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
Pigs, boars, and hogs do not fare well in Pulter’s moral zoo. As in Mark But Those Hogs (Emblem 34) [Poem 99] where grunting, earth-bound pigs are unfavorably compared to heavenly turtledoves,
Pulter here contrasts the filth of pigs to the purity of ermines. Citing proverbial,
biblical, and mythological sources, Pulter explores the pig’s refusal to remain pure
even when cleansed: like the dog who slurps up his own vomit, the pig almost cannot
resist falling back into muddy cycles of immorality. Pulter interprets the ermine’s
legendary willingness to sacrifice herself rather than have her fur tainted in Christian
terms: her whiteness is precious because washed by Christ’s blood. The poem is formally
innovative by dividing into two sections, each composed of two stanzas of triplets
followed by a 6-line stanza of couplets. While the narrator seems to be guiding readers
from a position of moral confidence, the ending couplet transforms into a plea that
makes her complicit in the struggle to avoid being swine-like in the mire of life.
Line number 1
Gloss note
the boar that killed Adonis when he was hunting; Venus, Adonis’s lover, had warned
him not to engage in this deadly sport.
Line number 2
Gloss note
Aphrodite Epitragia (“riding on a she-goat”) was another name for Venus, goddess of
love, reputedly derived from a story in which Theseus sacrificed a goat to her and
it changed genders.
Line number 3
Gloss note
Venus, or Aphrodite
Line number 3
Gloss note
lament
Line number 8
Gloss note
account or reckoning
Line number 9
Gloss note
proverbial. “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the
mire” (2 Peter 2:22). See also “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth
to his folly” (Proverbs 26:11).
Line number 13
Gloss note
animal in the weasel family known for its white coat; an emblem of purity
Line number 14
Gloss note
hunting dogs who long to bite the ermine, having their jaws (“chaps) “imbrued” (stained)
with blood.
Line number 15
Gloss note
invested; endowed
Line number 17
Gloss note
the ermine will flee
Line number 18
Gloss note
The ermine was legendary for being willing to die rather than have her pure white
fur blemished.
Line number 20
Gloss note
before
Line number 21
Gloss note
Christ sacrificed himself in being crucified.
Line number 24
Gloss note
mud; state of degradation
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