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
Where ideas of revolution sometimes inspire Pulter, here a metaphorical water cycle—with tears evaporating into cloudy sighs which, in turn, rain down again—is castigated for having “no end”: that is, it is both ceaseless and purposeless, since there’s “no ease” in sighs and tears that are “vain.” Yet she cannot stop: indeed, she diagnoses the vanity of tears in a line that is itself infused with a sigh (the interjected “ah me”). Although the speaker realizes she is caught in a vicious circle, she also determines that it is better not to succumb either to airy sighs or watery tears: instead, she must cycle between them until she attains her proper end in earthy “dust,” the element that signals her divine origin here, as in many of Pulter’s poems. Thus, the speaker’s initial portrayal of her all-too-human weakness—embodied in the mercurial weather of her emotional responses—is finally countered by her confident expression of trust in God and contentment that even his annihilation of her shall be to his glory.Line number 3
Gloss note
liquefyLine number 8
Gloss note
dissipate, purifyLine number 11
Gloss note
sigh; breatheLine number 14
Gloss note
entangle, envelopLine number 16
Critical note
original, formative elements; see Genesis 2:7: “And the Lord God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”Line number 17
Gloss note
arising, especially unexpectedlyLine number 19
Gloss note
The idea that the universe was created by God ex nihilo (“from nothing”) was a point of theological doctrine and debate.Line number 21
Gloss note
to sever or to interrupt suddenlyLine number 21
Gloss note
In this context, “consummate” means to bring to completion or perfection, or to end.Line number 21
Gloss note
life Sorry, but there are no notes associated with
any currently displayed witness.