Cloaths
24
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
So I, being worn with sorrow, sin, and age,
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
25
Quite tird with Acting in this Scene and Stage
Quite tired with acting in this scene and stage,
Quite tird with Acting in this
Gloss Note
The metaphor of the world as a stage and people as actors was common in the early modern period. Today, the most famous example is William Shakespeare’s the “All the World’s a Stage” speech in As You Like It (As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans and J. J. M. Tobin, 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 2.7.139–66).
Scene and Stage
26
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
Would gladly my mortality lay by.
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
27
Who then can Say Hadaſſah here doth Lie
Who then can say, “
Gloss Note
Pulter’s chosen pseudonym, the Hebrew form of the name of the heroic biblical Queen Esther (Esther being a variant of Hester)
Hadassah
here doth
Gloss Note
to remain in a recumbent position or posture of subjection; to dwell or be quartered in; be passive, tell an untruth
lie
,”
Who then can Say
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], Hadassah, the Hebrew form of Queen Esther’s name, is Pulter’s pseudonym as a poet.
Hadassah
here doth Lie
28
When as my Soul ſhall Reaſſend above
Gloss Note
seeing that; at a time which
Whenas
my soul shall reascend above
When as my Soul shall Reassend above
29
To God the ffount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
To God, the fount of life, light, joy, and love?
To God the Fount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
30
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
Nor shall my scattered dust forgotten rest,
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
31
But
Physical Note
erased descender under the “k”
like
the
Physical Note
“yo” written over other letters, in darker ink; two following letters scribbled out in same ink
Embryo[?]
in the Phœnix Nest
But like the embryo in the Phœnix nest,
But like the Embryo in the Phœnix Nest
32
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
Gloss Note
God’s word as creative force: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 103)
That Word that nothing did create in vain
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
33
Shall Reinſpire my Dormient Duſt again
Shall reinspire my
Gloss Note
in biblical accounts, the dormant (slumbering, inert) material from which life derives to and to which it will return; see Genesis 3:19: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
dormant dust
again;
Shall Reinspire my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109] and Eardley’s edition: the material out of which the body comes and to which it will return in the Bible, e.g. Genesis 3.19; Eardley, Alice, editor. “The Brahman.” Poems, Emblems, and the Unfortunate Florinda, by Hester Pulter, University of Chicago Press, 2014, (n. to ln. 33). Pulter returns to this image of “dormant dust” repeatedly, especially in reference to resurrection, e.g. View But this Tulip (Emblem 40) [Poem 105].
Dormient Dust
again
34
And from obſcurity my Atomes Raiſe
And from obscurity my atoms raise
And from obscurity my
Gloss Note
The smallest particle of matter, in use with this meaning in scientific circles by the seventeenth century. Although it is often considered a secular or even atheistic concept, here and in other poems, Pulter spiritualizes the concept of the atom and uses it as a synonym for dust (see note 17 above).
Atomes
Raise
35
To ſing in Joy his Everlasting praiſe
To sing in joy His everlasting praise,
To sing in Joy his Everlasting praise
36
And Reunite my Body to my Spirit
Gloss Note
a reference to the Christian belief in the reunion of the dead body and spirit in heaven at the Final Judgment or end of the world. The next lines link such salvation to Christ’s sacrifice.
And reunite my body to my spirit
,
And Reunite my Body to my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], a reference to the Christian belief that the faithful will be resurrected following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Spirit
37
That wee may thoſe Eternall Joys inherit
That we may those eternal joys inherit,
That wee may those Eternall Joys inherit
38
Which I may claim by my dear Saviours Merrit.
Which I may claim by my dear Savior’s merit.
Which I may claim by my dear
Critical Note
Unlike Calanus and the phoenix, both of whom implicitly will be redeemed on the basis of their own virtues, Pulter hopes for salvation through the virtue of Christ.
Saviour’s Merrit
.
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X (Close panel)Notes: Amplified Edition

 Editorial note

With three exceptions, this edition retains the manuscript’s seventeenth-century spelling, capitalization, and punctuation throughout. First, since, in secretary hand, initial “ff” represents “F,” all initial “ff”s have been transcribed as “F”. Second, due to the difficulty of distinguishing capital short “s” from initial lowercase short “s,” initial short “s” has been transcribed as capital and initial long “s” has been transcribed as lowercase throughout. Finally, for clarity, I have silently added possessive apostrophes in lines 10, 20, and 38. This edition ignores the crossings-out, flourishes, and engrossed letters, and silently accepts minor corrections in the manuscript.
Unless stated otherwise, all definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary and all other modern reference works are in Oxford Reference Online. All references to Plutarch’s Lives are to Thomas North’s 1579 translation, titled The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. All references to Pliny’s Natural History are to Philemon Holland’s 1634 translation, titled The Historie Of The World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie Of C. Plinius Secundus. All references to the Bible are to the 1611 King James Version.
In writing footnotes, I have aimed to define unusual words, especially ones not defined in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109]; to provide context for Pulter’s classical and biblical allusions; and to point out analogues for Pulter’s ideas in other early modern works.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Burke at the University of Ottawa for introducing me to this project and for providing feedback on early drafts of this edition.

 Headnote

“The Brahman” deals with the theme of self-sacrificial suicide in hopes of salvation through two lenses: first, she writes of two pagan examples of the virtuous who immolated themselves to escape mortal pains, Calanus and the phoenix; second, she contrasts her pagan examples with the death of Aaron, who, in her reading, accepts his death when it is God’s will, rather than seeking it out. Although Pulter seems to admire her pagan models, in this poem, her Christian faith means that she “cannot” and “dare[s] not” (ln. 20; 21) take their route away from the pain of mortal life; instead of suicide, she ultimately places her trust in the knowledge that, eventually, she will die by God’s will and rejoin Christ in heaven.
Pulter begins the poem by describing the death of Calanus, the titular Brahman, from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Although Pulter, on the grounds of Christian piety, rejects the actions of Calanus and the phoenix (her second example, introduced at line 9) in deliberately immolating themselves, she clearly sympathizes with the desire to be rid of the pains and impurities of the mortal body. After these two classical examples, Pulter turns to the death of the biblical Aaron, using it to express a desire to be permitted by God to die, so that she may be a spirit in Heaven until the resurrection at the end of days. In the Old Testament, after God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not see the Promised Land because they expressed doubt that God could bring forth the waters of Meribah, God tells Moses that Aaron will die:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”(KJV Numbers 20.23–28)
This passage presents Aaron as knowing his death is coming and, because it is a calling from God, he therefore willingly allows himself to die. By using Aaron as her Christian counter-example, Pulter returns to the image of deliberately removing one’s mortal life—the literal body, in the case of Calanus and the phoenix, and his priestly robes in the case of Aaron—in order to reveal the inner spirit in death. Although the biblical passage emphasizes Aaron’s passivity, as Moses is the one who removes Aaron’s clothes and gives them to Eleazar, Pulter gives Aaron some agency in his death, writing that “old Aaron did put of his Cloaths” (ln. 11), implying his active participation in accepting God’s will, and therefore in his death. Despite this agency, however, Aaron’s death is not a suicide; he accepts his death, rather than causing it.
The tension shown in this poem, between Pulter’s admiration of pagan models and her Christian faith, is present elsewhere in Pulter’s poetry. In particular, another of Pulter’s classical emblems, Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], has a similar structure of enumerating several classical examples of her theme and then embracing the proper Christian response, using an example from the Old Testament. In this emblem, Pulter explores the idea of trying to know or avoid one’s fate, offering King Hezekiah’s successful prayer for reprieve from a fatal plague as an alternative to pagan attempts to either avoid or ignore one’s fate, such as those of Aeschylus and Caesar (Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], ln. 13–16). She concludes by rejecting both foreknowledge of death and even the desire to avoid death, writing:
Then let me never Know my Destiny,
But every day So live that when I die,
I may with comfort lay these Ruins down
In dust; ’tis softer far than finest Down,
Nor is that Pillow Stuffed with Cares or fears,
Nor Shall I wake as now to Sighs and tears.
(ln. 25–30)
Here, like in “The Brahman,” Pulter finds solace in the eventual peace of death and the promise of resurrection. By embracing death as the release from life’s hardships and the first step of heaven’s reward for good Christians in both of these poems, Pulter distances her emblems’ morals from her emblems’ pagan subjects and demonstrates her own deeply Christian piety.
However, Pulter does not always reject pagan examples in her poetry; nor, indeed, does she always reject suicide, as demonstrated in Of a Young Lady at Oxford, 1646 (Poem 43) [Poem 43]. In this poem, Pulter recounts the story of a young woman who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover in battle. She then compares this young woman to pagan examples of suicide driven by honour (Lucrece) and love (Thisbe). Instead of going on to reject their examples, however, Pulter concludes by begging her soul to emulate their heroic suicides and leave her body so that she may rejoin Christ in Heaven:
Thus do these stories and these fables teach
And show to us how far our love may reach;
But He (my soul) His precious blood did lose
For us (ay me), for us: His curséd foes.
Considering this, my soul, how canst thou stay?
(ln. 67–71)
Furthermore, in this poem, Pulter even applauds the actions of the titular “young lady” who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover, and writes that “As this declares a magnanimous spirit, / So she the glory of it doth inherit” (ln. 30–31). Nowhere in this poem does Pulter state or imply that suicide is impious or will lead to damnation. As Lara Dodds notes in her Curation for “Of a Young Lady,” this poem engages with the Stoic idea of heroic suicide (Dodds Heroic Suicide and Women’s Writing), which experienced a revival during the early modern period (Hunter 242). However, in “The Brahman,” Pulter explicitly rejects “Stoicall tricks” (ln. 22) like Calanus’s heroic suicide. It is difficult to reconcile the opposing portrayals of suicide in “Of a Young Lady” and “The Brahman,” but it is worth noting that what Pulter wishes for herself in both poems is, in fact, quite similar: she seeks a natural death. Even in “Of a Young Lady,” Pulter begs her soul to follow Christ’s to heaven, like the souls of newborn infants that “Do often fly to their eternal rest” (ln. 76).
Although there are similarities in how Pulter expresses her own desire for death in these two poems, the opposition in their portrayal of heroic suicide, and Pulter’s use of classical figures in exploring both sides of it, reflect a broader conversation and anxiety about suicide during the early modern period. John Donne’s Christian defense of suicide, Biathanatos, written in 1608 but published in 1647, draws more on Catholic and Protestant theology than classical philosophy (including Stoic philosophy) in its justification of suicide (Rudick and Battin xxi-xxiv), but, as Elizabeth Hunter argues, the revival of Stoicism in this period also played a role in the conversation surrounding suicide. According to Hunter, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although many of the Neo-stoics themselves rejected the concept, the revival of the Stoic idea of heroic or honourable suicide, including in the context of early Christian martyrs, provoked counterarguments from more orthodox Protestant English clergy (Hunter 242–45). In “The Brahman,” therefore, Pulter is engaging with this conversation through the contradiction between heroic suicide and conventional Christian doctrine. In fact, Pulter’s use of Calanus in a poem arguing against suicide has an analogue in Thomas Philipot’s treatise Self-Homicide-Murther, or, Some Antidotes and Arguments Gleaned out of the Treasuries of Our Modern Casuists and Divines against That Horrid and Reigning Sin of Self-Murther by T.P., Esq (1674), in which he uses Calanus as an example of Greek authors condemning suicide: “[a]nd Strabo informs us, that the Indian Priests and Wise men, blam’d the Fact of Calanus, and that they resented with Regret and Hatred the hasty Deaths of Proud and Impatient Persons” (24). Philipot, like Pulter in “The Brahman,” rejects suicide as a sin to be avoided through faith in God (Philipot 22–23), and, by speaking against pagan examples of supposedly righteous suicide, both authors participate in their culture’s anxiety over how to incorporate un-Christian aspects of ancient writings.
In reading “The Brahman,” therefore, we see Pulter exploring the disjunction between her use of classical models and her own religious values as well as between Christianity’s rejection of suicide and its portrayal of the ecstasy of righteous souls after death. Although Pulter clearly desires her pagan examples’ purifying deaths, her Christian faith keeps her from deliberate self-destruction, leaving her to instead place her hope for heaven’s bliss following a natural death.
Works Cited
Holy Bible, King James Version. Bible Gateway, Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Hunter, Elizabeth K. “‘Between the Bridge and the Brook’: Suicide and Salvation in England, c.1550–1650.” Reformation & Renaissance Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2013, pp. 237–57. Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
Rudick, Michael, and M. Pabst Battin. “Introduction.” Biathanatos, by John Donne, edited by Michael Rudick and M. Pabst Battin, Garland, 1982.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Alternate spelling of Brahmin. Modern definition: a member of the highest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Pulter’s usage: a generic term for an Indian priest and a reference to Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great,” in which the Indian philosopher Calanus sacrifices himself upon a pyre to free himself of the agony of illness. See Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes Compared Together by That Graue Learned Philosopher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chæronea, translated by Thomas North and James Amyot, London, 1579, p. 759, Early English Books Online.
Line number 4

 Gloss note

Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia 336–323 BC. The Alexandrian empire reached all the way to India and, according to Plutarch, Calanus was sent with Alexander when he left India. Along with featuring in Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander was a popular character in medieval romances, and the most famous English Alexander romance, King Alisaunder, was printed in 1525 and 1711. See Plutarch’s Lives; Holt, Frank L., and Andrew Stewart. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, Oxford University Press, 2010; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Alexander the Great” and “King Alisaunder." The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Line number 9

 Gloss note

A mythological bird which was consumed by fire and then reborn from its own ashes. By Pulter’s period, it was widely considered a symbol of the resurrection in the Christian world, and Pulter’s contemporaries, such as John Dryden, use it as a metaphor for rebirth after disaster. See Pliny the Elder. The Historie of the World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated by Philemon Holland, London, 1634, p. 271, Early English Books Online; Louth, Andrew, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2022; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Line number 10

 Gloss note

Another name of Apollo, especially in his roles as sun god and the leader of the muses; here this is used to refer to the sun itself. See Dent, Susie, editor. “Phoebus.” Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 19th ed., Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2012.
Line number 10

 Critical note

Possibly a pun on “rays.” See following note for possible glosses of this line.
Line number 10

 Critical note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], an alternate spelling of “singes,” or burns. Pulter’s use of this alternate spelling may also be a play on words, as the phoenix was thought to have a beautiful song (as in Lactantius. “Phoenix.” Minor Latin Poets, translated by A. M. Duff and J. Wight Duff, Harvard University Press, 2014, pp. 643–67. Loeb Classical Library, ln. 45–48; see note 7 below). This line glosses as either “Till Phoebus’ rising her gaudy feathers singes” or “Till Phoebus’ rays her gaudy feathers singe” (italics mine).
Line number 12

 Critical note

There was thought to only ever be one phoenix in existence at a time, which would live in a cycle of immolation and resurrection; therefore, the phoenix is a virgin. The third-century Latin poem “The Phoenix,” attributed to the Christian poet Lactantius, reads “felix quae veneris foedera nulla colit: / mors illi venus est, sola est in morte volupta” (ln. 164–65; “she regards not any unions of love: to her, death is love; and her sole pleasure lies in death” (trans. J. Wight Duff, Arnold M. Duff)). While we do not know whether Pulter read this poem, it expresses a similar sentiment to this emblem in an equally Christian framework: namely, the desire to find love, peace, and rebirth in death.
Line number 13

 Gloss note

The material part; implicitly, the corporeal body.
Line number 14

 Gloss note

The source or origin; implicitly, the soul.
Line number 15

 Gloss note

See Pliny’s description of the phoenix “as yellow and bright as gold, (namely all about the necke;) the rest of the bodie a deep red purple the taile azure blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation color” (Pliny, Natural History, p. 271).
Line number 20

 Gloss note

A bright, dazzling light.
Line number 21

 Gloss note

A member of a sect of ancient Hindu ascetic philosophers, described in Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Here it refers to Calanus, the poem’s titular Brahman, although, in Plutarch, Calanus not one of the gymnosophists (Plutarch, Lives, p. 757–9). Pulter appears to use both Brahman and Gymnosophist as generic terms for Indian philosophers.
Line number 22

 Gloss note

Of or belonging to the Stoics; characteristic of the Stoic philosophy. This was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno and flourishing in the 4th century BCE, “characterized by the austerity of its ethical doctrines for some of which the name has become proverbial” (Oxford English Dictionary). Calanus was not a Stoic, and Pulter’s characterization of him as such is another example of her conflation of pagan philosophies (see note 12 above).
Line number 23

 Gloss note

i.e., put off his clothes. This references Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. At God’s command, Moses removes Aaron’s priestly garments before Aaron’s death and passes them to his son Eleazar. See Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 20.22–29; Barton, John. “Aaron.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Andrew Louth, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 17 Feb. 2022.
Line number 25

 Gloss note

The metaphor of the world as a stage and people as actors was common in the early modern period. Today, the most famous example is William Shakespeare’s the “All the World’s a Stage” speech in As You Like It (As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans and J. J. M. Tobin, 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 2.7.139–66).
Line number 27

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], Hadassah, the Hebrew form of Queen Esther’s name, is Pulter’s pseudonym as a poet.
Line number 33

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109] and Eardley’s edition: the material out of which the body comes and to which it will return in the Bible, e.g. Genesis 3.19; Eardley, Alice, editor. “The Brahman.” Poems, Emblems, and the Unfortunate Florinda, by Hester Pulter, University of Chicago Press, 2014, (n. to ln. 33). Pulter returns to this image of “dormant dust” repeatedly, especially in reference to resurrection, e.g. View But this Tulip (Emblem 40) [Poem 105].
Line number 34

 Gloss note

The smallest particle of matter, in use with this meaning in scientific circles by the seventeenth century. Although it is often considered a secular or even atheistic concept, here and in other poems, Pulter spiritualizes the concept of the atom and uses it as a synonym for dust (see note 17 above).
Line number 36

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], a reference to the Christian belief that the faithful will be resurrected following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Line number 38

 Critical note

Unlike Calanus and the phoenix, both of whom implicitly will be redeemed on the basis of their own virtues, Pulter hopes for salvation through the virtue of Christ.
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[Emblem 44]
The Brahman
(Emblem 44)
Emblem 44:
The Brahman
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Sophie Lawall
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Sophie Lawall
With three exceptions, this edition retains the manuscript’s seventeenth-century spelling, capitalization, and punctuation throughout. First, since, in secretary hand, initial “ff” represents “F,” all initial “ff”s have been transcribed as “F”. Second, due to the difficulty of distinguishing capital short “s” from initial lowercase short “s,” initial short “s” has been transcribed as capital and initial long “s” has been transcribed as lowercase throughout. Finally, for clarity, I have silently added possessive apostrophes in lines 10, 20, and 38. This edition ignores the crossings-out, flourishes, and engrossed letters, and silently accepts minor corrections in the manuscript.
Unless stated otherwise, all definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary and all other modern reference works are in Oxford Reference Online. All references to Plutarch’s Lives are to Thomas North’s 1579 translation, titled The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. All references to Pliny’s Natural History are to Philemon Holland’s 1634 translation, titled The Historie Of The World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie Of C. Plinius Secundus. All references to the Bible are to the 1611 King James Version.
In writing footnotes, I have aimed to define unusual words, especially ones not defined in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109]; to provide context for Pulter’s classical and biblical allusions; and to point out analogues for Pulter’s ideas in other early modern works.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Burke at the University of Ottawa for introducing me to this project and for providing feedback on early drafts of this edition.


— Sophie Lawall
“Who would not such a blessed change explore?” asks the speaker in this poem, contemplating a transformative suicide that will purify the soul. After all, the first two examples she conjures up suggest a glorious, if painful, rebirth: the philosopher Calanus, in frying himself on his own funeral pyre, renders his soul “pristine,” and the mythological Phoenix’s death preserves an essence that reassumes extravagantly splendid feathered form. Although she rejects the actions of two non-Christian examples, Pulter proclaims a willingness to shed her mortality like a well-worn set of clothes or a theatrical costume, with faith that God will gather up her deteriorated bits of flesh at the Last Judgment and reunite her body with her soul in eternal heaven. The poem uses the prospect of death to reflect on Pulter’s role as a writer, first in her reference to herself as Hadassah, the biblical Queen Esther whom Pulter chose as her authorial pseudonym (one of the manuscript’s titles is Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas). Second, it is telling that her future vision of death and salvation involves a re-enactment of the Word’s (God’s) creation of the world that ends in artistic production. When God will “reinspire” or breathe into her scattered mortal remains, they will convert into ascending atoms and burst forth in poetic hymns of praise.

— Sophie Lawall
“The Brahman” deals with the theme of self-sacrificial suicide in hopes of salvation through two lenses: first, she writes of two pagan examples of the virtuous who immolated themselves to escape mortal pains, Calanus and the phoenix; second, she contrasts her pagan examples with the death of Aaron, who, in her reading, accepts his death when it is God’s will, rather than seeking it out. Although Pulter seems to admire her pagan models, in this poem, her Christian faith means that she “cannot” and “dare[s] not” (ln. 20; 21) take their route away from the pain of mortal life; instead of suicide, she ultimately places her trust in the knowledge that, eventually, she will die by God’s will and rejoin Christ in heaven.
Pulter begins the poem by describing the death of Calanus, the titular Brahman, from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Although Pulter, on the grounds of Christian piety, rejects the actions of Calanus and the phoenix (her second example, introduced at line 9) in deliberately immolating themselves, she clearly sympathizes with the desire to be rid of the pains and impurities of the mortal body. After these two classical examples, Pulter turns to the death of the biblical Aaron, using it to express a desire to be permitted by God to die, so that she may be a spirit in Heaven until the resurrection at the end of days. In the Old Testament, after God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not see the Promised Land because they expressed doubt that God could bring forth the waters of Meribah, God tells Moses that Aaron will die:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”(KJV Numbers 20.23–28)
This passage presents Aaron as knowing his death is coming and, because it is a calling from God, he therefore willingly allows himself to die. By using Aaron as her Christian counter-example, Pulter returns to the image of deliberately removing one’s mortal life—the literal body, in the case of Calanus and the phoenix, and his priestly robes in the case of Aaron—in order to reveal the inner spirit in death. Although the biblical passage emphasizes Aaron’s passivity, as Moses is the one who removes Aaron’s clothes and gives them to Eleazar, Pulter gives Aaron some agency in his death, writing that “old Aaron did put of his Cloaths” (ln. 11), implying his active participation in accepting God’s will, and therefore in his death. Despite this agency, however, Aaron’s death is not a suicide; he accepts his death, rather than causing it.
The tension shown in this poem, between Pulter’s admiration of pagan models and her Christian faith, is present elsewhere in Pulter’s poetry. In particular, another of Pulter’s classical emblems, Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], has a similar structure of enumerating several classical examples of her theme and then embracing the proper Christian response, using an example from the Old Testament. In this emblem, Pulter explores the idea of trying to know or avoid one’s fate, offering King Hezekiah’s successful prayer for reprieve from a fatal plague as an alternative to pagan attempts to either avoid or ignore one’s fate, such as those of Aeschylus and Caesar (Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], ln. 13–16). She concludes by rejecting both foreknowledge of death and even the desire to avoid death, writing:
Then let me never Know my Destiny,
But every day So live that when I die,
I may with comfort lay these Ruins down
In dust; ’tis softer far than finest Down,
Nor is that Pillow Stuffed with Cares or fears,
Nor Shall I wake as now to Sighs and tears.
(ln. 25–30)
Here, like in “The Brahman,” Pulter finds solace in the eventual peace of death and the promise of resurrection. By embracing death as the release from life’s hardships and the first step of heaven’s reward for good Christians in both of these poems, Pulter distances her emblems’ morals from her emblems’ pagan subjects and demonstrates her own deeply Christian piety.
However, Pulter does not always reject pagan examples in her poetry; nor, indeed, does she always reject suicide, as demonstrated in Of a Young Lady at Oxford, 1646 (Poem 43) [Poem 43]. In this poem, Pulter recounts the story of a young woman who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover in battle. She then compares this young woman to pagan examples of suicide driven by honour (Lucrece) and love (Thisbe). Instead of going on to reject their examples, however, Pulter concludes by begging her soul to emulate their heroic suicides and leave her body so that she may rejoin Christ in Heaven:
Thus do these stories and these fables teach
And show to us how far our love may reach;
But He (my soul) His precious blood did lose
For us (ay me), for us: His curséd foes.
Considering this, my soul, how canst thou stay?
(ln. 67–71)
Furthermore, in this poem, Pulter even applauds the actions of the titular “young lady” who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover, and writes that “As this declares a magnanimous spirit, / So she the glory of it doth inherit” (ln. 30–31). Nowhere in this poem does Pulter state or imply that suicide is impious or will lead to damnation. As Lara Dodds notes in her Curation for “Of a Young Lady,” this poem engages with the Stoic idea of heroic suicide (Dodds Heroic Suicide and Women’s Writing), which experienced a revival during the early modern period (Hunter 242). However, in “The Brahman,” Pulter explicitly rejects “Stoicall tricks” (ln. 22) like Calanus’s heroic suicide. It is difficult to reconcile the opposing portrayals of suicide in “Of a Young Lady” and “The Brahman,” but it is worth noting that what Pulter wishes for herself in both poems is, in fact, quite similar: she seeks a natural death. Even in “Of a Young Lady,” Pulter begs her soul to follow Christ’s to heaven, like the souls of newborn infants that “Do often fly to their eternal rest” (ln. 76).
Although there are similarities in how Pulter expresses her own desire for death in these two poems, the opposition in their portrayal of heroic suicide, and Pulter’s use of classical figures in exploring both sides of it, reflect a broader conversation and anxiety about suicide during the early modern period. John Donne’s Christian defense of suicide, Biathanatos, written in 1608 but published in 1647, draws more on Catholic and Protestant theology than classical philosophy (including Stoic philosophy) in its justification of suicide (Rudick and Battin xxi-xxiv), but, as Elizabeth Hunter argues, the revival of Stoicism in this period also played a role in the conversation surrounding suicide. According to Hunter, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although many of the Neo-stoics themselves rejected the concept, the revival of the Stoic idea of heroic or honourable suicide, including in the context of early Christian martyrs, provoked counterarguments from more orthodox Protestant English clergy (Hunter 242–45). In “The Brahman,” therefore, Pulter is engaging with this conversation through the contradiction between heroic suicide and conventional Christian doctrine. In fact, Pulter’s use of Calanus in a poem arguing against suicide has an analogue in Thomas Philipot’s treatise Self-Homicide-Murther, or, Some Antidotes and Arguments Gleaned out of the Treasuries of Our Modern Casuists and Divines against That Horrid and Reigning Sin of Self-Murther by T.P., Esq (1674), in which he uses Calanus as an example of Greek authors condemning suicide: “[a]nd Strabo informs us, that the Indian Priests and Wise men, blam’d the Fact of Calanus, and that they resented with Regret and Hatred the hasty Deaths of Proud and Impatient Persons” (24). Philipot, like Pulter in “The Brahman,” rejects suicide as a sin to be avoided through faith in God (Philipot 22–23), and, by speaking against pagan examples of supposedly righteous suicide, both authors participate in their culture’s anxiety over how to incorporate un-Christian aspects of ancient writings.
In reading “The Brahman,” therefore, we see Pulter exploring the disjunction between her use of classical models and her own religious values as well as between Christianity’s rejection of suicide and its portrayal of the ecstasy of righteous souls after death. Although Pulter clearly desires her pagan examples’ purifying deaths, her Christian faith keeps her from deliberate self-destruction, leaving her to instead place her hope for heaven’s bliss following a natural death.
Works Cited
Holy Bible, King James Version. Bible Gateway, Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Hunter, Elizabeth K. “‘Between the Bridge and the Brook’: Suicide and Salvation in England, c.1550–1650.” Reformation & Renaissance Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2013, pp. 237–57. Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
Rudick, Michael, and M. Pabst Battin. “Introduction.” Biathanatos, by John Donne, edited by Michael Rudick and M. Pabst Battin, Garland, 1982.


— Sophie Lawall
1
44
Physical Note
poem begins two-thirds down the page; previous poem concludes at top of the page followed by blank space
The
Brackman Th’angrie Deities to appeas
The
Gloss Note
Hindu priest, here referring to the legendary philosopher and gymnosophist Calanus (or Kalanus) who self-immolated in the presence of Alexander the Great. See Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. Thomas North (London, 1579), p. 759.
Brahman
, th’angry deities to appease,
The
Gloss Note
Alternate spelling of Brahmin. Modern definition: a member of the highest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Pulter’s usage: a generic term for an Indian priest and a reference to Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great,” in which the Indian philosopher Calanus sacrifices himself upon a pyre to free himself of the agony of illness. See Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes Compared Together by That Graue Learned Philosopher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chæronea, translated by Thomas North and James Amyot, London, 1579, p. 759, Early English Books Online.
Brackman
Th’angrie Deities to appeas
2
Hee being afflicted with a Sad diſeaſe
He being afflicted with a sad disease,
Hee being afflicted with a Sad disease
3
Unwilling to bee grated thus aſunder
Unwilling to be
Gloss Note
scraped, pulverized; figuratively, irritated (here, by an intestinal disorder)
grated
thus asunder,
Unwilling to bee grated thus asunder
4
Hee did an Act made Alexander wonder
He did an act made Alexander wonder:
Hee did an Act made
Gloss Note
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia 336–323 BC. The Alexandrian empire reached all the way to India and, according to Plutarch, Calanus was sent with Alexander when he left India. Along with featuring in Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander was a popular character in medieval romances, and the most famous English Alexander romance, King Alisaunder, was printed in 1525 and 1711. See Plutarch’s Lives; Holt, Frank L., and Andrew Stewart. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, Oxford University Press, 2010; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Alexander the Great” and “King Alisaunder." The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Alexander
wonder
5
ffor on his ffunerall, fllagrant,
Physical Note
“le” written over other letters
Pile
hee lies
For on his funeral
Gloss Note
burning
flagrant
Gloss Note
that is, the heap of fuel, or pyre, for his cremation
pile
he lies,
For on his Funerall, Flagrant, Pile hee lies
6
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice
Becoming thus both priest and sacrifice.
Becoming thus both Priest and Sacrifice.
7
What was Corporeall the ffire Conſumes
What was corporeal, the fire consumes;
What was Corporeall the Fire Consumes
8
His Soul its
Physical Note
second “i” in different ink over earlier “e”; final “e” appears added later, in different ink
Priſtine
Glory Reaſſumes
His soul its pristine glory reassumes.
His Soul its Pristine Glory Reassumes
9
Soe doth the Phœnix ffan her guilded Wings
So doth the
Gloss Note
the Egyptian bird who was reborn from her ashes after burning in a sacrificial fire
Phœnix
fan her gilded wings
Soe doth the
Gloss Note
A mythological bird which was consumed by fire and then reborn from its own ashes. By Pulter’s period, it was widely considered a symbol of the resurrection in the Christian world, and Pulter’s contemporaries, such as John Dryden, use it as a metaphor for rebirth after disaster. See Pliny the Elder. The Historie of the World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated by Philemon Holland, London, 1634, p. 271, Early English Books Online; Louth, Andrew, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2022; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Phœnix
Fan her guilded Wings
10
Till Phœbus Raiſe her Gaudy ffeathers Sings
Till
Gloss Note
the sun god’s
Phœbus’s
rays her gaudy feathers
Gloss Note
a northern British form of “singes,” pronounced to rhyme with “wings”
sings
;
Till
Gloss Note
Another name of Apollo, especially in his roles as sun god and the leader of the muses; here this is used to refer to the sun itself. See Dent, Susie, editor. “Phoebus.” Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 19th ed., Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2012.
Phœbus’
Critical Note
Possibly a pun on “rays.” See following note for possible glosses of this line.
Raise
her Gaudy Feathers
Critical Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], an alternate spelling of “singes,” or burns. Pulter’s use of this alternate spelling may also be a play on words, as the phoenix was thought to have a beautiful song (as in Lactantius. “Phoenix.” Minor Latin Poets, translated by A. M. Duff and J. Wight Duff, Harvard University Press, 2014, pp. 643–67. Loeb Classical Library, ln. 45–48; see note 7 below). This line glosses as either “Till Phoebus’ rising her gaudy feathers singes” or “Till Phoebus’ rays her gaudy feathers singe” (italics mine).
Sings
then

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11
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee ffryes
Then, in that light in which she lives, she fries—
Then in that Light in which Shee lives Shee Fryes
12
A glorious Virgin Victim, thus Shee Dies
A glorious virgin victim; thus she dies.
A glorious
Critical Note
There was thought to only ever be one phoenix in existence at a time, which would live in a cycle of immolation and resurrection; therefore, the phoenix is a virgin. The third-century Latin poem “The Phoenix,” attributed to the Christian poet Lactantius, reads “felix quae veneris foedera nulla colit: / mors illi venus est, sola est in morte volupta” (ln. 164–65; “she regards not any unions of love: to her, death is love; and her sole pleasure lies in death” (trans. J. Wight Duff, Arnold M. Duff)). While we do not know whether Pulter read this poem, it expresses a similar sentiment to this emblem in an equally Christian framework: namely, the desire to find love, peace, and rebirth in death.
Virgin
Victim, thus Shee Dies
13
Thus though the
Physical Note
“re” written over other letters, possibly “er
ffire
her groſſer part conſumes
Thus though the fire her
Gloss Note
more material, substantial, dense (than, by implication, the spirit or soul); more perceptible to the senses
grosser
part consumes,
Thus though the Fire her
Gloss Note
The material part; implicitly, the corporeal body.
grosser part
consumes
14
A principle is left which Reaſſumes
A principle is left which reassumes
A
Gloss Note
The source or origin; implicitly, the soul.
principle
is left which Reassumes
15
The Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
The
Gloss Note
blue
azure
, purple, scarlet, golden
Gloss Note
feathers
plumes
The
Gloss Note
See Pliny’s description of the phoenix “as yellow and bright as gold, (namely all about the necke;) the rest of the bodie a deep red purple the taile azure blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation color” (Pliny, Natural History, p. 271).
Azure, Purple, Skarlet, Golden Plumes
16
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
Which did adorn her gorgeous
Gloss Note
highly ornate, showy (not, at this time, necessarily in a negative sense, as now)
gaudy
mother;
Which did Adorn, her Gorgious gaudy Mother
17
Thus they ſucceed and Still exceed each other
Thus they succeed and still exceed each other.
Thus they succeed and Still exceed each other
18
Who would not ſuch a bleſſed change explore
Who would not such a blessed change
Gloss Note
investigate, consider
explore
?
Who would not such a blessed change explore
19
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
Or who would such a change as this
Gloss Note
lament, regret
deplore
?
Or who would Such a change as this deplore
20
Although I cannot in Sols ffulgour ffrie
Although I cannot in
Gloss Note
the sun’s dazzling brightness
Sol’s fulgor
fry,
Although I cannot in Sol’s
Gloss Note
A bright, dazzling light.
Fulgour
Frie
21
Nor dare not like this Gymnoſophist die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
ancient Hindu mystical contemplative sect whose members wore very little clothing, ate no meat, and practiced asceticism and self-inflected hardships
Gymnosophist
die
Nor dare not like this
Gloss Note
A member of a sect of ancient Hindu ascetic philosophers, described in Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Here it refers to Calanus, the poem’s titular Brahman, although, in Plutarch, Calanus not one of the gymnosophists (Plutarch, Lives, p. 757–9). Pulter appears to use both Brahman and Gymnosophist as generic terms for Indian philosophers.
Gymnosophist
die
22
Such
Physical Note
imperfectly erased descender below “c”
Stoicall
tricks a Chriſtian Spirit loaths
(Such
Gloss Note
traits of those practicing the philosophy of Stoicism, commonly identified as austerity, indifference to pleasure and pain, acceptance of suffering, and repression of feeling
Stoical
tricks a Christian spirit loathes),
Such
Gloss Note
Of or belonging to the Stoics; characteristic of the Stoic philosophy. This was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno and flourishing in the 4th century BCE, “characterized by the austerity of its ethical doctrines for some of which the name has become proverbial” (Oxford English Dictionary). Calanus was not a Stoic, and Pulter’s characterization of him as such is another example of her conflation of pagan philosophies (see note 12 above).
Stoicall
tricks a Christian Spirit loaths
23
Yet as old Aaron did put of his Cloaths
Yet as old
Gloss Note
On God’s command, Moses stripped his brother Aaron of his clothes before Aaron’s death (Aaron died for disobeying God). See Numbers 20: 23–29.
Aaron did put off his clothes
,
Yet as old Aaron did
Gloss Note
i.e., put off his clothes. This references Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. At God’s command, Moses removes Aaron’s priestly garments before Aaron’s death and passes them to his son Eleazar. See Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 20.22–29; Barton, John. “Aaron.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Andrew Louth, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 17 Feb. 2022.
put of his Cloaths
24
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
So I, being worn with sorrow, sin, and age,
Soe I being Worn with Sorrow, Sin, and Age,
25
Quite tird with Acting in this Scene and Stage
Quite tired with acting in this scene and stage,
Quite tird with Acting in this
Gloss Note
The metaphor of the world as a stage and people as actors was common in the early modern period. Today, the most famous example is William Shakespeare’s the “All the World’s a Stage” speech in As You Like It (As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans and J. J. M. Tobin, 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 2.7.139–66).
Scene and Stage
26
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
Would gladly my mortality lay by.
Would gladly my Mortality lay by
27
Who then can Say Hadaſſah here doth Lie
Who then can say, “
Gloss Note
Pulter’s chosen pseudonym, the Hebrew form of the name of the heroic biblical Queen Esther (Esther being a variant of Hester)
Hadassah
here doth
Gloss Note
to remain in a recumbent position or posture of subjection; to dwell or be quartered in; be passive, tell an untruth
lie
,”
Who then can Say
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], Hadassah, the Hebrew form of Queen Esther’s name, is Pulter’s pseudonym as a poet.
Hadassah
here doth Lie
28
When as my Soul ſhall Reaſſend above
Gloss Note
seeing that; at a time which
Whenas
my soul shall reascend above
When as my Soul shall Reassend above
29
To God the ffount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
To God, the fount of life, light, joy, and love?
To God the Fount of Life, Light, Joy, and Love.
30
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
Nor shall my scattered dust forgotten rest,
Nor Shall my Scattred dust forgotten Rest
31
But
Physical Note
erased descender under the “k”
like
the
Physical Note
“yo” written over other letters, in darker ink; two following letters scribbled out in same ink
Embryo[?]
in the Phœnix Nest
But like the embryo in the Phœnix nest,
But like the Embryo in the Phœnix Nest
32
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
Gloss Note
God’s word as creative force: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 103)
That Word that nothing did create in vain
That Word that Nothing did create in vain
33
Shall Reinſpire my Dormient Duſt again
Shall reinspire my
Gloss Note
in biblical accounts, the dormant (slumbering, inert) material from which life derives to and to which it will return; see Genesis 3:19: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
dormant dust
again;
Shall Reinspire my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109] and Eardley’s edition: the material out of which the body comes and to which it will return in the Bible, e.g. Genesis 3.19; Eardley, Alice, editor. “The Brahman.” Poems, Emblems, and the Unfortunate Florinda, by Hester Pulter, University of Chicago Press, 2014, (n. to ln. 33). Pulter returns to this image of “dormant dust” repeatedly, especially in reference to resurrection, e.g. View But this Tulip (Emblem 40) [Poem 105].
Dormient Dust
again
34
And from obſcurity my Atomes Raiſe
And from obscurity my atoms raise
And from obscurity my
Gloss Note
The smallest particle of matter, in use with this meaning in scientific circles by the seventeenth century. Although it is often considered a secular or even atheistic concept, here and in other poems, Pulter spiritualizes the concept of the atom and uses it as a synonym for dust (see note 17 above).
Atomes
Raise
35
To ſing in Joy his Everlasting praiſe
To sing in joy His everlasting praise,
To sing in Joy his Everlasting praise
36
And Reunite my Body to my Spirit
Gloss Note
a reference to the Christian belief in the reunion of the dead body and spirit in heaven at the Final Judgment or end of the world. The next lines link such salvation to Christ’s sacrifice.
And reunite my body to my spirit
,
And Reunite my Body to my
Gloss Note
As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], a reference to the Christian belief that the faithful will be resurrected following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Spirit
37
That wee may thoſe Eternall Joys inherit
That we may those eternal joys inherit,
That wee may those Eternall Joys inherit
38
Which I may claim by my dear Saviours Merrit.
Which I may claim by my dear Savior’s merit.
Which I may claim by my dear
Critical Note
Unlike Calanus and the phoenix, both of whom implicitly will be redeemed on the basis of their own virtues, Pulter hopes for salvation through the virtue of Christ.
Saviour’s Merrit
.
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Transcription

 Editorial note

In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.
Elemental Edition

 Editorial note

The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.
Amplified Edition

 Editorial note

With three exceptions, this edition retains the manuscript’s seventeenth-century spelling, capitalization, and punctuation throughout. First, since, in secretary hand, initial “ff” represents “F,” all initial “ff”s have been transcribed as “F”. Second, due to the difficulty of distinguishing capital short “s” from initial lowercase short “s,” initial short “s” has been transcribed as capital and initial long “s” has been transcribed as lowercase throughout. Finally, for clarity, I have silently added possessive apostrophes in lines 10, 20, and 38. This edition ignores the crossings-out, flourishes, and engrossed letters, and silently accepts minor corrections in the manuscript.
Unless stated otherwise, all definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary and all other modern reference works are in Oxford Reference Online. All references to Plutarch’s Lives are to Thomas North’s 1579 translation, titled The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. All references to Pliny’s Natural History are to Philemon Holland’s 1634 translation, titled The Historie Of The World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie Of C. Plinius Secundus. All references to the Bible are to the 1611 King James Version.
In writing footnotes, I have aimed to define unusual words, especially ones not defined in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109]; to provide context for Pulter’s classical and biblical allusions; and to point out analogues for Pulter’s ideas in other early modern works.
Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Burke at the University of Ottawa for introducing me to this project and for providing feedback on early drafts of this edition.
Elemental Edition

 Headnote

“Who would not such a blessed change explore?” asks the speaker in this poem, contemplating a transformative suicide that will purify the soul. After all, the first two examples she conjures up suggest a glorious, if painful, rebirth: the philosopher Calanus, in frying himself on his own funeral pyre, renders his soul “pristine,” and the mythological Phoenix’s death preserves an essence that reassumes extravagantly splendid feathered form. Although she rejects the actions of two non-Christian examples, Pulter proclaims a willingness to shed her mortality like a well-worn set of clothes or a theatrical costume, with faith that God will gather up her deteriorated bits of flesh at the Last Judgment and reunite her body with her soul in eternal heaven. The poem uses the prospect of death to reflect on Pulter’s role as a writer, first in her reference to herself as Hadassah, the biblical Queen Esther whom Pulter chose as her authorial pseudonym (one of the manuscript’s titles is Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas). Second, it is telling that her future vision of death and salvation involves a re-enactment of the Word’s (God’s) creation of the world that ends in artistic production. When God will “reinspire” or breathe into her scattered mortal remains, they will convert into ascending atoms and burst forth in poetic hymns of praise.
Amplified Edition

 Headnote

“The Brahman” deals with the theme of self-sacrificial suicide in hopes of salvation through two lenses: first, she writes of two pagan examples of the virtuous who immolated themselves to escape mortal pains, Calanus and the phoenix; second, she contrasts her pagan examples with the death of Aaron, who, in her reading, accepts his death when it is God’s will, rather than seeking it out. Although Pulter seems to admire her pagan models, in this poem, her Christian faith means that she “cannot” and “dare[s] not” (ln. 20; 21) take their route away from the pain of mortal life; instead of suicide, she ultimately places her trust in the knowledge that, eventually, she will die by God’s will and rejoin Christ in heaven.
Pulter begins the poem by describing the death of Calanus, the titular Brahman, from Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Although Pulter, on the grounds of Christian piety, rejects the actions of Calanus and the phoenix (her second example, introduced at line 9) in deliberately immolating themselves, she clearly sympathizes with the desire to be rid of the pains and impurities of the mortal body. After these two classical examples, Pulter turns to the death of the biblical Aaron, using it to express a desire to be permitted by God to die, so that she may be a spirit in Heaven until the resurrection at the end of days. In the Old Testament, after God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not see the Promised Land because they expressed doubt that God could bring forth the waters of Meribah, God tells Moses that Aaron will die:
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”(KJV Numbers 20.23–28)
This passage presents Aaron as knowing his death is coming and, because it is a calling from God, he therefore willingly allows himself to die. By using Aaron as her Christian counter-example, Pulter returns to the image of deliberately removing one’s mortal life—the literal body, in the case of Calanus and the phoenix, and his priestly robes in the case of Aaron—in order to reveal the inner spirit in death. Although the biblical passage emphasizes Aaron’s passivity, as Moses is the one who removes Aaron’s clothes and gives them to Eleazar, Pulter gives Aaron some agency in his death, writing that “old Aaron did put of his Cloaths” (ln. 11), implying his active participation in accepting God’s will, and therefore in his death. Despite this agency, however, Aaron’s death is not a suicide; he accepts his death, rather than causing it.
The tension shown in this poem, between Pulter’s admiration of pagan models and her Christian faith, is present elsewhere in Pulter’s poetry. In particular, another of Pulter’s classical emblems, Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], has a similar structure of enumerating several classical examples of her theme and then embracing the proper Christian response, using an example from the Old Testament. In this emblem, Pulter explores the idea of trying to know or avoid one’s fate, offering King Hezekiah’s successful prayer for reprieve from a fatal plague as an alternative to pagan attempts to either avoid or ignore one’s fate, such as those of Aeschylus and Caesar (Old Aeschylus (Emblem 31) [Poem 96], ln. 13–16). She concludes by rejecting both foreknowledge of death and even the desire to avoid death, writing:
Then let me never Know my Destiny,
But every day So live that when I die,
I may with comfort lay these Ruins down
In dust; ’tis softer far than finest Down,
Nor is that Pillow Stuffed with Cares or fears,
Nor Shall I wake as now to Sighs and tears.
(ln. 25–30)
Here, like in “The Brahman,” Pulter finds solace in the eventual peace of death and the promise of resurrection. By embracing death as the release from life’s hardships and the first step of heaven’s reward for good Christians in both of these poems, Pulter distances her emblems’ morals from her emblems’ pagan subjects and demonstrates her own deeply Christian piety.
However, Pulter does not always reject pagan examples in her poetry; nor, indeed, does she always reject suicide, as demonstrated in Of a Young Lady at Oxford, 1646 (Poem 43) [Poem 43]. In this poem, Pulter recounts the story of a young woman who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover in battle. She then compares this young woman to pagan examples of suicide driven by honour (Lucrece) and love (Thisbe). Instead of going on to reject their examples, however, Pulter concludes by begging her soul to emulate their heroic suicides and leave her body so that she may rejoin Christ in Heaven:
Thus do these stories and these fables teach
And show to us how far our love may reach;
But He (my soul) His precious blood did lose
For us (ay me), for us: His curséd foes.
Considering this, my soul, how canst thou stay?
(ln. 67–71)
Furthermore, in this poem, Pulter even applauds the actions of the titular “young lady” who commits suicide after the death of her royalist lover, and writes that “As this declares a magnanimous spirit, / So she the glory of it doth inherit” (ln. 30–31). Nowhere in this poem does Pulter state or imply that suicide is impious or will lead to damnation. As Lara Dodds notes in her Curation for “Of a Young Lady,” this poem engages with the Stoic idea of heroic suicide (Dodds Heroic Suicide and Women’s Writing), which experienced a revival during the early modern period (Hunter 242). However, in “The Brahman,” Pulter explicitly rejects “Stoicall tricks” (ln. 22) like Calanus’s heroic suicide. It is difficult to reconcile the opposing portrayals of suicide in “Of a Young Lady” and “The Brahman,” but it is worth noting that what Pulter wishes for herself in both poems is, in fact, quite similar: she seeks a natural death. Even in “Of a Young Lady,” Pulter begs her soul to follow Christ’s to heaven, like the souls of newborn infants that “Do often fly to their eternal rest” (ln. 76).
Although there are similarities in how Pulter expresses her own desire for death in these two poems, the opposition in their portrayal of heroic suicide, and Pulter’s use of classical figures in exploring both sides of it, reflect a broader conversation and anxiety about suicide during the early modern period. John Donne’s Christian defense of suicide, Biathanatos, written in 1608 but published in 1647, draws more on Catholic and Protestant theology than classical philosophy (including Stoic philosophy) in its justification of suicide (Rudick and Battin xxi-xxiv), but, as Elizabeth Hunter argues, the revival of Stoicism in this period also played a role in the conversation surrounding suicide. According to Hunter, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, although many of the Neo-stoics themselves rejected the concept, the revival of the Stoic idea of heroic or honourable suicide, including in the context of early Christian martyrs, provoked counterarguments from more orthodox Protestant English clergy (Hunter 242–45). In “The Brahman,” therefore, Pulter is engaging with this conversation through the contradiction between heroic suicide and conventional Christian doctrine. In fact, Pulter’s use of Calanus in a poem arguing against suicide has an analogue in Thomas Philipot’s treatise Self-Homicide-Murther, or, Some Antidotes and Arguments Gleaned out of the Treasuries of Our Modern Casuists and Divines against That Horrid and Reigning Sin of Self-Murther by T.P., Esq (1674), in which he uses Calanus as an example of Greek authors condemning suicide: “[a]nd Strabo informs us, that the Indian Priests and Wise men, blam’d the Fact of Calanus, and that they resented with Regret and Hatred the hasty Deaths of Proud and Impatient Persons” (24). Philipot, like Pulter in “The Brahman,” rejects suicide as a sin to be avoided through faith in God (Philipot 22–23), and, by speaking against pagan examples of supposedly righteous suicide, both authors participate in their culture’s anxiety over how to incorporate un-Christian aspects of ancient writings.
In reading “The Brahman,” therefore, we see Pulter exploring the disjunction between her use of classical models and her own religious values as well as between Christianity’s rejection of suicide and its portrayal of the ecstasy of righteous souls after death. Although Pulter clearly desires her pagan examples’ purifying deaths, her Christian faith keeps her from deliberate self-destruction, leaving her to instead place her hope for heaven’s bliss following a natural death.
Works Cited
Holy Bible, King James Version. Bible Gateway, Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
Hunter, Elizabeth K. “‘Between the Bridge and the Brook’: Suicide and Salvation in England, c.1550–1650.” Reformation & Renaissance Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2013, pp. 237–57. Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
Rudick, Michael, and M. Pabst Battin. “Introduction.” Biathanatos, by John Donne, edited by Michael Rudick and M. Pabst Battin, Garland, 1982.
Transcription
Line number 1

 Physical note

poem begins two-thirds down the page; previous poem concludes at top of the page followed by blank space
Elemental Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Hindu priest, here referring to the legendary philosopher and gymnosophist Calanus (or Kalanus) who self-immolated in the presence of Alexander the Great. See Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. Thomas North (London, 1579), p. 759.
Amplified Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Alternate spelling of Brahmin. Modern definition: a member of the highest caste in the traditional Indian caste system. Pulter’s usage: a generic term for an Indian priest and a reference to Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great,” in which the Indian philosopher Calanus sacrifices himself upon a pyre to free himself of the agony of illness. See Plutarch. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes Compared Together by That Graue Learned Philosopher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chæronea, translated by Thomas North and James Amyot, London, 1579, p. 759, Early English Books Online.
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Line number 3

 Gloss note

scraped, pulverized; figuratively, irritated (here, by an intestinal disorder)
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Line number 4

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Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia 336–323 BC. The Alexandrian empire reached all the way to India and, according to Plutarch, Calanus was sent with Alexander when he left India. Along with featuring in Plutarch’s Lives, Alexander was a popular character in medieval romances, and the most famous English Alexander romance, King Alisaunder, was printed in 1525 and 1711. See Plutarch’s Lives; Holt, Frank L., and Andrew Stewart. “Alexander the Great.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, Oxford University Press, 2010; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Alexander the Great” and “King Alisaunder." The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Transcription
Line number 5

 Physical note

“le” written over other letters
Elemental Edition
Line number 5

 Gloss note

burning
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Line number 5

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that is, the heap of fuel, or pyre, for his cremation
Transcription
Line number 8

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second “i” in different ink over earlier “e”; final “e” appears added later, in different ink
Elemental Edition
Line number 9

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the Egyptian bird who was reborn from her ashes after burning in a sacrificial fire
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Line number 9

 Gloss note

A mythological bird which was consumed by fire and then reborn from its own ashes. By Pulter’s period, it was widely considered a symbol of the resurrection in the Christian world, and Pulter’s contemporaries, such as John Dryden, use it as a metaphor for rebirth after disaster. See Pliny the Elder. The Historie of the World: Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated by Philemon Holland, London, 1634, p. 271, Early English Books Online; Louth, Andrew, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2022; Birch, Dinah, editor. “Phoenix.” The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th ed, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2009.
Elemental Edition
Line number 10

 Gloss note

the sun god’s
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Line number 10

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a northern British form of “singes,” pronounced to rhyme with “wings”
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Line number 10

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Another name of Apollo, especially in his roles as sun god and the leader of the muses; here this is used to refer to the sun itself. See Dent, Susie, editor. “Phoebus.” Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 19th ed., Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2012.
Amplified Edition
Line number 10

 Critical note

Possibly a pun on “rays.” See following note for possible glosses of this line.
Amplified Edition
Line number 10

 Critical note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], an alternate spelling of “singes,” or burns. Pulter’s use of this alternate spelling may also be a play on words, as the phoenix was thought to have a beautiful song (as in Lactantius. “Phoenix.” Minor Latin Poets, translated by A. M. Duff and J. Wight Duff, Harvard University Press, 2014, pp. 643–67. Loeb Classical Library, ln. 45–48; see note 7 below). This line glosses as either “Till Phoebus’ rising her gaudy feathers singes” or “Till Phoebus’ rays her gaudy feathers singe” (italics mine).
Amplified Edition
Line number 12

 Critical note

There was thought to only ever be one phoenix in existence at a time, which would live in a cycle of immolation and resurrection; therefore, the phoenix is a virgin. The third-century Latin poem “The Phoenix,” attributed to the Christian poet Lactantius, reads “felix quae veneris foedera nulla colit: / mors illi venus est, sola est in morte volupta” (ln. 164–65; “she regards not any unions of love: to her, death is love; and her sole pleasure lies in death” (trans. J. Wight Duff, Arnold M. Duff)). While we do not know whether Pulter read this poem, it expresses a similar sentiment to this emblem in an equally Christian framework: namely, the desire to find love, peace, and rebirth in death.
Transcription
Line number 13

 Physical note

“re” written over other letters, possibly “er
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Line number 13

 Gloss note

more material, substantial, dense (than, by implication, the spirit or soul); more perceptible to the senses
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Line number 13

 Gloss note

The material part; implicitly, the corporeal body.
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Line number 14

 Gloss note

The source or origin; implicitly, the soul.
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Line number 15

 Gloss note

blue
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Line number 15

 Gloss note

feathers
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Line number 15

 Gloss note

See Pliny’s description of the phoenix “as yellow and bright as gold, (namely all about the necke;) the rest of the bodie a deep red purple the taile azure blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation color” (Pliny, Natural History, p. 271).
Elemental Edition
Line number 16

 Gloss note

highly ornate, showy (not, at this time, necessarily in a negative sense, as now)
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Line number 18

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investigate, consider
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Line number 19

 Gloss note

lament, regret
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Line number 20

 Gloss note

the sun’s dazzling brightness
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Line number 20

 Gloss note

A bright, dazzling light.
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Line number 21

 Gloss note

ancient Hindu mystical contemplative sect whose members wore very little clothing, ate no meat, and practiced asceticism and self-inflected hardships
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Line number 21

 Gloss note

A member of a sect of ancient Hindu ascetic philosophers, described in Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander the Great.” Here it refers to Calanus, the poem’s titular Brahman, although, in Plutarch, Calanus not one of the gymnosophists (Plutarch, Lives, p. 757–9). Pulter appears to use both Brahman and Gymnosophist as generic terms for Indian philosophers.
Transcription
Line number 22

 Physical note

imperfectly erased descender below “c”
Elemental Edition
Line number 22

 Gloss note

traits of those practicing the philosophy of Stoicism, commonly identified as austerity, indifference to pleasure and pain, acceptance of suffering, and repression of feeling
Amplified Edition
Line number 22

 Gloss note

Of or belonging to the Stoics; characteristic of the Stoic philosophy. This was a school of philosophy founded by Zeno and flourishing in the 4th century BCE, “characterized by the austerity of its ethical doctrines for some of which the name has become proverbial” (Oxford English Dictionary). Calanus was not a Stoic, and Pulter’s characterization of him as such is another example of her conflation of pagan philosophies (see note 12 above).
Elemental Edition
Line number 23

 Gloss note

On God’s command, Moses stripped his brother Aaron of his clothes before Aaron’s death (Aaron died for disobeying God). See Numbers 20: 23–29.
Amplified Edition
Line number 23

 Gloss note

i.e., put off his clothes. This references Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. At God’s command, Moses removes Aaron’s priestly garments before Aaron’s death and passes them to his son Eleazar. See Holy Bible, King James Version, Numbers 20.22–29; Barton, John. “Aaron.” The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Andrew Louth, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 17 Feb. 2022.
Amplified Edition
Line number 25

 Gloss note

The metaphor of the world as a stage and people as actors was common in the early modern period. Today, the most famous example is William Shakespeare’s the “All the World’s a Stage” speech in As You Like It (As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare, edited by G. Blakemore Evans and J. J. M. Tobin, 2nd ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 2.7.139–66).
Elemental Edition
Line number 27

 Gloss note

Pulter’s chosen pseudonym, the Hebrew form of the name of the heroic biblical Queen Esther (Esther being a variant of Hester)
Elemental Edition
Line number 27

 Gloss note

to remain in a recumbent position or posture of subjection; to dwell or be quartered in; be passive, tell an untruth
Amplified Edition
Line number 27

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], Hadassah, the Hebrew form of Queen Esther’s name, is Pulter’s pseudonym as a poet.
Elemental Edition
Line number 28

 Gloss note

seeing that; at a time which
Transcription
Line number 31

 Physical note

erased descender under the “k”
Transcription
Line number 31

 Physical note

“yo” written over other letters, in darker ink; two following letters scribbled out in same ink
Elemental Edition
Line number 32

 Gloss note

God’s word as creative force: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 103)
Elemental Edition
Line number 33

 Gloss note

in biblical accounts, the dormant (slumbering, inert) material from which life derives to and to which it will return; see Genesis 3:19: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Amplified Edition
Line number 33

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109] and Eardley’s edition: the material out of which the body comes and to which it will return in the Bible, e.g. Genesis 3.19; Eardley, Alice, editor. “The Brahman.” Poems, Emblems, and the Unfortunate Florinda, by Hester Pulter, University of Chicago Press, 2014, (n. to ln. 33). Pulter returns to this image of “dormant dust” repeatedly, especially in reference to resurrection, e.g. View But this Tulip (Emblem 40) [Poem 105].
Amplified Edition
Line number 34

 Gloss note

The smallest particle of matter, in use with this meaning in scientific circles by the seventeenth century. Although it is often considered a secular or even atheistic concept, here and in other poems, Pulter spiritualizes the concept of the atom and uses it as a synonym for dust (see note 17 above).
Elemental Edition
Line number 36

 Gloss note

a reference to the Christian belief in the reunion of the dead body and spirit in heaven at the Final Judgment or end of the world. The next lines link such salvation to Christ’s sacrifice.
Amplified Edition
Line number 36

 Gloss note

As noted in the Elemental Edition of The Brahman (Emblem 44) [Poem 109], a reference to the Christian belief that the faithful will be resurrected following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Amplified Edition
Line number 38

 Critical note

Unlike Calanus and the phoenix, both of whom implicitly will be redeemed on the basis of their own virtues, Pulter hopes for salvation through the virtue of Christ.
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