Vain Herostratus (Emblem 28)

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Vain Herostratus (Emblem 28)

Poem #93

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.

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
  • Website designed by Sergei Kalugin, Northwestern University
  • IT project consultation by Josh Honn, Northwestern University
  • Project sponsored by Northwestern University, Brock University, and University of Leeds
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X (Close panel)Notes: 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.
Line number 1

 Physical note

“o” appears written over earlier “a”
Line number 18

 Physical note

“i” written over earlier “e”; second “v” produced by erasing descender on earlier “y”
Line number 19

 Physical note

“n” may correct earlier letter or letters
Line number 22

 Physical note

“s” in darker ink
Line number 23

 Physical note

“i” written over other letter, possibly “e”
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Transcription
Transcription
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
[Emblem 28]
Vain Herostratus
(Emblem 28)
AE TITLE
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


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Notoriety: this is the focus of Pulter’s emblem, which rehearses the story of men whose ambitious drive for fame led to their destruction. The imaginative geography of this emblem stretches across ancient Greece, Syria, Persia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Gallic Northern Europe, and contemporary Ireland, unearthing a vast array of examples of impiety and sacrilege. While the last part of the poem focuses on the just deserts that anti-heroes such as Cambyses, Belshazzar, and Brennus suffered, the poem begins with the more particular conundrum of how the drive for fame can twist into notoriety instead: the very desire to be commemorated morphs into the curse of not being forgotten as a villain. Pulter’s one mention of a woman seeking fame is, unusually, herself, offered as a counterexample to the powerful male rulers she mentions. Why is seeking “splendent fame” valid for a poet who hopes to embody the role of “Hadassah” (Queen Esther from the Bible, and Pulter’s chosen pseudonym for her authorship)? Maybe the poem belies a concern about authorial ambition: if choosing between notoriety and oblivion, she states, the choice is clear—she does not wish to join the ranks of the famed criminals whose legendary status the poem perpetuates. The limited circulation of Pulter’s poems, their relegation to oblivion for hundreds of years, and her emergence as a poet later in time makes her reflections on fame and oblivion especially meaningful.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
28Vain
Physical Note
“o” appears written over earlier “a”
Erostratus was Soe fond of ffame
Vain
Gloss Note
A Greek arsonist who burnt Diana’s temple at Ephesus to ensure his immortal fame (his name is now a nickname for those who commit criminal acts to gain notoriety).
Herostratus was so fond of fame,
2
Hee Set this Sacred Temple on A fflame
He set this sacred temple on a flame:
3
That Stately Structure which was Soe Renownd
That stately structure which was so renowned,
4
And for the Image of Diana Crown’d
And for the image of
Gloss Note
in Roman mythology, the virgin huntress and goddess of chastity, whose image in the Ephesian temple was thought to be crafted by the gods. These lines echo Acts 19:35: “what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?”
Diana crowned,
5
Which fell from Jupiter, whom they implor’d
Which fell from
Gloss Note
king of the Roman gods
Jupiter, whom they implored—
6
Whom Epheſus and all the World Ador’d
Whom
Gloss Note
ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey)
Ephesus and all the world adored.
7
Thus Some out of Ambition Some for gain
Thus some out of ambition, some for gain,
8
Mingle together holy and Prophane
Mingle together holy and profane.
9
Soe Citties, Phanes, and Alters, Some have burnd
So cities,
Gloss Note
temples
fanes, and altars some have burned,
10
And Monarchies into confutions turn’d
And monarchies into
Gloss Note
ruins; disorders, commotions; mixtures in which distinct elements are lost by mingling
confusions turned.
11
My Dear Hibernia made this Story good
Gloss Note
Hibernia was the Latin name for Ireland, where Pulter was born
My dear Hibernia made this story good
12
When Cristall Shannon ran w:th Christian blood
Gloss Note
a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, led by Irish Catholic gentry, whom some Protestants did not see as “Christian”; the River Shannon in Ireland was of major strategic importance in this and other military campaigns.
When crystal Shannon ran with Christian blood.
13
As noe Edict could make that villain die
Gloss Note
Pulter returns to her initial example of Herostratus; after he burned Diana’s temple, the ruler issued an order (an “edict”) banning mention of Herostratus’s name; the law was ultimately ineffective, as evidenced by this poem.
As no edict could make that villain die,
14
Soe theſe Are Odious to poſterity
Gloss Note
“these” refers to the villains mentioned above who burned “cities, fanes, and altars” and turned monarchies to confusion; since no law can erase their infamy, they will be “odious” (repulsive) to future generations.
So these are odious to posterity.
15
Then let mee ever have a Splendent fame
Then let me ever have a
Gloss Note
shining from within, brilliant, magnificent, grand
splendent fame,
16
Or let me looſ Hadaſſah my lov’d Name
Or let me lose
Gloss Note
Pulter’s pseudonym, which she established through titles to the manuscript and in some poems; the name for the heroic Jewish Queen Esther in the bible (“Esther” being a variant of “Hester”)
Hadassah, my loved name.
17
ffar better in Oblivion live and Die
Far better in oblivion live and die
18
Then to
Physical Note
“i” written over earlier “e”; second “v” produced by erasing descender on earlier “y”
Survive with theſe in infamie
Than to survive with these in infamy.
19
What got
Physical Note
“n” may correct earlier letter or letters
Antiochus then Epiphanus
What got
Gloss Note
Antiochus IV, a Seleucid king of Syria (c. 215–163 BC), who gained the surname “Epiphanes,” or “Renowned.”
Antiochus, then Epiphanes,
20
More then the Epithete of Epimanus
More than
Gloss Note
Antiochus Epiphanes’s attempt to conquer the Jews (plundering Jerusalem and its holy sites) was seen as capricious and resulted in a revival of Jewish nationalism and the Maccabean revolt; Jewish people then referred to him as “Epimanus”(meaning insane) rather than “Epiphanus” (meaning Renowned)
the epithet of Epimanes?
21
Or what gaind Brenus after all his plunder
Or what gained
Gloss Note
Brennus, chieftain of the Gauls (or Celts of Northern Europe), legendary not only for invading and destroying Rome but for plundering the religious sanctuary of Delphi in the fourth-century BCE.
Brennus after all his plunder,
22
When hee
Physical Note
“s” in darker ink
ands Men Receivd their pay in Thunder
When he
Gloss Note
and his
and’s men
Gloss Note
The gods, according to legend, punished Brennus for his sacreligious plundering of temples by subjecting him and his men to thunder, lightning, and hail.
received their pay in thunder?
23
Were they not
Physical Note
“i” written over other letter, possibly “e”
Sacrelegious villains both
Were they not sacrilegious villains both?
24
Doth not poſterity their names ene loath
Doth not posterity their names e’en loathe?
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
25
What pleaſure had Belſhaſſer in his feast
What pleasure had
Gloss Note
At a feast, the last king of Babylon (as the next lines describe) sacrilegiously praised the gods associated with vessels his father had plundered from Jerusalem’s temples; he then saw a mysterious hand write a legend of doom on a wall and was slain that night. See Daniel 5:1-13.
Belshazzar in his feast,
26
Or what his Grandſir when hee was A Beast
Or what
Gloss Note
Nebuchadnezzar (Belshazzar’s father, not his grandfather) went insane after plundering holy vessels from Jerusalem. See Daniel 4 and 5:21: “his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen.”
his grandsire when he was a beast?
27
One took the Sacred Utenſils away
One took the sacred utensils away;
28
The other praiſd the Gods of Gold, and Clay,
The other praised the gods of gold and clay;
29
Nor would they bee Reformed of their Errour
Nor would they be reformed of their error
30
Till one was Strook with madnes to’ther Terrour
Till one was struck with madness, th’other terror.
31
What Got Cambice at Horned Hamons hand
What got
Gloss Note
Cambyses II, a king of Persia whose force of 50,000 was (as the next line indicates) buried in a sandstorm in Egypt after attacking the temple of the god Ammon’s oracle.
Cambyses at horned Ammon’s hand
32
When ffifty Thouſand men died in ye Sand
When fifty thousand men died in the sand?
33
What will they Get that doe our Phanes prophain
Gloss Note
Since Pulter wrote as a Royalist in the midst and wake of England’s civil wars, this is likely a reference to the opposing Parliamentarian and Puritan forces damaging (and thus “profan[ing]” or desecrating) churches.
What will they get that do our fanes profane?
34
Sure Shame, and Horrour, will bee all their gain
Sure shame and horror will be all their gain.
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

Notoriety: this is the focus of Pulter’s emblem, which rehearses the story of men whose ambitious drive for fame led to their destruction. The imaginative geography of this emblem stretches across ancient Greece, Syria, Persia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Gallic Northern Europe, and contemporary Ireland, unearthing a vast array of examples of impiety and sacrilege. While the last part of the poem focuses on the just deserts that anti-heroes such as Cambyses, Belshazzar, and Brennus suffered, the poem begins with the more particular conundrum of how the drive for fame can twist into notoriety instead: the very desire to be commemorated morphs into the curse of not being forgotten as a villain. Pulter’s one mention of a woman seeking fame is, unusually, herself, offered as a counterexample to the powerful male rulers she mentions. Why is seeking “splendent fame” valid for a poet who hopes to embody the role of “Hadassah” (Queen Esther from the Bible, and Pulter’s chosen pseudonym for her authorship)? Maybe the poem belies a concern about authorial ambition: if choosing between notoriety and oblivion, she states, the choice is clear—she does not wish to join the ranks of the famed criminals whose legendary status the poem perpetuates. The limited circulation of Pulter’s poems, their relegation to oblivion for hundreds of years, and her emergence as a poet later in time makes her reflections on fame and oblivion especially meaningful.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

A Greek arsonist who burnt Diana’s temple at Ephesus to ensure his immortal fame (his name is now a nickname for those who commit criminal acts to gain notoriety).
Line number 4

 Gloss note

in Roman mythology, the virgin huntress and goddess of chastity, whose image in the Ephesian temple was thought to be crafted by the gods. These lines echo Acts 19:35: “what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?”
Line number 5

 Gloss note

king of the Roman gods
Line number 6

 Gloss note

ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey)
Line number 9

 Gloss note

temples
Line number 10

 Gloss note

ruins; disorders, commotions; mixtures in which distinct elements are lost by mingling
Line number 11

 Gloss note

Hibernia was the Latin name for Ireland, where Pulter was born
Line number 12

 Gloss note

a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, led by Irish Catholic gentry, whom some Protestants did not see as “Christian”; the River Shannon in Ireland was of major strategic importance in this and other military campaigns.
Line number 13

 Gloss note

Pulter returns to her initial example of Herostratus; after he burned Diana’s temple, the ruler issued an order (an “edict”) banning mention of Herostratus’s name; the law was ultimately ineffective, as evidenced by this poem.
Line number 14

 Gloss note

“these” refers to the villains mentioned above who burned “cities, fanes, and altars” and turned monarchies to confusion; since no law can erase their infamy, they will be “odious” (repulsive) to future generations.
Line number 15

 Gloss note

shining from within, brilliant, magnificent, grand
Line number 16

 Gloss note

Pulter’s pseudonym, which she established through titles to the manuscript and in some poems; the name for the heroic Jewish Queen Esther in the bible (“Esther” being a variant of “Hester”)
Line number 19

 Gloss note

Antiochus IV, a Seleucid king of Syria (c. 215–163 BC), who gained the surname “Epiphanes,” or “Renowned.”
Line number 20

 Gloss note

Antiochus Epiphanes’s attempt to conquer the Jews (plundering Jerusalem and its holy sites) was seen as capricious and resulted in a revival of Jewish nationalism and the Maccabean revolt; Jewish people then referred to him as “Epimanus”(meaning insane) rather than “Epiphanus” (meaning Renowned)
Line number 21

 Gloss note

Brennus, chieftain of the Gauls (or Celts of Northern Europe), legendary not only for invading and destroying Rome but for plundering the religious sanctuary of Delphi in the fourth-century BCE.
Line number 22

 Gloss note

and his
Line number 22

 Gloss note

The gods, according to legend, punished Brennus for his sacreligious plundering of temples by subjecting him and his men to thunder, lightning, and hail.
Line number 25

 Gloss note

At a feast, the last king of Babylon (as the next lines describe) sacrilegiously praised the gods associated with vessels his father had plundered from Jerusalem’s temples; he then saw a mysterious hand write a legend of doom on a wall and was slain that night. See Daniel 5:1-13.
Line number 26

 Gloss note

Nebuchadnezzar (Belshazzar’s father, not his grandfather) went insane after plundering holy vessels from Jerusalem. See Daniel 4 and 5:21: “his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen.”
Line number 31

 Gloss note

Cambyses II, a king of Persia whose force of 50,000 was (as the next line indicates) buried in a sandstorm in Egypt after attacking the temple of the god Ammon’s oracle.
Line number 33

 Gloss note

Since Pulter wrote as a Royalist in the midst and wake of England’s civil wars, this is likely a reference to the opposing Parliamentarian and Puritan forces damaging (and thus “profan[ing]” or desecrating) churches.
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Elemental Edition
Elemental Edition
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
[Emblem 28]
Vain Herostratus
(Emblem 28)
AE TITLE
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


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Notoriety: this is the focus of Pulter’s emblem, which rehearses the story of men whose ambitious drive for fame led to their destruction. The imaginative geography of this emblem stretches across ancient Greece, Syria, Persia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Gallic Northern Europe, and contemporary Ireland, unearthing a vast array of examples of impiety and sacrilege. While the last part of the poem focuses on the just deserts that anti-heroes such as Cambyses, Belshazzar, and Brennus suffered, the poem begins with the more particular conundrum of how the drive for fame can twist into notoriety instead: the very desire to be commemorated morphs into the curse of not being forgotten as a villain. Pulter’s one mention of a woman seeking fame is, unusually, herself, offered as a counterexample to the powerful male rulers she mentions. Why is seeking “splendent fame” valid for a poet who hopes to embody the role of “Hadassah” (Queen Esther from the Bible, and Pulter’s chosen pseudonym for her authorship)? Maybe the poem belies a concern about authorial ambition: if choosing between notoriety and oblivion, she states, the choice is clear—she does not wish to join the ranks of the famed criminals whose legendary status the poem perpetuates. The limited circulation of Pulter’s poems, their relegation to oblivion for hundreds of years, and her emergence as a poet later in time makes her reflections on fame and oblivion especially meaningful.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall


— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
28Vain
Physical Note
“o” appears written over earlier “a”
Erostratus was Soe fond of ffame
Vain
Gloss Note
A Greek arsonist who burnt Diana’s temple at Ephesus to ensure his immortal fame (his name is now a nickname for those who commit criminal acts to gain notoriety).
Herostratus was so fond of fame,
2
Hee Set this Sacred Temple on A fflame
He set this sacred temple on a flame:
3
That Stately Structure which was Soe Renownd
That stately structure which was so renowned,
4
And for the Image of Diana Crown’d
And for the image of
Gloss Note
in Roman mythology, the virgin huntress and goddess of chastity, whose image in the Ephesian temple was thought to be crafted by the gods. These lines echo Acts 19:35: “what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?”
Diana crowned,
5
Which fell from Jupiter, whom they implor’d
Which fell from
Gloss Note
king of the Roman gods
Jupiter, whom they implored—
6
Whom Epheſus and all the World Ador’d
Whom
Gloss Note
ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey)
Ephesus and all the world adored.
7
Thus Some out of Ambition Some for gain
Thus some out of ambition, some for gain,
8
Mingle together holy and Prophane
Mingle together holy and profane.
9
Soe Citties, Phanes, and Alters, Some have burnd
So cities,
Gloss Note
temples
fanes, and altars some have burned,
10
And Monarchies into confutions turn’d
And monarchies into
Gloss Note
ruins; disorders, commotions; mixtures in which distinct elements are lost by mingling
confusions turned.
11
My Dear Hibernia made this Story good
Gloss Note
Hibernia was the Latin name for Ireland, where Pulter was born
My dear Hibernia made this story good
12
When Cristall Shannon ran w:th Christian blood
Gloss Note
a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, led by Irish Catholic gentry, whom some Protestants did not see as “Christian”; the River Shannon in Ireland was of major strategic importance in this and other military campaigns.
When crystal Shannon ran with Christian blood.
13
As noe Edict could make that villain die
Gloss Note
Pulter returns to her initial example of Herostratus; after he burned Diana’s temple, the ruler issued an order (an “edict”) banning mention of Herostratus’s name; the law was ultimately ineffective, as evidenced by this poem.
As no edict could make that villain die,
14
Soe theſe Are Odious to poſterity
Gloss Note
“these” refers to the villains mentioned above who burned “cities, fanes, and altars” and turned monarchies to confusion; since no law can erase their infamy, they will be “odious” (repulsive) to future generations.
So these are odious to posterity.
15
Then let mee ever have a Splendent fame
Then let me ever have a
Gloss Note
shining from within, brilliant, magnificent, grand
splendent fame,
16
Or let me looſ Hadaſſah my lov’d Name
Or let me lose
Gloss Note
Pulter’s pseudonym, which she established through titles to the manuscript and in some poems; the name for the heroic Jewish Queen Esther in the bible (“Esther” being a variant of “Hester”)
Hadassah, my loved name.
17
ffar better in Oblivion live and Die
Far better in oblivion live and die
18
Then to
Physical Note
“i” written over earlier “e”; second “v” produced by erasing descender on earlier “y”
Survive with theſe in infamie
Than to survive with these in infamy.
19
What got
Physical Note
“n” may correct earlier letter or letters
Antiochus then Epiphanus
What got
Gloss Note
Antiochus IV, a Seleucid king of Syria (c. 215–163 BC), who gained the surname “Epiphanes,” or “Renowned.”
Antiochus, then Epiphanes,
20
More then the Epithete of Epimanus
More than
Gloss Note
Antiochus Epiphanes’s attempt to conquer the Jews (plundering Jerusalem and its holy sites) was seen as capricious and resulted in a revival of Jewish nationalism and the Maccabean revolt; Jewish people then referred to him as “Epimanus”(meaning insane) rather than “Epiphanus” (meaning Renowned)
the epithet of Epimanes?
21
Or what gaind Brenus after all his plunder
Or what gained
Gloss Note
Brennus, chieftain of the Gauls (or Celts of Northern Europe), legendary not only for invading and destroying Rome but for plundering the religious sanctuary of Delphi in the fourth-century BCE.
Brennus after all his plunder,
22
When hee
Physical Note
“s” in darker ink
ands Men Receivd their pay in Thunder
When he
Gloss Note
and his
and’s men
Gloss Note
The gods, according to legend, punished Brennus for his sacreligious plundering of temples by subjecting him and his men to thunder, lightning, and hail.
received their pay in thunder?
23
Were they not
Physical Note
“i” written over other letter, possibly “e”
Sacrelegious villains both
Were they not sacrilegious villains both?
24
Doth not poſterity their names ene loath
Doth not posterity their names e’en loathe?
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
25
What pleaſure had Belſhaſſer in his feast
What pleasure had
Gloss Note
At a feast, the last king of Babylon (as the next lines describe) sacrilegiously praised the gods associated with vessels his father had plundered from Jerusalem’s temples; he then saw a mysterious hand write a legend of doom on a wall and was slain that night. See Daniel 5:1-13.
Belshazzar in his feast,
26
Or what his Grandſir when hee was A Beast
Or what
Gloss Note
Nebuchadnezzar (Belshazzar’s father, not his grandfather) went insane after plundering holy vessels from Jerusalem. See Daniel 4 and 5:21: “his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen.”
his grandsire when he was a beast?
27
One took the Sacred Utenſils away
One took the sacred utensils away;
28
The other praiſd the Gods of Gold, and Clay,
The other praised the gods of gold and clay;
29
Nor would they bee Reformed of their Errour
Nor would they be reformed of their error
30
Till one was Strook with madnes to’ther Terrour
Till one was struck with madness, th’other terror.
31
What Got Cambice at Horned Hamons hand
What got
Gloss Note
Cambyses II, a king of Persia whose force of 50,000 was (as the next line indicates) buried in a sandstorm in Egypt after attacking the temple of the god Ammon’s oracle.
Cambyses at horned Ammon’s hand
32
When ffifty Thouſand men died in ye Sand
When fifty thousand men died in the sand?
33
What will they Get that doe our Phanes prophain
Gloss Note
Since Pulter wrote as a Royalist in the midst and wake of England’s civil wars, this is likely a reference to the opposing Parliamentarian and Puritan forces damaging (and thus “profan[ing]” or desecrating) churches.
What will they get that do our fanes profane?
34
Sure Shame, and Horrour, will bee all their gain
Sure shame and horror will be all their gain.
X (Close panel) All Notes
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

Elemental Edition

 Headnote

Notoriety: this is the focus of Pulter’s emblem, which rehearses the story of men whose ambitious drive for fame led to their destruction. The imaginative geography of this emblem stretches across ancient Greece, Syria, Persia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Gallic Northern Europe, and contemporary Ireland, unearthing a vast array of examples of impiety and sacrilege. While the last part of the poem focuses on the just deserts that anti-heroes such as Cambyses, Belshazzar, and Brennus suffered, the poem begins with the more particular conundrum of how the drive for fame can twist into notoriety instead: the very desire to be commemorated morphs into the curse of not being forgotten as a villain. Pulter’s one mention of a woman seeking fame is, unusually, herself, offered as a counterexample to the powerful male rulers she mentions. Why is seeking “splendent fame” valid for a poet who hopes to embody the role of “Hadassah” (Queen Esther from the Bible, and Pulter’s chosen pseudonym for her authorship)? Maybe the poem belies a concern about authorial ambition: if choosing between notoriety and oblivion, she states, the choice is clear—she does not wish to join the ranks of the famed criminals whose legendary status the poem perpetuates. The limited circulation of Pulter’s poems, their relegation to oblivion for hundreds of years, and her emergence as a poet later in time makes her reflections on fame and oblivion especially meaningful.
Amplified Edition

 Headnote

Transcription
Line number 1

 Physical note

“o” appears written over earlier “a”
Elemental Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

A Greek arsonist who burnt Diana’s temple at Ephesus to ensure his immortal fame (his name is now a nickname for those who commit criminal acts to gain notoriety).
Elemental Edition
Line number 4

 Gloss note

in Roman mythology, the virgin huntress and goddess of chastity, whose image in the Ephesian temple was thought to be crafted by the gods. These lines echo Acts 19:35: “what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?”
Elemental Edition
Line number 5

 Gloss note

king of the Roman gods
Elemental Edition
Line number 6

 Gloss note

ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey)
Elemental Edition
Line number 9

 Gloss note

temples
Elemental Edition
Line number 10

 Gloss note

ruins; disorders, commotions; mixtures in which distinct elements are lost by mingling
Elemental Edition
Line number 11

 Gloss note

Hibernia was the Latin name for Ireland, where Pulter was born
Elemental Edition
Line number 12

 Gloss note

a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, led by Irish Catholic gentry, whom some Protestants did not see as “Christian”; the River Shannon in Ireland was of major strategic importance in this and other military campaigns.
Elemental Edition
Line number 13

 Gloss note

Pulter returns to her initial example of Herostratus; after he burned Diana’s temple, the ruler issued an order (an “edict”) banning mention of Herostratus’s name; the law was ultimately ineffective, as evidenced by this poem.
Elemental Edition
Line number 14

 Gloss note

“these” refers to the villains mentioned above who burned “cities, fanes, and altars” and turned monarchies to confusion; since no law can erase their infamy, they will be “odious” (repulsive) to future generations.
Elemental Edition
Line number 15

 Gloss note

shining from within, brilliant, magnificent, grand
Elemental Edition
Line number 16

 Gloss note

Pulter’s pseudonym, which she established through titles to the manuscript and in some poems; the name for the heroic Jewish Queen Esther in the bible (“Esther” being a variant of “Hester”)
Transcription
Line number 18

 Physical note

“i” written over earlier “e”; second “v” produced by erasing descender on earlier “y”
Transcription
Line number 19

 Physical note

“n” may correct earlier letter or letters
Elemental Edition
Line number 19

 Gloss note

Antiochus IV, a Seleucid king of Syria (c. 215–163 BC), who gained the surname “Epiphanes,” or “Renowned.”
Elemental Edition
Line number 20

 Gloss note

Antiochus Epiphanes’s attempt to conquer the Jews (plundering Jerusalem and its holy sites) was seen as capricious and resulted in a revival of Jewish nationalism and the Maccabean revolt; Jewish people then referred to him as “Epimanus”(meaning insane) rather than “Epiphanus” (meaning Renowned)
Elemental Edition
Line number 21

 Gloss note

Brennus, chieftain of the Gauls (or Celts of Northern Europe), legendary not only for invading and destroying Rome but for plundering the religious sanctuary of Delphi in the fourth-century BCE.
Transcription
Line number 22

 Physical note

“s” in darker ink
Elemental Edition
Line number 22

 Gloss note

and his
Elemental Edition
Line number 22

 Gloss note

The gods, according to legend, punished Brennus for his sacreligious plundering of temples by subjecting him and his men to thunder, lightning, and hail.
Transcription
Line number 23

 Physical note

“i” written over other letter, possibly “e”
Elemental Edition
Line number 25

 Gloss note

At a feast, the last king of Babylon (as the next lines describe) sacrilegiously praised the gods associated with vessels his father had plundered from Jerusalem’s temples; he then saw a mysterious hand write a legend of doom on a wall and was slain that night. See Daniel 5:1-13.
Elemental Edition
Line number 26

 Gloss note

Nebuchadnezzar (Belshazzar’s father, not his grandfather) went insane after plundering holy vessels from Jerusalem. See Daniel 4 and 5:21: “his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen.”
Elemental Edition
Line number 31

 Gloss note

Cambyses II, a king of Persia whose force of 50,000 was (as the next line indicates) buried in a sandstorm in Egypt after attacking the temple of the god Ammon’s oracle.
Elemental Edition
Line number 33

 Gloss note

Since Pulter wrote as a Royalist in the midst and wake of England’s civil wars, this is likely a reference to the opposing Parliamentarian and Puritan forces damaging (and thus “profan[ing]” or desecrating) churches.
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