Editorial note
The aim of the elemental edition 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
In this poem, Pulter experiments with form, writing in iambic tetrameter triplets (three rhyming lines). Her subject matter is devotional: the first part of the poem uses astronomical and cosmological imagery to imagine the physical dissolution of the universe and matter if God were to withdraw his sustenance. The poem turns then to welcome this dissolution of human and earthly forms, as the speaker imagines a personal transmutation in which her basic elements (air, dust, tears) swirl redemptively into the heavens. Transmuted into a fiery comet in the skies, she hopes to serve as an emblem for other women to understand that penance can secure eternal salvation.Line number 1
Critical note
To “circumvolve” meant to rotate, turn, roll, or whirl (a thing) round on its axis or center; to move (a thing) round in a circular path; it may also mean to encompass or enwrap, as it shares the Latin root “volvere” with “involve.”Line number 3
Gloss note
traveller; one who journeys to a holy placeLine number 9
Gloss note
forward motionLine number 10
Gloss note
EvenLine number 10
Gloss note
stars, as distinct from planets (which were known as “wandering stars”)Line number 10
Gloss note
brightnessLine number 11
Gloss note
surpasses in a rivalryLine number 12
Gloss note
splendorsLine number 14
Gloss note
primordial void, nothingnessLine number 15
Gloss note
entangle, envelopLine number 16
Critical note
“th’all” (the all); “quick’ning” (animating or life-giving); 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 19
Gloss note
express, report, describe, but also repeat or practiceLine number 21
Gloss note
minute and indivisible particles, seen as ultimate components of matter; in a less scientific register, very small amounts of anythingLine number 23
Gloss note
as creating the universe (in stanza six)Line number 25
Gloss note
burn to dust, purify, refineLine number 26
Critical note
shape; body; orderly arrangement of parts; degree or rank; in Francis Bacon’s philosophy, the real conditions on which a sensible body depends for its existenceLine number 27
Gloss note
bodily, unregenerate, passionateLine number 28
Gloss note
vaporize, purifyLine number 30
Critical note
Tears and dust are two of the fundamental bodily elements; the speaker asks God to use her tears to transform her solid elements into air, which will “circularly” (in turn, in circling back) be magnified (praised, glorified, and enlarged) by transmitting God’s name; an alternate reading would have her vaporized being glorifying and expanding God’s name, perhaps in the form of airs or “sighs” (her name for her poems).Line number 36
Physical note
In the manuscript, this word is crossed out and the word “that” begins the line.Line number 36
glorify or honor her “crest” (head, summit or top of anything; symbol of pride)Line number 39
Critical note
convey or transfer; but also drawing on the meaning of “dilate”; to amplify; disperse; and, perhaps less directly, to express oneself diffusely, since the passage refers to “noble thoughts”Line number 41
Gloss note
A “prodigy” was an extraordinary thing or occurrence regarded as an omen or sign.Line number 46
Gloss note
now thatLine number 56
Critical note
transformations; in alchemy, conversions of substances into others, usually from baser to more elevated substances (such as gold or silver); conversions of one species into anotherLine number 60
Gloss note
your dustLine number 60
Critical note
her tears, which show a penance that helps to raise her dust to salvation (in contrast to the unrepentant person who scorns penitence); alternatively, “it” can refer to her “dust” which rears itself up from earth to ascend to heaven. Sorry, but there are no notes associated with
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