Aurora [1]

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Aurora [1]

Poem 3

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 Victoria E. Burke.

How to cite these versions

Conventions for these editions

The Pulter Project: Poet in the Making

  • Created by Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
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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 11

 Physical note

second half of word appears respelled ("p" may have been "f")
Line number 19

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Line number 22

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Line number 24

 Physical note

several illegible letters, scribbled out; first three letters likely "the"
Line number 31

 Gloss note

The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Line number 37

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Line number 56

 Physical note

Praisee] poem ends with four dots arranged in a diamond
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
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Transcription
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Aurora
Aurora [1]
Aurora
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 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
This is a semi-diplomatic transcription in which original spelling and punctuation are retained, abbreviations (such as tildes) are expanded with added letters in italics (with the exception of “ye” which is rendered as “the”), “ff” is modernized to “F,” superscriptions are lowered, colons indicating abbreviations are removed, and major alterations to the text (of a word or more, not individual letters) are noted in the footnotes. The retention of original spelling and punctuation has the potential to get us closer to the choices made by the poet and scribe, but some scribal details (such as abbreviations) do not seem substantive or meaning-bearing and run the risk of alienating a modern reader.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“Aurora [1]” is the first of several poems so named. Pulter attends often, and often ardently, to this classical figure of the dawn, identified elsewhere in her work as the mother of Astraea: a figure in her turn associated by Pulter primarily with truth, rather than justice, as is more conventional. Here, the speaker’s sensuous admiration of Aurora’s luminous beauty and entourage of feminine powers is interrupted by the amorous, then rapacious, pursuit of dawn by the blazing sun god. This allegory rapidly turns gory, with the god lashing his horses until they rain blood on Earth. When the sun god’s illumination is, inevitably, succeeded by the darkness of Night and her misery-making offspring, the poem’s focus shifts from the astral and mythological to something much more personal. The speaker’s vulnerability to nocturnal terrors makes her long for escape through death—quite paradoxically, since visions of death are among the very terrors she seeks to escape. This paradox suggests one way in which, as she says of her dark and distorted visions, “of my reason, straight they make a rape.” But the speaker, in the end, seizes power back from both darkness and the excesses of the sun when she imagines herself, in death, “far outshin[ing] the day,” and the poem’s classical figuration is reconfigured in praise of a biblical God, in a vein congruent with much of Pulter’s devotional verse.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Aurora is the female mythological figure that appears most often in Pulter’s poetry. This is the first of five poems Pulter has written about or to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn: Aurora [1] [Poem 3], To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], To Aurora [2] [Poem 26], To Aurora [3] [Poem 34], and Aurora [2] [Poem 37]. The character Aurora also appears in several other poems, including Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, where she is depicted as the mother of Truth or Astraea. There are several menacing figures in this first poem on Aurora: the Sun, who violently pursues Aurora; Night, whose children torment the speaker; and Death. The poem charts the period of a day: from a blissful awakening at the hands of Aurora, to a time of destruction caused by the lust and rage of the Sun, to a period of suffering brought about by Night’s offspring. The poem ends in a place beyond time, where the speaker’s death will bring her comfort and where she will delight in praising God.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
Louely Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
Lovely
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of dawn
Aurora, O how heavenly fair
Louely
Gloss Note
Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn.
Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
2
Do’s ſhe apeare with her diſſheveld haire
Does she appear with her disheveled hair
Do’s she apeare with her
Critical Note
Aurora’s hair may be disheveled to indicate the streaks of light that can appear at the break of day.
dissheveld haire
3
Pearl’d or’e w:th odours of the early East
Pearled over with odors of the early East—
Critical Note
i.e., pearled over, or covered over with pearl-like drops (sprinkled with dew), but the image here is of “odours” or scents taking the liquid form of dew. For an image of a seventeenth-century woman pearled over with actual pearls, see Pearled Over in Curations for this poem.
Pearl’d or’e with odours of the early East
4
How infinitely ſhee doth our Sences feast
How infinitely she doth our senses feast!
How infinitely shee doth our
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that our senses, and in this case the senses of smell (the “odours” of line 3) and sight (because we see Aurora’s hair, perhaps in the form of wispy clouds), feast or delight in the dawn.
Sences feast
5
Shee needs noe Gems her ſnowey Neck to adorne
She needs no gems her snowy neck to adorn,
Shee needs noe Gemm̄s her snowey
Critical Note
Aurora’s neck may be snowy and unadorned to depict the bright light of early morning. Pulter may also be evoking the language of the blazon here and giving it a different spin: instead of the perfect blond hair and alabaster skin of the Petrarchan lady, Aurora’s hair is disheveled (l. 2) and she doesn’t sport the conventional jewelry worn by high status women of the time (“noe Gemms”). See Frances E. Dolan’s discussion of Pulter’s use of the blazon.
Neck to adorne
6
ffor what can luſter add unto the Morne
For what can luster add unto the morn?
For what can luster add unto the Morne
7
Her right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
Her right hand holds forth light unto our view;
Her
Critical Note
This image of dawn holding light could allude to the common Homeric epithet, rosy-fingered dawn.
right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
8
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
The other sprinkles aromatic dew
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
9
On ffloras; fragrant, various Colour’d fflowers
On
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of flowers
Flora’s fragrant, various-colored flowers,
On
Gloss Note
Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.
Floras; fragrant, various Colour’d Flowers
10
Attended by a Traine of fleeting Howres
Attended by a train of fleeting
Horae, Greek goddesses of seasons
Hours
Attended by a
Gloss Note
The Hours are the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The train (or group or sequence) is fleeting because dawn soon turns into day. The verb “fleet” is also used to capture the movement of mists, clouds, or spirits floating or drifting through the air (OED v.1, I.3)
Traine of fleeting Howres
11
Drawn by white
Physical Note
second half of word appears respelled ("p" may have been "f")
Palphris first of that kinde
Drawn by white
Gloss Note
saddle horses, especially for women
palfreys, first of that kind,
Drawn by white
Critical Note
i.e., palfreys, or horses for riding, especially for women. The Greek goddess of the dawn, Eos, is depicted in the Odyssey 23.246 as riding in a chariot drawn by two horses called Lampus (“Shiner”) and Phaethon (“Blazer”); Alan H. Griffiths, “Eos,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 3rd revised edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online.
Palphris
Critical Note
Best of their species, or “preceding all others in status, rank, importance, or excellence” (OED 1a). Additionally, the palfreys may be identified as “first” of their kind in order to suggest the newness of the breaking day.
first of that kinde
12
Now Since producet by Snuffing up the wind
Now since produced by
Gloss Note
inhaling through the nostrils
snuffing up the
Critical Note
Aurora’s horses are portrayed as having been created through the inhalation (by whom, it is not clear) of wind.
wind;
Now Since
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that the horses have been materialized by an inhaling through the nostrils, but it is not clear exactly who or what has inhaled them into being (the god of the winds? the horses themselves?).
producet by Snuffing up the wind
13
Thus as in Silver coach ſhees hurld
Thus, as
Critical Note
in classical myth, Aurora was often pictured driving or riding in a horse-drawn coach or chariot, like Phoebus/Apollo, as the sun
in silver coach she’s hurled,
Thus as in
Gloss Note
Aurora conventionally rides across the sky in a chariot; it is silver here perhaps to evoke the purity and quality of early-morning light.
Silver Coach shees hurld
14
Shee both inlightens and perfumes the world
She both enlightens and perfumes the world.
Shee both
Critical Note
In her descriptions of Aurora’s actions Pulter has stressed both the obvious light-giving qualities of the dawn (she adds “luster” to the morn, l. 6, and “inlightens,” l. 14) and the less obvious range of scents with which she “perfumes the world,” l. 14 (“odours of the early East,” l. 3, “Aromattick Dew,” l. 8, “fragrant … Flowers,” l. 9).
inlightens and perfumes the world
15
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
Then after hurries that illustrious
Gloss Note
the sun
star
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
16
Who rides Triumphant in his blazing Car
Who rides, triumphant, in his blazing
Gloss Note
chariot
car,
Who rides Triumphant in his
Critical Note
This is a reference to the Sun god riding in his horse-drawn chariot across the sky. In Greek myth, the goddess of the dawn, Eos, was the daughter of Hyperion, the Sun god (Griffiths, “Eos”), but here the Sun god pursues the dawn as a would-be lover. Also, Griffiths notes that the mythology depicts Eos as a “predatory lover,” but Pulter presents the dawn as subject to the lust of the Sun rather than the aggressor towards her own romantic conquests.
blazing Car
17
Before whoſe face Shines forth perpetuall day
Before whose face shines forth perpetual day,
Before whose face Shines forth perpetuall day
18
Exhailing and expelling Mists away
Exhaling and expelling mists away,
Exhailling and expelling Mists away
19
And to her Thros his wanton
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] amorous Eyes
And to her throws his wanton amorous eyes;
And to her
Gloss Note
i.e., throws
Thros his wanton amorous Eyes
20
But like a Virgin Coy Shee bluſhing flies
But like a virgin coy, she, blushing, flies.
But
Critical Note
Aurora may be acting “like” a virgin because she isn’t actually one: in Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, Pulter depicts her as the mother of Truth, or Astraea.
like a Virgin Coy Shee blushing flies
21
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her diſdaine
He, filled with love and rage for her disdain,
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her
Critical Note
The poet is using the language of Petrarchan courtship here: “coy,” “blushing,” and “disdain” all suggest the typical lady of the sonnet tradition. But with the use of the word “Rage” Pulter gives the scene a violent edge and suggests the potential menace of a courtship situation. She is likely also evoking the context of Greek mythology which is filled with stories of male aggressors and female victims, such as Apollo and Daphne.
disdaine
22
Upon his foaming Horſes layes
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] his Raine
Upon his
Gloss Note
foaming at the mouth
foaming horses lays his rein,
Upon his
Critical Note
Horses are traditionally associated with the bestial side of the human passions that need to be reined in. That the Sun’s horses are foaming with rage suggests that they, like their master, are out of control.
foaming Horses layes his Raine
23
Gain^ing Olimpus top with furious Speed
Gaining
Gloss Note
mountain home of Greek gods
Olympus’s top with furious speed,
Gaining
Gloss Note
Mount Olympus was the home of the Greek gods.
Olimpus top with furious Speed
24
Lashing
Physical Note
several illegible letters, scribbled out; first three letters likely "the"
[?] theire Pamper’d Sides untill they bleed
Lashing their pampered sides until they bleed.
Lashing theire Pamper’d Sides
Gloss Note
While whipping horses to increase their speed may have been a common practice, Pulter emphasizes the savagery of the Sun’s actions and their cosmic consequences.
untill they bleed
25
When these Vermillian drops to Earth deſcend
When these
Gloss Note
bright red
vermilion drops to Earth descend
When these
Gloss Note
i.e., vermilion or bright red
Vermillian drops to Earth descend
26
They Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
They amaze poor mortals, fearing they portend
They
Gloss Note
i.e., amaze
Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
27
Unto ſome Antient Monarchie confuſion
Unto some ancient monarchy confusion,
Unto some
Critical Note
The poet may be comparing the menacing sign of blood-red raindrops falling from the sky to a kind of biblical plague such as the frogs, lice, and flies that God brought upon the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites under Moses go free (Exodus 8). Other examples of God’s punishment upon Pharaoh’s kingdom include cattle killing, boils, pestilence, hail, and fire (Exodus 9), and locusts and darkness (Exodus 10). Additionally, as Alice Eardley notes in her edition, Ovid depicts drops of blood falling from the sky in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses(Alice Eardley, editor, Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Iter and Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, p. 57). The context for these lines is the omens which presage the murder of Julius Caesar, a dire event with political ramifications: “when faire Venus saw; and saw with all, / Conspiring weapons threat the High-Priests [i.e., Caesar’s] fall; / Her colour fled … Thus, through all heauen, her Sorrowes vainely speake; / And melt the Gods: who, since they could not breake / The antient Sisters [i.e., the Destinies] adamantine doome, / By sure Ostents [i.e., portents] demonstrate Woes to come … Oft, Meteors through the aire their flames extend: / Oft, drops of blood from purple clouds descend” (George Sandys, translator, Ouids Metamorphosis Englished, mythologiz’d, and represented in figures, 1632, pp. 507-508). Pulter’s reference to blood-red drops that also “descend” to Earth picks up on this political suggestion, in its foreshadowing of confusion to a monarchy or dissolution to a monstruous hydra (line 28).
Antient Monarchie confusion
28
Or to ſome Hidrian Monster diſſolution
Or, to some
Critical Note
many-headed monster of Greek myth; often used figuratively, especially by Pulter for opponents to royalists in the civil wars
Hydrian monster, dissolution,
Or to some
Critical Note
In her image of the “Hidrian Monster,” Pulter is drawing a parallel between heavenly signs that portend the fall of a civilization and indications that a political movement will fail (specifically, the implication is the Parliamentarians in the civil war). The Hydra, or monster with many heads which grow back as quickly as they are cut off, was a common symbol of unruly government. Charles I in Eikon basilike, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings (1648; really 1649) refers to “the many-headed Hydra of Government” as a “monstrosity” (p. 71; see "The Many-Headed Hydra" in Curations for this poem). For an example of how Thomas Hobbes uses the metaphor in Leviathan (1651), see The Many-Headed Hydra in Curations for this poem.
Hidrian Monster
Gloss Note
While Pulter often uses the term “dissolution” or “dissolve” in an alchemical sense to suggest disintegration (as in the title Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], for example), here the sense seems to be political above all.
dissolution
29
When often times the cause is from aboue
When, oftentimes, the cause is from above:
When often times the cause is from aboue
30
ffrom Radiant Delias frantick fits of loue
From radiant
Critical Note
Pulter’s manuscript reads “Delia’s”; however, the sense suggests an authorial or scribal error for the possessive “Delius,” an epithet for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
Delius’s frantic fits of love,
From Radiant
Critical Note
The island of Delos was the supposed birthplace of the god Apollo, and one of the two centres where his cult was established in ancient Greece. Apollo was associated with many things including prophecy, poetry, and the sun. As the elemental edition notes, Delia, the feminized form of the word, may be a transcription error for Delius, but at several other places in her poetry Pulter uses Delia to refer to the Sun god: for example, see The Eclipse [Poem 1], l. 26, The Garden, or the Contention of Flowers [Poem 12], l. 127, and This Soul, that Bird, and Fish (Emblem 35) [Poem 100] l. 3. The context of the poem makes it clear that this name refers to the amorous Sun god, but the name Delia was sometimes used by other writers as a synonym for Apollo’s sister Cynthia, goddess of the moon. For example, the character Arete in Ben Jonson’s play Cynthia’s Revels, act 5, scene 8, line 18, addresses Cynthia as “celestiall Delia” (Ben Jonson, Vol. 4: Cynthia’s Revels; Poetaster; Sejanus; Eastward Ho, edited by C.H. Herford and Percy Simpson, Oxford University Press, 1932, p. 168, Oxford Scholarly Editions Online).
Delias frantick fits of loue
who
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31
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
Who follows her with heat and greater light,
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
32
Leaving this Horoſcope to horrid Night
Leaving this
Critical Note
temporary configuration of planets
horoscope to horrid
Gloss Note
Greek goddess Nyx
Night,
Leaving this
Gloss Note
configuration of the planets at one moment
Horoscope to horrid
Critical Note
Nyx is the Greek goddess of night. Pulter refers to Night and her children tormenting people in To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], ll. 4-6 (“This uglie Hag … / Old Night (I meane) with her infernall brood / Who make mens miseries their accursed food”) and Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104 (“Cavse the black brood of Acharon, and Night, / Would alsoe com, who onely were adicted / To ad aflictions to the most aflicted”; my transcriptions from the manuscript). Acheron denoted the underworld or Hell (M.C. Howatson, editor, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2011, Oxford Reference Online).
Night
33
Whose furious iſſue Straight theire Curles unrowles
Whose furious
Critical Note
Night’s asexually (and so, as line 37 suggests, illegitimately) produced offspring, including Doom, Fate, Death, Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Destinies (or Parcae), Nemesis, Deceit, Lovemaking, Old Age, and Strife. Hesiod, The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles (2017), 42, 45.
issue straight their curls unrolls
Whose furious
Critical Note
For a list of the issue or children of Night from the Greek poet Hesiod, see the elemental edition. Alice Eardley in her edition of the poem identifies these with the Furies or the Eumenides (p. 57). Daughters either of the Earth or of Night, the Eumenides had “blood in their eyes, serpents in their hair, and wings on their backs to punish humans for various improper acts” (David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online). If the offspring of Night are all female, they provide an inversion of the benevolent, though fleeting, female train of Hours at line 10.
issue Straight theire
Critical Note
The image of Night’s children unrolling the serpents in their hair to use as whips contrasts with Aurora’s beautiful, disheveled hair of line 2.
Curles unrowles
34
To lash and torture poore afflicted ſoules
To lash and torture poor afflicted souls.
To lash and torture poore afflicted soules
35
Anathamized are those that doe delight
Gloss Note
cursed, hated
Anathemized are those that do delight
Gloss Note
i.e., anathemized: cursed
Anathamized are those that doe delight
36
To add afflictions to the afflicted wight
To add afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
person
wight;
To add
Critical Note
Here, and in line 34, Pulter is using polyptoton (the same word in various cases) to stress the affliction or suffering of those whom Night’s offspring torment. She repeats this effect in Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104, quoted above.
afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
creature or person
wight
37
And of
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] her Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
And of her
Gloss Note
false; of illegitimate birth or origin
spurious breed (no doubt) they be
And of her
Critical Note
Night is depicted as a mother with illegitimate offspring (“Spurious breed”). This offers a contrast to Pulter’s many depictions of devoted motherhood throughout her poetry: herself, and some of the creatures in her emblems and in other poems such as Why Must I Thus Forever Be Confined [Poem 57].
Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
38
That lookes with Joy on others miſerie
That look with joy on others’ misery.
That looke with Joy on others miserie
39
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
Oft times they crawl into my trembling breast,
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
40
That I choose Strangling rather then ſuch Rest
That I choose strangling rather than such rest;
That I choose
Critical Note
The poet now turns from mythological heavenly creatures to her own situation of suffering. The implication is that at night, emotions and pain insidiously enter her when her guard is down. Her image of her “trembling brest” (l. 39) evokes vulnerability but the next line suggests some choice: she would rather be strangled than endure this kind of rest. The violence of strangling picks up other brutal actions in the poem, such as the “lashing” carried out by both the Sun and Night’s children (ll. 24 and 34).
Strangling Rather then such Rest
41
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
Sometimes they take advantage of my fear:
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
42
Then Strange Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
Then strange
Gloss Note
dark, gloomy; of the underworld
Cimmerian sights seem to appear
Then Strange
Gloss Note
i.e., Cimmerian: people who were fabled to live in darkness
Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
43
Unto my troubled fancie then againe
Unto my troubled fancy; then again
Unto my troubled
Gloss Note
imagination
fancie then againe
44
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
They take advantage from my grief or pain,
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
45
Preſenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
Presenting death in his most horrid shape:
Presenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
46
Then of my Reaſon Straight they make a Rape
Then, of my reason, straight they make a
Gloss Note
forced abduction; sexual violation
rape;
Then of my Reason Straight they make a
Critical Note
Rape could mean to abduct or to take something by force, but the crime of a man taking a woman sexually by force is resonant in this context, given the scene the poet depicted earlier of a violent pursuit by a male figure (the Sun) of an unwilling female figure (Aurora). That earlier scene did not result in an actual rape, but here Night’s children “make a Rape” of the speaker’s “Reason” in the form of tormenting her by depicting the menacing male figure of Death.
Rape
47
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
Then my sad soul doth see before her eye
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
48
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die,
Some of my freinds (aye me) that
Gloss Note
The exact identity of those friends is not clear, but many candidates are possible during a period of civil war, and of the poet’s own experience of child loss.
late did die
49
Whoſe loſs fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
Whose loss fills my poor heart so full of grief
Whose loss fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
50
That nought, but Death can give my Soule Reliefe
That nought but death can give my soul relief—
That nought, but
Gloss Note
Pulter transforms the figure of Death from something terrifying (“his most horrid’st Shape,” l. 45) to something comforting, since it will bring her to God.
Death can give my Soule Reliefe
51
ffor then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
For then I placed shall be in such a sphere,
For then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
52
Where nights aſſociates, I Shall never feare
Where Night’s associates I shall never fear.
Where nights associates, I Shall never feare
53
Oh if I once could loſe theſe Rags of Clay
O, if I once could lose these rags of clay,
Oh if I once could lose these
Critical Note
It is common to refer to the human body as mere clay, evoking the substance from which Adam was created, but “Rags of Clay” is a less common idiom to use to describe one’s body. Rags might suggest her worn out, grief-stricken flesh. She also uses the phrase in Made When My Spirits Were Sunk Very Low [Poem 66], line 4, where it has special resonance in a poem that announces itself in its full title as having been written “in sickness & sorrow” when she was “seventy one years old.”
Rags of Clay
54
Then I (poore I) ſhould fare outſhine the day
Then I (poor I) should far outshine the day;
Then I (poore I) should fare
Critical Note
In the afterlife her spirit will shine brighter than the dawn or the sun, sources of light in this poem. This language of surpassing may also suggest that the Christian framework she is introducing in these final lines is meant to show that the Christian God surpasses the mythological conceptions of day and night that she has depicted in this poem.
outshine the day
55
Then that greate God that Ancient is of dayes
Then that great God, that
Critical Note
See KJV, Daniel 7:9,13,22.
ancient is of days,
Then that greate God that
Gloss Note
As the elemental edition notes, this phrase is Biblical, from Daniel 7.
Ancient is of dayes
56
Should be the Alpha and Omega of my
Physical Note
Praisee] poem ends with four dots arranged in a diamond
Praise
Should be the
Critical Note
first and last letters of Greek alphabet; as epithet for Christian deity, see KJV, Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13
Alpha and Omega of my praise.
Gloss Note
Pulter’s use of the word “should” in lines 54 and 56 is likely in the sense of “shall” rather than the sense of “ought.”
Should be the
Gloss Note
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are used to refer to God at several places in the Book of Revelation.
Alpha and Omega of my Praise
ascending straight line
X (Close panel)Notes: Elemental Edition

 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

“Aurora [1]” is the first of several poems so named. Pulter attends often, and often ardently, to this classical figure of the dawn, identified elsewhere in her work as the mother of Astraea: a figure in her turn associated by Pulter primarily with truth, rather than justice, as is more conventional. Here, the speaker’s sensuous admiration of Aurora’s luminous beauty and entourage of feminine powers is interrupted by the amorous, then rapacious, pursuit of dawn by the blazing sun god. This allegory rapidly turns gory, with the god lashing his horses until they rain blood on Earth. When the sun god’s illumination is, inevitably, succeeded by the darkness of Night and her misery-making offspring, the poem’s focus shifts from the astral and mythological to something much more personal. The speaker’s vulnerability to nocturnal terrors makes her long for escape through death—quite paradoxically, since visions of death are among the very terrors she seeks to escape. This paradox suggests one way in which, as she says of her dark and distorted visions, “of my reason, straight they make a rape.” But the speaker, in the end, seizes power back from both darkness and the excesses of the sun when she imagines herself, in death, “far outshin[ing] the day,” and the poem’s classical figuration is reconfigured in praise of a biblical God, in a vein congruent with much of Pulter’s devotional verse.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Roman goddess of dawn
Line number 9

 Gloss note

Roman goddess of flowers
Line number 10
Horae, Greek goddesses of seasons
Line number 11

 Gloss note

saddle horses, especially for women
Line number 12

 Gloss note

inhaling through the nostrils
Line number 12

 Critical note

Aurora’s horses are portrayed as having been created through the inhalation (by whom, it is not clear) of wind.
Line number 13

 Critical note

in classical myth, Aurora was often pictured driving or riding in a horse-drawn coach or chariot, like Phoebus/Apollo, as the sun
Line number 15

 Gloss note

the sun
Line number 16

 Gloss note

chariot
Line number 22

 Gloss note

foaming at the mouth
Line number 23

 Gloss note

mountain home of Greek gods
Line number 25

 Gloss note

bright red
Line number 28

 Critical note

many-headed monster of Greek myth; often used figuratively, especially by Pulter for opponents to royalists in the civil wars
Line number 30

 Critical note

Pulter’s manuscript reads “Delia’s”; however, the sense suggests an authorial or scribal error for the possessive “Delius,” an epithet for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
Line number 32

 Critical note

temporary configuration of planets
Line number 32

 Gloss note

Greek goddess Nyx
Line number 33

 Critical note

Night’s asexually (and so, as line 37 suggests, illegitimately) produced offspring, including Doom, Fate, Death, Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Destinies (or Parcae), Nemesis, Deceit, Lovemaking, Old Age, and Strife. Hesiod, The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles (2017), 42, 45.
Line number 35

 Gloss note

cursed, hated
Line number 36

 Gloss note

person
Line number 37

 Gloss note

false; of illegitimate birth or origin
Line number 42

 Gloss note

dark, gloomy; of the underworld
Line number 46

 Gloss note

forced abduction; sexual violation
Line number 55

 Critical note

See KJV, Daniel 7:9,13,22.
Line number 56

 Critical note

first and last letters of Greek alphabet; as epithet for Christian deity, see KJV, Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Elemental Edition
Elemental Edition
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Aurora
Aurora [1]
Aurora
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 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
This is a semi-diplomatic transcription in which original spelling and punctuation are retained, abbreviations (such as tildes) are expanded with added letters in italics (with the exception of “ye” which is rendered as “the”), “ff” is modernized to “F,” superscriptions are lowered, colons indicating abbreviations are removed, and major alterations to the text (of a word or more, not individual letters) are noted in the footnotes. The retention of original spelling and punctuation has the potential to get us closer to the choices made by the poet and scribe, but some scribal details (such as abbreviations) do not seem substantive or meaning-bearing and run the risk of alienating a modern reader.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
“Aurora [1]” is the first of several poems so named. Pulter attends often, and often ardently, to this classical figure of the dawn, identified elsewhere in her work as the mother of Astraea: a figure in her turn associated by Pulter primarily with truth, rather than justice, as is more conventional. Here, the speaker’s sensuous admiration of Aurora’s luminous beauty and entourage of feminine powers is interrupted by the amorous, then rapacious, pursuit of dawn by the blazing sun god. This allegory rapidly turns gory, with the god lashing his horses until they rain blood on Earth. When the sun god’s illumination is, inevitably, succeeded by the darkness of Night and her misery-making offspring, the poem’s focus shifts from the astral and mythological to something much more personal. The speaker’s vulnerability to nocturnal terrors makes her long for escape through death—quite paradoxically, since visions of death are among the very terrors she seeks to escape. This paradox suggests one way in which, as she says of her dark and distorted visions, “of my reason, straight they make a rape.” But the speaker, in the end, seizes power back from both darkness and the excesses of the sun when she imagines herself, in death, “far outshin[ing] the day,” and the poem’s classical figuration is reconfigured in praise of a biblical God, in a vein congruent with much of Pulter’s devotional verse.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Aurora is the female mythological figure that appears most often in Pulter’s poetry. This is the first of five poems Pulter has written about or to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn: Aurora [1] [Poem 3], To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], To Aurora [2] [Poem 26], To Aurora [3] [Poem 34], and Aurora [2] [Poem 37]. The character Aurora also appears in several other poems, including Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, where she is depicted as the mother of Truth or Astraea. There are several menacing figures in this first poem on Aurora: the Sun, who violently pursues Aurora; Night, whose children torment the speaker; and Death. The poem charts the period of a day: from a blissful awakening at the hands of Aurora, to a time of destruction caused by the lust and rage of the Sun, to a period of suffering brought about by Night’s offspring. The poem ends in a place beyond time, where the speaker’s death will bring her comfort and where she will delight in praising God.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
Louely Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
Lovely
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of dawn
Aurora, O how heavenly fair
Louely
Gloss Note
Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn.
Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
2
Do’s ſhe apeare with her diſſheveld haire
Does she appear with her disheveled hair
Do’s she apeare with her
Critical Note
Aurora’s hair may be disheveled to indicate the streaks of light that can appear at the break of day.
dissheveld haire
3
Pearl’d or’e w:th odours of the early East
Pearled over with odors of the early East—
Critical Note
i.e., pearled over, or covered over with pearl-like drops (sprinkled with dew), but the image here is of “odours” or scents taking the liquid form of dew. For an image of a seventeenth-century woman pearled over with actual pearls, see Pearled Over in Curations for this poem.
Pearl’d or’e with odours of the early East
4
How infinitely ſhee doth our Sences feast
How infinitely she doth our senses feast!
How infinitely shee doth our
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that our senses, and in this case the senses of smell (the “odours” of line 3) and sight (because we see Aurora’s hair, perhaps in the form of wispy clouds), feast or delight in the dawn.
Sences feast
5
Shee needs noe Gems her ſnowey Neck to adorne
She needs no gems her snowy neck to adorn,
Shee needs noe Gemm̄s her snowey
Critical Note
Aurora’s neck may be snowy and unadorned to depict the bright light of early morning. Pulter may also be evoking the language of the blazon here and giving it a different spin: instead of the perfect blond hair and alabaster skin of the Petrarchan lady, Aurora’s hair is disheveled (l. 2) and she doesn’t sport the conventional jewelry worn by high status women of the time (“noe Gemms”). See Frances E. Dolan’s discussion of Pulter’s use of the blazon.
Neck to adorne
6
ffor what can luſter add unto the Morne
For what can luster add unto the morn?
For what can luster add unto the Morne
7
Her right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
Her right hand holds forth light unto our view;
Her
Critical Note
This image of dawn holding light could allude to the common Homeric epithet, rosy-fingered dawn.
right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
8
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
The other sprinkles aromatic dew
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
9
On ffloras; fragrant, various Colour’d fflowers
On
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of flowers
Flora’s fragrant, various-colored flowers,
On
Gloss Note
Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.
Floras; fragrant, various Colour’d Flowers
10
Attended by a Traine of fleeting Howres
Attended by a train of fleeting
Horae, Greek goddesses of seasons
Hours
Attended by a
Gloss Note
The Hours are the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The train (or group or sequence) is fleeting because dawn soon turns into day. The verb “fleet” is also used to capture the movement of mists, clouds, or spirits floating or drifting through the air (OED v.1, I.3)
Traine of fleeting Howres
11
Drawn by white
Physical Note
second half of word appears respelled ("p" may have been "f")
Palphris first of that kinde
Drawn by white
Gloss Note
saddle horses, especially for women
palfreys, first of that kind,
Drawn by white
Critical Note
i.e., palfreys, or horses for riding, especially for women. The Greek goddess of the dawn, Eos, is depicted in the Odyssey 23.246 as riding in a chariot drawn by two horses called Lampus (“Shiner”) and Phaethon (“Blazer”); Alan H. Griffiths, “Eos,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 3rd revised edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online.
Palphris
Critical Note
Best of their species, or “preceding all others in status, rank, importance, or excellence” (OED 1a). Additionally, the palfreys may be identified as “first” of their kind in order to suggest the newness of the breaking day.
first of that kinde
12
Now Since producet by Snuffing up the wind
Now since produced by
Gloss Note
inhaling through the nostrils
snuffing up the
Critical Note
Aurora’s horses are portrayed as having been created through the inhalation (by whom, it is not clear) of wind.
wind;
Now Since
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that the horses have been materialized by an inhaling through the nostrils, but it is not clear exactly who or what has inhaled them into being (the god of the winds? the horses themselves?).
producet by Snuffing up the wind
13
Thus as in Silver coach ſhees hurld
Thus, as
Critical Note
in classical myth, Aurora was often pictured driving or riding in a horse-drawn coach or chariot, like Phoebus/Apollo, as the sun
in silver coach she’s hurled,
Thus as in
Gloss Note
Aurora conventionally rides across the sky in a chariot; it is silver here perhaps to evoke the purity and quality of early-morning light.
Silver Coach shees hurld
14
Shee both inlightens and perfumes the world
She both enlightens and perfumes the world.
Shee both
Critical Note
In her descriptions of Aurora’s actions Pulter has stressed both the obvious light-giving qualities of the dawn (she adds “luster” to the morn, l. 6, and “inlightens,” l. 14) and the less obvious range of scents with which she “perfumes the world,” l. 14 (“odours of the early East,” l. 3, “Aromattick Dew,” l. 8, “fragrant … Flowers,” l. 9).
inlightens and perfumes the world
15
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
Then after hurries that illustrious
Gloss Note
the sun
star
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
16
Who rides Triumphant in his blazing Car
Who rides, triumphant, in his blazing
Gloss Note
chariot
car,
Who rides Triumphant in his
Critical Note
This is a reference to the Sun god riding in his horse-drawn chariot across the sky. In Greek myth, the goddess of the dawn, Eos, was the daughter of Hyperion, the Sun god (Griffiths, “Eos”), but here the Sun god pursues the dawn as a would-be lover. Also, Griffiths notes that the mythology depicts Eos as a “predatory lover,” but Pulter presents the dawn as subject to the lust of the Sun rather than the aggressor towards her own romantic conquests.
blazing Car
17
Before whoſe face Shines forth perpetuall day
Before whose face shines forth perpetual day,
Before whose face Shines forth perpetuall day
18
Exhailing and expelling Mists away
Exhaling and expelling mists away,
Exhailling and expelling Mists away
19
And to her Thros his wanton
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] amorous Eyes
And to her throws his wanton amorous eyes;
And to her
Gloss Note
i.e., throws
Thros his wanton amorous Eyes
20
But like a Virgin Coy Shee bluſhing flies
But like a virgin coy, she, blushing, flies.
But
Critical Note
Aurora may be acting “like” a virgin because she isn’t actually one: in Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, Pulter depicts her as the mother of Truth, or Astraea.
like a Virgin Coy Shee blushing flies
21
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her diſdaine
He, filled with love and rage for her disdain,
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her
Critical Note
The poet is using the language of Petrarchan courtship here: “coy,” “blushing,” and “disdain” all suggest the typical lady of the sonnet tradition. But with the use of the word “Rage” Pulter gives the scene a violent edge and suggests the potential menace of a courtship situation. She is likely also evoking the context of Greek mythology which is filled with stories of male aggressors and female victims, such as Apollo and Daphne.
disdaine
22
Upon his foaming Horſes layes
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] his Raine
Upon his
Gloss Note
foaming at the mouth
foaming horses lays his rein,
Upon his
Critical Note
Horses are traditionally associated with the bestial side of the human passions that need to be reined in. That the Sun’s horses are foaming with rage suggests that they, like their master, are out of control.
foaming Horses layes his Raine
23
Gain^ing Olimpus top with furious Speed
Gaining
Gloss Note
mountain home of Greek gods
Olympus’s top with furious speed,
Gaining
Gloss Note
Mount Olympus was the home of the Greek gods.
Olimpus top with furious Speed
24
Lashing
Physical Note
several illegible letters, scribbled out; first three letters likely "the"
[?] theire Pamper’d Sides untill they bleed
Lashing their pampered sides until they bleed.
Lashing theire Pamper’d Sides
Gloss Note
While whipping horses to increase their speed may have been a common practice, Pulter emphasizes the savagery of the Sun’s actions and their cosmic consequences.
untill they bleed
25
When these Vermillian drops to Earth deſcend
When these
Gloss Note
bright red
vermilion drops to Earth descend
When these
Gloss Note
i.e., vermilion or bright red
Vermillian drops to Earth descend
26
They Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
They amaze poor mortals, fearing they portend
They
Gloss Note
i.e., amaze
Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
27
Unto ſome Antient Monarchie confuſion
Unto some ancient monarchy confusion,
Unto some
Critical Note
The poet may be comparing the menacing sign of blood-red raindrops falling from the sky to a kind of biblical plague such as the frogs, lice, and flies that God brought upon the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites under Moses go free (Exodus 8). Other examples of God’s punishment upon Pharaoh’s kingdom include cattle killing, boils, pestilence, hail, and fire (Exodus 9), and locusts and darkness (Exodus 10). Additionally, as Alice Eardley notes in her edition, Ovid depicts drops of blood falling from the sky in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses(Alice Eardley, editor, Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Iter and Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, p. 57). The context for these lines is the omens which presage the murder of Julius Caesar, a dire event with political ramifications: “when faire Venus saw; and saw with all, / Conspiring weapons threat the High-Priests [i.e., Caesar’s] fall; / Her colour fled … Thus, through all heauen, her Sorrowes vainely speake; / And melt the Gods: who, since they could not breake / The antient Sisters [i.e., the Destinies] adamantine doome, / By sure Ostents [i.e., portents] demonstrate Woes to come … Oft, Meteors through the aire their flames extend: / Oft, drops of blood from purple clouds descend” (George Sandys, translator, Ouids Metamorphosis Englished, mythologiz’d, and represented in figures, 1632, pp. 507-508). Pulter’s reference to blood-red drops that also “descend” to Earth picks up on this political suggestion, in its foreshadowing of confusion to a monarchy or dissolution to a monstruous hydra (line 28).
Antient Monarchie confusion
28
Or to ſome Hidrian Monster diſſolution
Or, to some
Critical Note
many-headed monster of Greek myth; often used figuratively, especially by Pulter for opponents to royalists in the civil wars
Hydrian monster, dissolution,
Or to some
Critical Note
In her image of the “Hidrian Monster,” Pulter is drawing a parallel between heavenly signs that portend the fall of a civilization and indications that a political movement will fail (specifically, the implication is the Parliamentarians in the civil war). The Hydra, or monster with many heads which grow back as quickly as they are cut off, was a common symbol of unruly government. Charles I in Eikon basilike, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings (1648; really 1649) refers to “the many-headed Hydra of Government” as a “monstrosity” (p. 71; see "The Many-Headed Hydra" in Curations for this poem). For an example of how Thomas Hobbes uses the metaphor in Leviathan (1651), see The Many-Headed Hydra in Curations for this poem.
Hidrian Monster
Gloss Note
While Pulter often uses the term “dissolution” or “dissolve” in an alchemical sense to suggest disintegration (as in the title Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], for example), here the sense seems to be political above all.
dissolution
29
When often times the cause is from aboue
When, oftentimes, the cause is from above:
When often times the cause is from aboue
30
ffrom Radiant Delias frantick fits of loue
From radiant
Critical Note
Pulter’s manuscript reads “Delia’s”; however, the sense suggests an authorial or scribal error for the possessive “Delius,” an epithet for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
Delius’s frantic fits of love,
From Radiant
Critical Note
The island of Delos was the supposed birthplace of the god Apollo, and one of the two centres where his cult was established in ancient Greece. Apollo was associated with many things including prophecy, poetry, and the sun. As the elemental edition notes, Delia, the feminized form of the word, may be a transcription error for Delius, but at several other places in her poetry Pulter uses Delia to refer to the Sun god: for example, see The Eclipse [Poem 1], l. 26, The Garden, or the Contention of Flowers [Poem 12], l. 127, and This Soul, that Bird, and Fish (Emblem 35) [Poem 100] l. 3. The context of the poem makes it clear that this name refers to the amorous Sun god, but the name Delia was sometimes used by other writers as a synonym for Apollo’s sister Cynthia, goddess of the moon. For example, the character Arete in Ben Jonson’s play Cynthia’s Revels, act 5, scene 8, line 18, addresses Cynthia as “celestiall Delia” (Ben Jonson, Vol. 4: Cynthia’s Revels; Poetaster; Sejanus; Eastward Ho, edited by C.H. Herford and Percy Simpson, Oxford University Press, 1932, p. 168, Oxford Scholarly Editions Online).
Delias frantick fits of loue
who
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31
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
Who follows her with heat and greater light,
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
32
Leaving this Horoſcope to horrid Night
Leaving this
Critical Note
temporary configuration of planets
horoscope to horrid
Gloss Note
Greek goddess Nyx
Night,
Leaving this
Gloss Note
configuration of the planets at one moment
Horoscope to horrid
Critical Note
Nyx is the Greek goddess of night. Pulter refers to Night and her children tormenting people in To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], ll. 4-6 (“This uglie Hag … / Old Night (I meane) with her infernall brood / Who make mens miseries their accursed food”) and Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104 (“Cavse the black brood of Acharon, and Night, / Would alsoe com, who onely were adicted / To ad aflictions to the most aflicted”; my transcriptions from the manuscript). Acheron denoted the underworld or Hell (M.C. Howatson, editor, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2011, Oxford Reference Online).
Night
33
Whose furious iſſue Straight theire Curles unrowles
Whose furious
Critical Note
Night’s asexually (and so, as line 37 suggests, illegitimately) produced offspring, including Doom, Fate, Death, Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Destinies (or Parcae), Nemesis, Deceit, Lovemaking, Old Age, and Strife. Hesiod, The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles (2017), 42, 45.
issue straight their curls unrolls
Whose furious
Critical Note
For a list of the issue or children of Night from the Greek poet Hesiod, see the elemental edition. Alice Eardley in her edition of the poem identifies these with the Furies or the Eumenides (p. 57). Daughters either of the Earth or of Night, the Eumenides had “blood in their eyes, serpents in their hair, and wings on their backs to punish humans for various improper acts” (David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online). If the offspring of Night are all female, they provide an inversion of the benevolent, though fleeting, female train of Hours at line 10.
issue Straight theire
Critical Note
The image of Night’s children unrolling the serpents in their hair to use as whips contrasts with Aurora’s beautiful, disheveled hair of line 2.
Curles unrowles
34
To lash and torture poore afflicted ſoules
To lash and torture poor afflicted souls.
To lash and torture poore afflicted soules
35
Anathamized are those that doe delight
Gloss Note
cursed, hated
Anathemized are those that do delight
Gloss Note
i.e., anathemized: cursed
Anathamized are those that doe delight
36
To add afflictions to the afflicted wight
To add afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
person
wight;
To add
Critical Note
Here, and in line 34, Pulter is using polyptoton (the same word in various cases) to stress the affliction or suffering of those whom Night’s offspring torment. She repeats this effect in Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104, quoted above.
afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
creature or person
wight
37
And of
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] her Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
And of her
Gloss Note
false; of illegitimate birth or origin
spurious breed (no doubt) they be
And of her
Critical Note
Night is depicted as a mother with illegitimate offspring (“Spurious breed”). This offers a contrast to Pulter’s many depictions of devoted motherhood throughout her poetry: herself, and some of the creatures in her emblems and in other poems such as Why Must I Thus Forever Be Confined [Poem 57].
Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
38
That lookes with Joy on others miſerie
That look with joy on others’ misery.
That looke with Joy on others miserie
39
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
Oft times they crawl into my trembling breast,
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
40
That I choose Strangling rather then ſuch Rest
That I choose strangling rather than such rest;
That I choose
Critical Note
The poet now turns from mythological heavenly creatures to her own situation of suffering. The implication is that at night, emotions and pain insidiously enter her when her guard is down. Her image of her “trembling brest” (l. 39) evokes vulnerability but the next line suggests some choice: she would rather be strangled than endure this kind of rest. The violence of strangling picks up other brutal actions in the poem, such as the “lashing” carried out by both the Sun and Night’s children (ll. 24 and 34).
Strangling Rather then such Rest
41
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
Sometimes they take advantage of my fear:
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
42
Then Strange Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
Then strange
Gloss Note
dark, gloomy; of the underworld
Cimmerian sights seem to appear
Then Strange
Gloss Note
i.e., Cimmerian: people who were fabled to live in darkness
Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
43
Unto my troubled fancie then againe
Unto my troubled fancy; then again
Unto my troubled
Gloss Note
imagination
fancie then againe
44
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
They take advantage from my grief or pain,
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
45
Preſenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
Presenting death in his most horrid shape:
Presenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
46
Then of my Reaſon Straight they make a Rape
Then, of my reason, straight they make a
Gloss Note
forced abduction; sexual violation
rape;
Then of my Reason Straight they make a
Critical Note
Rape could mean to abduct or to take something by force, but the crime of a man taking a woman sexually by force is resonant in this context, given the scene the poet depicted earlier of a violent pursuit by a male figure (the Sun) of an unwilling female figure (Aurora). That earlier scene did not result in an actual rape, but here Night’s children “make a Rape” of the speaker’s “Reason” in the form of tormenting her by depicting the menacing male figure of Death.
Rape
47
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
Then my sad soul doth see before her eye
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
48
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die,
Some of my freinds (aye me) that
Gloss Note
The exact identity of those friends is not clear, but many candidates are possible during a period of civil war, and of the poet’s own experience of child loss.
late did die
49
Whoſe loſs fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
Whose loss fills my poor heart so full of grief
Whose loss fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
50
That nought, but Death can give my Soule Reliefe
That nought but death can give my soul relief—
That nought, but
Gloss Note
Pulter transforms the figure of Death from something terrifying (“his most horrid’st Shape,” l. 45) to something comforting, since it will bring her to God.
Death can give my Soule Reliefe
51
ffor then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
For then I placed shall be in such a sphere,
For then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
52
Where nights aſſociates, I Shall never feare
Where Night’s associates I shall never fear.
Where nights associates, I Shall never feare
53
Oh if I once could loſe theſe Rags of Clay
O, if I once could lose these rags of clay,
Oh if I once could lose these
Critical Note
It is common to refer to the human body as mere clay, evoking the substance from which Adam was created, but “Rags of Clay” is a less common idiom to use to describe one’s body. Rags might suggest her worn out, grief-stricken flesh. She also uses the phrase in Made When My Spirits Were Sunk Very Low [Poem 66], line 4, where it has special resonance in a poem that announces itself in its full title as having been written “in sickness & sorrow” when she was “seventy one years old.”
Rags of Clay
54
Then I (poore I) ſhould fare outſhine the day
Then I (poor I) should far outshine the day;
Then I (poore I) should fare
Critical Note
In the afterlife her spirit will shine brighter than the dawn or the sun, sources of light in this poem. This language of surpassing may also suggest that the Christian framework she is introducing in these final lines is meant to show that the Christian God surpasses the mythological conceptions of day and night that she has depicted in this poem.
outshine the day
55
Then that greate God that Ancient is of dayes
Then that great God, that
Critical Note
See KJV, Daniel 7:9,13,22.
ancient is of days,
Then that greate God that
Gloss Note
As the elemental edition notes, this phrase is Biblical, from Daniel 7.
Ancient is of dayes
56
Should be the Alpha and Omega of my
Physical Note
Praisee] poem ends with four dots arranged in a diamond
Praise
Should be the
Critical Note
first and last letters of Greek alphabet; as epithet for Christian deity, see KJV, Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13
Alpha and Omega of my praise.
Gloss Note
Pulter’s use of the word “should” in lines 54 and 56 is likely in the sense of “shall” rather than the sense of “ought.”
Should be the
Gloss Note
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are used to refer to God at several places in the Book of Revelation.
Alpha and Omega of my Praise
ascending straight line
X (Close panel)Notes: Amplified Edition

 Editorial note

This is a semi-diplomatic transcription in which original spelling and punctuation are retained, abbreviations (such as tildes) are expanded with added letters in italics (with the exception of “ye” which is rendered as “the”), “ff” is modernized to “F,” superscriptions are lowered, colons indicating abbreviations are removed, and major alterations to the text (of a word or more, not individual letters) are noted in the footnotes. The retention of original spelling and punctuation has the potential to get us closer to the choices made by the poet and scribe, but some scribal details (such as abbreviations) do not seem substantive or meaning-bearing and run the risk of alienating a modern reader.

 Headnote

Aurora is the female mythological figure that appears most often in Pulter’s poetry. This is the first of five poems Pulter has written about or to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn: Aurora [1] [Poem 3], To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], To Aurora [2] [Poem 26], To Aurora [3] [Poem 34], and Aurora [2] [Poem 37]. The character Aurora also appears in several other poems, including Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, where she is depicted as the mother of Truth or Astraea. There are several menacing figures in this first poem on Aurora: the Sun, who violently pursues Aurora; Night, whose children torment the speaker; and Death. The poem charts the period of a day: from a blissful awakening at the hands of Aurora, to a time of destruction caused by the lust and rage of the Sun, to a period of suffering brought about by Night’s offspring. The poem ends in a place beyond time, where the speaker’s death will bring her comfort and where she will delight in praising God.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn.
Line number 2

 Critical note

Aurora’s hair may be disheveled to indicate the streaks of light that can appear at the break of day.
Line number 3

 Critical note

i.e., pearled over, or covered over with pearl-like drops (sprinkled with dew), but the image here is of “odours” or scents taking the liquid form of dew. For an image of a seventeenth-century woman pearled over with actual pearls, see Pearled Over in Curations for this poem.
Line number 4

 Gloss note

The syntax suggests that our senses, and in this case the senses of smell (the “odours” of line 3) and sight (because we see Aurora’s hair, perhaps in the form of wispy clouds), feast or delight in the dawn.
Line number 5

 Critical note

Aurora’s neck may be snowy and unadorned to depict the bright light of early morning. Pulter may also be evoking the language of the blazon here and giving it a different spin: instead of the perfect blond hair and alabaster skin of the Petrarchan lady, Aurora’s hair is disheveled (l. 2) and she doesn’t sport the conventional jewelry worn by high status women of the time (“noe Gemms”). See Frances E. Dolan’s discussion of Pulter’s use of the blazon.
Line number 7

 Critical note

This image of dawn holding light could allude to the common Homeric epithet, rosy-fingered dawn.
Line number 9

 Gloss note

Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.
Line number 10

 Gloss note

The Hours are the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The train (or group or sequence) is fleeting because dawn soon turns into day. The verb “fleet” is also used to capture the movement of mists, clouds, or spirits floating or drifting through the air (OED v.1, I.3)
Line number 11

 Critical note

i.e., palfreys, or horses for riding, especially for women. The Greek goddess of the dawn, Eos, is depicted in the Odyssey 23.246 as riding in a chariot drawn by two horses called Lampus (“Shiner”) and Phaethon (“Blazer”); Alan H. Griffiths, “Eos,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 3rd revised edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online.
Line number 11

 Critical note

Best of their species, or “preceding all others in status, rank, importance, or excellence” (OED 1a). Additionally, the palfreys may be identified as “first” of their kind in order to suggest the newness of the breaking day.
Line number 12

 Gloss note

The syntax suggests that the horses have been materialized by an inhaling through the nostrils, but it is not clear exactly who or what has inhaled them into being (the god of the winds? the horses themselves?).
Line number 13

 Gloss note

Aurora conventionally rides across the sky in a chariot; it is silver here perhaps to evoke the purity and quality of early-morning light.
Line number 14

 Critical note

In her descriptions of Aurora’s actions Pulter has stressed both the obvious light-giving qualities of the dawn (she adds “luster” to the morn, l. 6, and “inlightens,” l. 14) and the less obvious range of scents with which she “perfumes the world,” l. 14 (“odours of the early East,” l. 3, “Aromattick Dew,” l. 8, “fragrant … Flowers,” l. 9).
Line number 16

 Critical note

This is a reference to the Sun god riding in his horse-drawn chariot across the sky. In Greek myth, the goddess of the dawn, Eos, was the daughter of Hyperion, the Sun god (Griffiths, “Eos”), but here the Sun god pursues the dawn as a would-be lover. Also, Griffiths notes that the mythology depicts Eos as a “predatory lover,” but Pulter presents the dawn as subject to the lust of the Sun rather than the aggressor towards her own romantic conquests.
Line number 19

 Gloss note

i.e., throws
Line number 20

 Critical note

Aurora may be acting “like” a virgin because she isn’t actually one: in Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, Pulter depicts her as the mother of Truth, or Astraea.
Line number 21

 Critical note

The poet is using the language of Petrarchan courtship here: “coy,” “blushing,” and “disdain” all suggest the typical lady of the sonnet tradition. But with the use of the word “Rage” Pulter gives the scene a violent edge and suggests the potential menace of a courtship situation. She is likely also evoking the context of Greek mythology which is filled with stories of male aggressors and female victims, such as Apollo and Daphne.
Line number 22

 Critical note

Horses are traditionally associated with the bestial side of the human passions that need to be reined in. That the Sun’s horses are foaming with rage suggests that they, like their master, are out of control.
Line number 23

 Gloss note

Mount Olympus was the home of the Greek gods.
Line number 24

 Gloss note

While whipping horses to increase their speed may have been a common practice, Pulter emphasizes the savagery of the Sun’s actions and their cosmic consequences.
Line number 25

 Gloss note

i.e., vermilion or bright red
Line number 26

 Gloss note

i.e., amaze
Line number 27

 Critical note

The poet may be comparing the menacing sign of blood-red raindrops falling from the sky to a kind of biblical plague such as the frogs, lice, and flies that God brought upon the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites under Moses go free (Exodus 8). Other examples of God’s punishment upon Pharaoh’s kingdom include cattle killing, boils, pestilence, hail, and fire (Exodus 9), and locusts and darkness (Exodus 10). Additionally, as Alice Eardley notes in her edition, Ovid depicts drops of blood falling from the sky in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses(Alice Eardley, editor, Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Iter and Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, p. 57). The context for these lines is the omens which presage the murder of Julius Caesar, a dire event with political ramifications: “when faire Venus saw; and saw with all, / Conspiring weapons threat the High-Priests [i.e., Caesar’s] fall; / Her colour fled … Thus, through all heauen, her Sorrowes vainely speake; / And melt the Gods: who, since they could not breake / The antient Sisters [i.e., the Destinies] adamantine doome, / By sure Ostents [i.e., portents] demonstrate Woes to come … Oft, Meteors through the aire their flames extend: / Oft, drops of blood from purple clouds descend” (George Sandys, translator, Ouids Metamorphosis Englished, mythologiz’d, and represented in figures, 1632, pp. 507-508). Pulter’s reference to blood-red drops that also “descend” to Earth picks up on this political suggestion, in its foreshadowing of confusion to a monarchy or dissolution to a monstruous hydra (line 28).
Line number 28

 Critical note

In her image of the “Hidrian Monster,” Pulter is drawing a parallel between heavenly signs that portend the fall of a civilization and indications that a political movement will fail (specifically, the implication is the Parliamentarians in the civil war). The Hydra, or monster with many heads which grow back as quickly as they are cut off, was a common symbol of unruly government. Charles I in Eikon basilike, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings (1648; really 1649) refers to “the many-headed Hydra of Government” as a “monstrosity” (p. 71; see "The Many-Headed Hydra" in Curations for this poem). For an example of how Thomas Hobbes uses the metaphor in Leviathan (1651), see The Many-Headed Hydra in Curations for this poem.
Line number 28

 Gloss note

While Pulter often uses the term “dissolution” or “dissolve” in an alchemical sense to suggest disintegration (as in the title Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], for example), here the sense seems to be political above all.
Line number 30

 Critical note

The island of Delos was the supposed birthplace of the god Apollo, and one of the two centres where his cult was established in ancient Greece. Apollo was associated with many things including prophecy, poetry, and the sun. As the elemental edition notes, Delia, the feminized form of the word, may be a transcription error for Delius, but at several other places in her poetry Pulter uses Delia to refer to the Sun god: for example, see The Eclipse [Poem 1], l. 26, The Garden, or the Contention of Flowers [Poem 12], l. 127, and This Soul, that Bird, and Fish (Emblem 35) [Poem 100] l. 3. The context of the poem makes it clear that this name refers to the amorous Sun god, but the name Delia was sometimes used by other writers as a synonym for Apollo’s sister Cynthia, goddess of the moon. For example, the character Arete in Ben Jonson’s play Cynthia’s Revels, act 5, scene 8, line 18, addresses Cynthia as “celestiall Delia” (Ben Jonson, Vol. 4: Cynthia’s Revels; Poetaster; Sejanus; Eastward Ho, edited by C.H. Herford and Percy Simpson, Oxford University Press, 1932, p. 168, Oxford Scholarly Editions Online).
Line number 31

 Gloss note

The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Line number 32

 Gloss note

configuration of the planets at one moment
Line number 32

 Critical note

Nyx is the Greek goddess of night. Pulter refers to Night and her children tormenting people in To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], ll. 4-6 (“This uglie Hag … / Old Night (I meane) with her infernall brood / Who make mens miseries their accursed food”) and Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104 (“Cavse the black brood of Acharon, and Night, / Would alsoe com, who onely were adicted / To ad aflictions to the most aflicted”; my transcriptions from the manuscript). Acheron denoted the underworld or Hell (M.C. Howatson, editor, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2011, Oxford Reference Online).
Line number 33

 Critical note

For a list of the issue or children of Night from the Greek poet Hesiod, see the elemental edition. Alice Eardley in her edition of the poem identifies these with the Furies or the Eumenides (p. 57). Daughters either of the Earth or of Night, the Eumenides had “blood in their eyes, serpents in their hair, and wings on their backs to punish humans for various improper acts” (David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online). If the offspring of Night are all female, they provide an inversion of the benevolent, though fleeting, female train of Hours at line 10.
Line number 33

 Critical note

The image of Night’s children unrolling the serpents in their hair to use as whips contrasts with Aurora’s beautiful, disheveled hair of line 2.
Line number 35

 Gloss note

i.e., anathemized: cursed
Line number 36

 Critical note

Here, and in line 34, Pulter is using polyptoton (the same word in various cases) to stress the affliction or suffering of those whom Night’s offspring torment. She repeats this effect in Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104, quoted above.
Line number 36

 Gloss note

creature or person
Line number 37

 Critical note

Night is depicted as a mother with illegitimate offspring (“Spurious breed”). This offers a contrast to Pulter’s many depictions of devoted motherhood throughout her poetry: herself, and some of the creatures in her emblems and in other poems such as Why Must I Thus Forever Be Confined [Poem 57].
Line number 40

 Critical note

The poet now turns from mythological heavenly creatures to her own situation of suffering. The implication is that at night, emotions and pain insidiously enter her when her guard is down. Her image of her “trembling brest” (l. 39) evokes vulnerability but the next line suggests some choice: she would rather be strangled than endure this kind of rest. The violence of strangling picks up other brutal actions in the poem, such as the “lashing” carried out by both the Sun and Night’s children (ll. 24 and 34).
Line number 42

 Gloss note

i.e., Cimmerian: people who were fabled to live in darkness
Line number 43

 Gloss note

imagination
Line number 46

 Critical note

Rape could mean to abduct or to take something by force, but the crime of a man taking a woman sexually by force is resonant in this context, given the scene the poet depicted earlier of a violent pursuit by a male figure (the Sun) of an unwilling female figure (Aurora). That earlier scene did not result in an actual rape, but here Night’s children “make a Rape” of the speaker’s “Reason” in the form of tormenting her by depicting the menacing male figure of Death.
Line number 48

 Gloss note

The exact identity of those friends is not clear, but many candidates are possible during a period of civil war, and of the poet’s own experience of child loss.
Line number 50

 Gloss note

Pulter transforms the figure of Death from something terrifying (“his most horrid’st Shape,” l. 45) to something comforting, since it will bring her to God.
Line number 53

 Critical note

It is common to refer to the human body as mere clay, evoking the substance from which Adam was created, but “Rags of Clay” is a less common idiom to use to describe one’s body. Rags might suggest her worn out, grief-stricken flesh. She also uses the phrase in Made When My Spirits Were Sunk Very Low [Poem 66], line 4, where it has special resonance in a poem that announces itself in its full title as having been written “in sickness & sorrow” when she was “seventy one years old.”
Line number 54

 Critical note

In the afterlife her spirit will shine brighter than the dawn or the sun, sources of light in this poem. This language of surpassing may also suggest that the Christian framework she is introducing in these final lines is meant to show that the Christian God surpasses the mythological conceptions of day and night that she has depicted in this poem.
Line number 55

 Gloss note

As the elemental edition notes, this phrase is Biblical, from Daniel 7.
Line number 56

 Gloss note

Pulter’s use of the word “should” in lines 54 and 56 is likely in the sense of “shall” rather than the sense of “ought.”
Line number 56

 Gloss note

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are used to refer to God at several places in the Book of Revelation.
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X (Close panel)Amplified Edition
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Aurora
Aurora [1]
Aurora
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.

— Victoria E. Burke
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.

— Victoria E. Burke
This is a semi-diplomatic transcription in which original spelling and punctuation are retained, abbreviations (such as tildes) are expanded with added letters in italics (with the exception of “ye” which is rendered as “the”), “ff” is modernized to “F,” superscriptions are lowered, colons indicating abbreviations are removed, and major alterations to the text (of a word or more, not individual letters) are noted in the footnotes. The retention of original spelling and punctuation has the potential to get us closer to the choices made by the poet and scribe, but some scribal details (such as abbreviations) do not seem substantive or meaning-bearing and run the risk of alienating a modern reader.

— Victoria E. Burke
“Aurora [1]” is the first of several poems so named. Pulter attends often, and often ardently, to this classical figure of the dawn, identified elsewhere in her work as the mother of Astraea: a figure in her turn associated by Pulter primarily with truth, rather than justice, as is more conventional. Here, the speaker’s sensuous admiration of Aurora’s luminous beauty and entourage of feminine powers is interrupted by the amorous, then rapacious, pursuit of dawn by the blazing sun god. This allegory rapidly turns gory, with the god lashing his horses until they rain blood on Earth. When the sun god’s illumination is, inevitably, succeeded by the darkness of Night and her misery-making offspring, the poem’s focus shifts from the astral and mythological to something much more personal. The speaker’s vulnerability to nocturnal terrors makes her long for escape through death—quite paradoxically, since visions of death are among the very terrors she seeks to escape. This paradox suggests one way in which, as she says of her dark and distorted visions, “of my reason, straight they make a rape.” But the speaker, in the end, seizes power back from both darkness and the excesses of the sun when she imagines herself, in death, “far outshin[ing] the day,” and the poem’s classical figuration is reconfigured in praise of a biblical God, in a vein congruent with much of Pulter’s devotional verse.

— Victoria E. Burke
Aurora is the female mythological figure that appears most often in Pulter’s poetry. This is the first of five poems Pulter has written about or to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn: Aurora [1] [Poem 3], To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], To Aurora [2] [Poem 26], To Aurora [3] [Poem 34], and Aurora [2] [Poem 37]. The character Aurora also appears in several other poems, including Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, where she is depicted as the mother of Truth or Astraea. There are several menacing figures in this first poem on Aurora: the Sun, who violently pursues Aurora; Night, whose children torment the speaker; and Death. The poem charts the period of a day: from a blissful awakening at the hands of Aurora, to a time of destruction caused by the lust and rage of the Sun, to a period of suffering brought about by Night’s offspring. The poem ends in a place beyond time, where the speaker’s death will bring her comfort and where she will delight in praising God.

— Victoria E. Burke
1
Louely Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
Lovely
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of dawn
Aurora, O how heavenly fair
Louely
Gloss Note
Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn.
Aurora, o how Heavenly faire
2
Do’s ſhe apeare with her diſſheveld haire
Does she appear with her disheveled hair
Do’s she apeare with her
Critical Note
Aurora’s hair may be disheveled to indicate the streaks of light that can appear at the break of day.
dissheveld haire
3
Pearl’d or’e w:th odours of the early East
Pearled over with odors of the early East—
Critical Note
i.e., pearled over, or covered over with pearl-like drops (sprinkled with dew), but the image here is of “odours” or scents taking the liquid form of dew. For an image of a seventeenth-century woman pearled over with actual pearls, see Pearled Over in Curations for this poem.
Pearl’d or’e with odours of the early East
4
How infinitely ſhee doth our Sences feast
How infinitely she doth our senses feast!
How infinitely shee doth our
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that our senses, and in this case the senses of smell (the “odours” of line 3) and sight (because we see Aurora’s hair, perhaps in the form of wispy clouds), feast or delight in the dawn.
Sences feast
5
Shee needs noe Gems her ſnowey Neck to adorne
She needs no gems her snowy neck to adorn,
Shee needs noe Gemm̄s her snowey
Critical Note
Aurora’s neck may be snowy and unadorned to depict the bright light of early morning. Pulter may also be evoking the language of the blazon here and giving it a different spin: instead of the perfect blond hair and alabaster skin of the Petrarchan lady, Aurora’s hair is disheveled (l. 2) and she doesn’t sport the conventional jewelry worn by high status women of the time (“noe Gemms”). See Frances E. Dolan’s discussion of Pulter’s use of the blazon.
Neck to adorne
6
ffor what can luſter add unto the Morne
For what can luster add unto the morn?
For what can luster add unto the Morne
7
Her right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
Her right hand holds forth light unto our view;
Her
Critical Note
This image of dawn holding light could allude to the common Homeric epithet, rosy-fingered dawn.
right Hand holds forth Light unto our view
8
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
The other sprinkles aromatic dew
The other Sprinckles Aromattick Dew
9
On ffloras; fragrant, various Colour’d fflowers
On
Gloss Note
Roman goddess of flowers
Flora’s fragrant, various-colored flowers,
On
Gloss Note
Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.
Floras; fragrant, various Colour’d Flowers
10
Attended by a Traine of fleeting Howres
Attended by a train of fleeting
Horae, Greek goddesses of seasons
Hours
Attended by a
Gloss Note
The Hours are the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The train (or group or sequence) is fleeting because dawn soon turns into day. The verb “fleet” is also used to capture the movement of mists, clouds, or spirits floating or drifting through the air (OED v.1, I.3)
Traine of fleeting Howres
11
Drawn by white
Physical Note
second half of word appears respelled ("p" may have been "f")
Palphris first of that kinde
Drawn by white
Gloss Note
saddle horses, especially for women
palfreys, first of that kind,
Drawn by white
Critical Note
i.e., palfreys, or horses for riding, especially for women. The Greek goddess of the dawn, Eos, is depicted in the Odyssey 23.246 as riding in a chariot drawn by two horses called Lampus (“Shiner”) and Phaethon (“Blazer”); Alan H. Griffiths, “Eos,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 3rd revised edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online.
Palphris
Critical Note
Best of their species, or “preceding all others in status, rank, importance, or excellence” (OED 1a). Additionally, the palfreys may be identified as “first” of their kind in order to suggest the newness of the breaking day.
first of that kinde
12
Now Since producet by Snuffing up the wind
Now since produced by
Gloss Note
inhaling through the nostrils
snuffing up the
Critical Note
Aurora’s horses are portrayed as having been created through the inhalation (by whom, it is not clear) of wind.
wind;
Now Since
Gloss Note
The syntax suggests that the horses have been materialized by an inhaling through the nostrils, but it is not clear exactly who or what has inhaled them into being (the god of the winds? the horses themselves?).
producet by Snuffing up the wind
13
Thus as in Silver coach ſhees hurld
Thus, as
Critical Note
in classical myth, Aurora was often pictured driving or riding in a horse-drawn coach or chariot, like Phoebus/Apollo, as the sun
in silver coach she’s hurled,
Thus as in
Gloss Note
Aurora conventionally rides across the sky in a chariot; it is silver here perhaps to evoke the purity and quality of early-morning light.
Silver Coach shees hurld
14
Shee both inlightens and perfumes the world
She both enlightens and perfumes the world.
Shee both
Critical Note
In her descriptions of Aurora’s actions Pulter has stressed both the obvious light-giving qualities of the dawn (she adds “luster” to the morn, l. 6, and “inlightens,” l. 14) and the less obvious range of scents with which she “perfumes the world,” l. 14 (“odours of the early East,” l. 3, “Aromattick Dew,” l. 8, “fragrant … Flowers,” l. 9).
inlightens and perfumes the world
15
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
Then after hurries that illustrious
Gloss Note
the sun
star
Then after hurries that illustrious Stare
16
Who rides Triumphant in his blazing Car
Who rides, triumphant, in his blazing
Gloss Note
chariot
car,
Who rides Triumphant in his
Critical Note
This is a reference to the Sun god riding in his horse-drawn chariot across the sky. In Greek myth, the goddess of the dawn, Eos, was the daughter of Hyperion, the Sun god (Griffiths, “Eos”), but here the Sun god pursues the dawn as a would-be lover. Also, Griffiths notes that the mythology depicts Eos as a “predatory lover,” but Pulter presents the dawn as subject to the lust of the Sun rather than the aggressor towards her own romantic conquests.
blazing Car
17
Before whoſe face Shines forth perpetuall day
Before whose face shines forth perpetual day,
Before whose face Shines forth perpetuall day
18
Exhailing and expelling Mists away
Exhaling and expelling mists away,
Exhailling and expelling Mists away
19
And to her Thros his wanton
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] amorous Eyes
And to her throws his wanton amorous eyes;
And to her
Gloss Note
i.e., throws
Thros his wanton amorous Eyes
20
But like a Virgin Coy Shee bluſhing flies
But like a virgin coy, she, blushing, flies.
But
Critical Note
Aurora may be acting “like” a virgin because she isn’t actually one: in Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, Pulter depicts her as the mother of Truth, or Astraea.
like a Virgin Coy Shee blushing flies
21
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her diſdaine
He, filled with love and rage for her disdain,
Hee fil’d with loue and Rage for her
Critical Note
The poet is using the language of Petrarchan courtship here: “coy,” “blushing,” and “disdain” all suggest the typical lady of the sonnet tradition. But with the use of the word “Rage” Pulter gives the scene a violent edge and suggests the potential menace of a courtship situation. She is likely also evoking the context of Greek mythology which is filled with stories of male aggressors and female victims, such as Apollo and Daphne.
disdaine
22
Upon his foaming Horſes layes
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] his Raine
Upon his
Gloss Note
foaming at the mouth
foaming horses lays his rein,
Upon his
Critical Note
Horses are traditionally associated with the bestial side of the human passions that need to be reined in. That the Sun’s horses are foaming with rage suggests that they, like their master, are out of control.
foaming Horses layes his Raine
23
Gain^ing Olimpus top with furious Speed
Gaining
Gloss Note
mountain home of Greek gods
Olympus’s top with furious speed,
Gaining
Gloss Note
Mount Olympus was the home of the Greek gods.
Olimpus top with furious Speed
24
Lashing
Physical Note
several illegible letters, scribbled out; first three letters likely "the"
[?] theire Pamper’d Sides untill they bleed
Lashing their pampered sides until they bleed.
Lashing theire Pamper’d Sides
Gloss Note
While whipping horses to increase their speed may have been a common practice, Pulter emphasizes the savagery of the Sun’s actions and their cosmic consequences.
untill they bleed
25
When these Vermillian drops to Earth deſcend
When these
Gloss Note
bright red
vermilion drops to Earth descend
When these
Gloss Note
i.e., vermilion or bright red
Vermillian drops to Earth descend
26
They Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
They amaze poor mortals, fearing they portend
They
Gloss Note
i.e., amaze
Maze poore Mortals fearing they portend
27
Unto ſome Antient Monarchie confuſion
Unto some ancient monarchy confusion,
Unto some
Critical Note
The poet may be comparing the menacing sign of blood-red raindrops falling from the sky to a kind of biblical plague such as the frogs, lice, and flies that God brought upon the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites under Moses go free (Exodus 8). Other examples of God’s punishment upon Pharaoh’s kingdom include cattle killing, boils, pestilence, hail, and fire (Exodus 9), and locusts and darkness (Exodus 10). Additionally, as Alice Eardley notes in her edition, Ovid depicts drops of blood falling from the sky in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses(Alice Eardley, editor, Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Iter and Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, p. 57). The context for these lines is the omens which presage the murder of Julius Caesar, a dire event with political ramifications: “when faire Venus saw; and saw with all, / Conspiring weapons threat the High-Priests [i.e., Caesar’s] fall; / Her colour fled … Thus, through all heauen, her Sorrowes vainely speake; / And melt the Gods: who, since they could not breake / The antient Sisters [i.e., the Destinies] adamantine doome, / By sure Ostents [i.e., portents] demonstrate Woes to come … Oft, Meteors through the aire their flames extend: / Oft, drops of blood from purple clouds descend” (George Sandys, translator, Ouids Metamorphosis Englished, mythologiz’d, and represented in figures, 1632, pp. 507-508). Pulter’s reference to blood-red drops that also “descend” to Earth picks up on this political suggestion, in its foreshadowing of confusion to a monarchy or dissolution to a monstruous hydra (line 28).
Antient Monarchie confusion
28
Or to ſome Hidrian Monster diſſolution
Or, to some
Critical Note
many-headed monster of Greek myth; often used figuratively, especially by Pulter for opponents to royalists in the civil wars
Hydrian monster, dissolution,
Or to some
Critical Note
In her image of the “Hidrian Monster,” Pulter is drawing a parallel between heavenly signs that portend the fall of a civilization and indications that a political movement will fail (specifically, the implication is the Parliamentarians in the civil war). The Hydra, or monster with many heads which grow back as quickly as they are cut off, was a common symbol of unruly government. Charles I in Eikon basilike, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings (1648; really 1649) refers to “the many-headed Hydra of Government” as a “monstrosity” (p. 71; see "The Many-Headed Hydra" in Curations for this poem). For an example of how Thomas Hobbes uses the metaphor in Leviathan (1651), see The Many-Headed Hydra in Curations for this poem.
Hidrian Monster
Gloss Note
While Pulter often uses the term “dissolution” or “dissolve” in an alchemical sense to suggest disintegration (as in the title Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], for example), here the sense seems to be political above all.
dissolution
29
When often times the cause is from aboue
When, oftentimes, the cause is from above:
When often times the cause is from aboue
30
ffrom Radiant Delias frantick fits of loue
From radiant
Critical Note
Pulter’s manuscript reads “Delia’s”; however, the sense suggests an authorial or scribal error for the possessive “Delius,” an epithet for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
Delius’s frantic fits of love,
From Radiant
Critical Note
The island of Delos was the supposed birthplace of the god Apollo, and one of the two centres where his cult was established in ancient Greece. Apollo was associated with many things including prophecy, poetry, and the sun. As the elemental edition notes, Delia, the feminized form of the word, may be a transcription error for Delius, but at several other places in her poetry Pulter uses Delia to refer to the Sun god: for example, see The Eclipse [Poem 1], l. 26, The Garden, or the Contention of Flowers [Poem 12], l. 127, and This Soul, that Bird, and Fish (Emblem 35) [Poem 100] l. 3. The context of the poem makes it clear that this name refers to the amorous Sun god, but the name Delia was sometimes used by other writers as a synonym for Apollo’s sister Cynthia, goddess of the moon. For example, the character Arete in Ben Jonson’s play Cynthia’s Revels, act 5, scene 8, line 18, addresses Cynthia as “celestiall Delia” (Ben Jonson, Vol. 4: Cynthia’s Revels; Poetaster; Sejanus; Eastward Ho, edited by C.H. Herford and Percy Simpson, Oxford University Press, 1932, p. 168, Oxford Scholarly Editions Online).
Delias frantick fits of loue
who
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
Facsimile Image Placeholder
31
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
Who follows her with heat and greater light,
Who followes her with
Gloss Note
The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Heat and greater light
32
Leaving this Horoſcope to horrid Night
Leaving this
Critical Note
temporary configuration of planets
horoscope to horrid
Gloss Note
Greek goddess Nyx
Night,
Leaving this
Gloss Note
configuration of the planets at one moment
Horoscope to horrid
Critical Note
Nyx is the Greek goddess of night. Pulter refers to Night and her children tormenting people in To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], ll. 4-6 (“This uglie Hag … / Old Night (I meane) with her infernall brood / Who make mens miseries their accursed food”) and Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104 (“Cavse the black brood of Acharon, and Night, / Would alsoe com, who onely were adicted / To ad aflictions to the most aflicted”; my transcriptions from the manuscript). Acheron denoted the underworld or Hell (M.C. Howatson, editor, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2011, Oxford Reference Online).
Night
33
Whose furious iſſue Straight theire Curles unrowles
Whose furious
Critical Note
Night’s asexually (and so, as line 37 suggests, illegitimately) produced offspring, including Doom, Fate, Death, Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Destinies (or Parcae), Nemesis, Deceit, Lovemaking, Old Age, and Strife. Hesiod, The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles (2017), 42, 45.
issue straight their curls unrolls
Whose furious
Critical Note
For a list of the issue or children of Night from the Greek poet Hesiod, see the elemental edition. Alice Eardley in her edition of the poem identifies these with the Furies or the Eumenides (p. 57). Daughters either of the Earth or of Night, the Eumenides had “blood in their eyes, serpents in their hair, and wings on their backs to punish humans for various improper acts” (David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online). If the offspring of Night are all female, they provide an inversion of the benevolent, though fleeting, female train of Hours at line 10.
issue Straight theire
Critical Note
The image of Night’s children unrolling the serpents in their hair to use as whips contrasts with Aurora’s beautiful, disheveled hair of line 2.
Curles unrowles
34
To lash and torture poore afflicted ſoules
To lash and torture poor afflicted souls.
To lash and torture poore afflicted soules
35
Anathamized are those that doe delight
Gloss Note
cursed, hated
Anathemized are those that do delight
Gloss Note
i.e., anathemized: cursed
Anathamized are those that doe delight
36
To add afflictions to the afflicted wight
To add afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
person
wight;
To add
Critical Note
Here, and in line 34, Pulter is using polyptoton (the same word in various cases) to stress the affliction or suffering of those whom Night’s offspring torment. She repeats this effect in Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104, quoted above.
afflictions to the afflicted
Gloss Note
creature or person
wight
37
And of
Physical Note
single illegible letter, scribbled out
[?] her Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
And of her
Gloss Note
false; of illegitimate birth or origin
spurious breed (no doubt) they be
And of her
Critical Note
Night is depicted as a mother with illegitimate offspring (“Spurious breed”). This offers a contrast to Pulter’s many depictions of devoted motherhood throughout her poetry: herself, and some of the creatures in her emblems and in other poems such as Why Must I Thus Forever Be Confined [Poem 57].
Spurious breed (no doubt) they bee
38
That lookes with Joy on others miſerie
That look with joy on others’ misery.
That looke with Joy on others miserie
39
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
Oft times they crawl into my trembling breast,
Oft times they craule into my trembling brest
40
That I choose Strangling rather then ſuch Rest
That I choose strangling rather than such rest;
That I choose
Critical Note
The poet now turns from mythological heavenly creatures to her own situation of suffering. The implication is that at night, emotions and pain insidiously enter her when her guard is down. Her image of her “trembling brest” (l. 39) evokes vulnerability but the next line suggests some choice: she would rather be strangled than endure this kind of rest. The violence of strangling picks up other brutal actions in the poem, such as the “lashing” carried out by both the Sun and Night’s children (ll. 24 and 34).
Strangling Rather then such Rest
41
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
Sometimes they take advantage of my fear:
Sometimes they take advantage of my feare
42
Then Strange Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
Then strange
Gloss Note
dark, gloomy; of the underworld
Cimmerian sights seem to appear
Then Strange
Gloss Note
i.e., Cimmerian: people who were fabled to live in darkness
Cemerian Sights Seeme to apeare
43
Unto my troubled fancie then againe
Unto my troubled fancy; then again
Unto my troubled
Gloss Note
imagination
fancie then againe
44
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
They take advantage from my grief or pain,
They take Advantage from my Griefe or paine
45
Preſenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
Presenting death in his most horrid shape:
Presenting death in his most horrid’st Shape
46
Then of my Reaſon Straight they make a Rape
Then, of my reason, straight they make a
Gloss Note
forced abduction; sexual violation
rape;
Then of my Reason Straight they make a
Critical Note
Rape could mean to abduct or to take something by force, but the crime of a man taking a woman sexually by force is resonant in this context, given the scene the poet depicted earlier of a violent pursuit by a male figure (the Sun) of an unwilling female figure (Aurora). That earlier scene did not result in an actual rape, but here Night’s children “make a Rape” of the speaker’s “Reason” in the form of tormenting her by depicting the menacing male figure of Death.
Rape
47
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
Then my sad soul doth see before her eye
Then my Sad Soule doth See before her Eye
48
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die
Some of my friends (aye me) that late did die,
Some of my freinds (aye me) that
Gloss Note
The exact identity of those friends is not clear, but many candidates are possible during a period of civil war, and of the poet’s own experience of child loss.
late did die
49
Whoſe loſs fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
Whose loss fills my poor heart so full of grief
Whose loss fils my poore heart Soe full of griefe
50
That nought, but Death can give my Soule Reliefe
That nought but death can give my soul relief—
That nought, but
Gloss Note
Pulter transforms the figure of Death from something terrifying (“his most horrid’st Shape,” l. 45) to something comforting, since it will bring her to God.
Death can give my Soule Reliefe
51
ffor then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
For then I placed shall be in such a sphere,
For then I plac’t Shall be in Such a Spheire
52
Where nights aſſociates, I Shall never feare
Where Night’s associates I shall never fear.
Where nights associates, I Shall never feare
53
Oh if I once could loſe theſe Rags of Clay
O, if I once could lose these rags of clay,
Oh if I once could lose these
Critical Note
It is common to refer to the human body as mere clay, evoking the substance from which Adam was created, but “Rags of Clay” is a less common idiom to use to describe one’s body. Rags might suggest her worn out, grief-stricken flesh. She also uses the phrase in Made When My Spirits Were Sunk Very Low [Poem 66], line 4, where it has special resonance in a poem that announces itself in its full title as having been written “in sickness & sorrow” when she was “seventy one years old.”
Rags of Clay
54
Then I (poore I) ſhould fare outſhine the day
Then I (poor I) should far outshine the day;
Then I (poore I) should fare
Critical Note
In the afterlife her spirit will shine brighter than the dawn or the sun, sources of light in this poem. This language of surpassing may also suggest that the Christian framework she is introducing in these final lines is meant to show that the Christian God surpasses the mythological conceptions of day and night that she has depicted in this poem.
outshine the day
55
Then that greate God that Ancient is of dayes
Then that great God, that
Critical Note
See KJV, Daniel 7:9,13,22.
ancient is of days,
Then that greate God that
Gloss Note
As the elemental edition notes, this phrase is Biblical, from Daniel 7.
Ancient is of dayes
56
Should be the Alpha and Omega of my
Physical Note
Praisee] poem ends with four dots arranged in a diamond
Praise
Should be the
Critical Note
first and last letters of Greek alphabet; as epithet for Christian deity, see KJV, Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13
Alpha and Omega of my praise.
Gloss Note
Pulter’s use of the word “should” in lines 54 and 56 is likely in the sense of “shall” rather than the sense of “ought.”
Should be the
Gloss Note
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are used to refer to God at several places in the Book of Revelation.
Alpha and Omega of my Praise
ascending straight line
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 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

This is a semi-diplomatic transcription in which original spelling and punctuation are retained, abbreviations (such as tildes) are expanded with added letters in italics (with the exception of “ye” which is rendered as “the”), “ff” is modernized to “F,” superscriptions are lowered, colons indicating abbreviations are removed, and major alterations to the text (of a word or more, not individual letters) are noted in the footnotes. The retention of original spelling and punctuation has the potential to get us closer to the choices made by the poet and scribe, but some scribal details (such as abbreviations) do not seem substantive or meaning-bearing and run the risk of alienating a modern reader.
Elemental Edition

 Headnote

“Aurora [1]” is the first of several poems so named. Pulter attends often, and often ardently, to this classical figure of the dawn, identified elsewhere in her work as the mother of Astraea: a figure in her turn associated by Pulter primarily with truth, rather than justice, as is more conventional. Here, the speaker’s sensuous admiration of Aurora’s luminous beauty and entourage of feminine powers is interrupted by the amorous, then rapacious, pursuit of dawn by the blazing sun god. This allegory rapidly turns gory, with the god lashing his horses until they rain blood on Earth. When the sun god’s illumination is, inevitably, succeeded by the darkness of Night and her misery-making offspring, the poem’s focus shifts from the astral and mythological to something much more personal. The speaker’s vulnerability to nocturnal terrors makes her long for escape through death—quite paradoxically, since visions of death are among the very terrors she seeks to escape. This paradox suggests one way in which, as she says of her dark and distorted visions, “of my reason, straight they make a rape.” But the speaker, in the end, seizes power back from both darkness and the excesses of the sun when she imagines herself, in death, “far outshin[ing] the day,” and the poem’s classical figuration is reconfigured in praise of a biblical God, in a vein congruent with much of Pulter’s devotional verse.
Amplified Edition

 Headnote

Aurora is the female mythological figure that appears most often in Pulter’s poetry. This is the first of five poems Pulter has written about or to Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn: Aurora [1] [Poem 3], To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], To Aurora [2] [Poem 26], To Aurora [3] [Poem 34], and Aurora [2] [Poem 37]. The character Aurora also appears in several other poems, including Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, where she is depicted as the mother of Truth or Astraea. There are several menacing figures in this first poem on Aurora: the Sun, who violently pursues Aurora; Night, whose children torment the speaker; and Death. The poem charts the period of a day: from a blissful awakening at the hands of Aurora, to a time of destruction caused by the lust and rage of the Sun, to a period of suffering brought about by Night’s offspring. The poem ends in a place beyond time, where the speaker’s death will bring her comfort and where she will delight in praising God.
Elemental Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Roman goddess of dawn
Amplified Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

Aurora is the Roman goddess of the dawn.
Amplified Edition
Line number 2

 Critical note

Aurora’s hair may be disheveled to indicate the streaks of light that can appear at the break of day.
Amplified Edition
Line number 3

 Critical note

i.e., pearled over, or covered over with pearl-like drops (sprinkled with dew), but the image here is of “odours” or scents taking the liquid form of dew. For an image of a seventeenth-century woman pearled over with actual pearls, see Pearled Over in Curations for this poem.
Amplified Edition
Line number 4

 Gloss note

The syntax suggests that our senses, and in this case the senses of smell (the “odours” of line 3) and sight (because we see Aurora’s hair, perhaps in the form of wispy clouds), feast or delight in the dawn.
Amplified Edition
Line number 5

 Critical note

Aurora’s neck may be snowy and unadorned to depict the bright light of early morning. Pulter may also be evoking the language of the blazon here and giving it a different spin: instead of the perfect blond hair and alabaster skin of the Petrarchan lady, Aurora’s hair is disheveled (l. 2) and she doesn’t sport the conventional jewelry worn by high status women of the time (“noe Gemms”). See Frances E. Dolan’s discussion of Pulter’s use of the blazon.
Amplified Edition
Line number 7

 Critical note

This image of dawn holding light could allude to the common Homeric epithet, rosy-fingered dawn.
Elemental Edition
Line number 9

 Gloss note

Roman goddess of flowers
Amplified Edition
Line number 9

 Gloss note

Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.
Elemental Edition
Line number 10
Horae, Greek goddesses of seasons
Amplified Edition
Line number 10

 Gloss note

The Hours are the Greek goddesses of the seasons. The train (or group or sequence) is fleeting because dawn soon turns into day. The verb “fleet” is also used to capture the movement of mists, clouds, or spirits floating or drifting through the air (OED v.1, I.3)
Transcription
Line number 11

 Physical note

second half of word appears respelled ("p" may have been "f")
Elemental Edition
Line number 11

 Gloss note

saddle horses, especially for women
Amplified Edition
Line number 11

 Critical note

i.e., palfreys, or horses for riding, especially for women. The Greek goddess of the dawn, Eos, is depicted in the Odyssey 23.246 as riding in a chariot drawn by two horses called Lampus (“Shiner”) and Phaethon (“Blazer”); Alan H. Griffiths, “Eos,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 3rd revised edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online.
Amplified Edition
Line number 11

 Critical note

Best of their species, or “preceding all others in status, rank, importance, or excellence” (OED 1a). Additionally, the palfreys may be identified as “first” of their kind in order to suggest the newness of the breaking day.
Elemental Edition
Line number 12

 Gloss note

inhaling through the nostrils
Elemental Edition
Line number 12

 Critical note

Aurora’s horses are portrayed as having been created through the inhalation (by whom, it is not clear) of wind.
Amplified Edition
Line number 12

 Gloss note

The syntax suggests that the horses have been materialized by an inhaling through the nostrils, but it is not clear exactly who or what has inhaled them into being (the god of the winds? the horses themselves?).
Elemental Edition
Line number 13

 Critical note

in classical myth, Aurora was often pictured driving or riding in a horse-drawn coach or chariot, like Phoebus/Apollo, as the sun
Amplified Edition
Line number 13

 Gloss note

Aurora conventionally rides across the sky in a chariot; it is silver here perhaps to evoke the purity and quality of early-morning light.
Amplified Edition
Line number 14

 Critical note

In her descriptions of Aurora’s actions Pulter has stressed both the obvious light-giving qualities of the dawn (she adds “luster” to the morn, l. 6, and “inlightens,” l. 14) and the less obvious range of scents with which she “perfumes the world,” l. 14 (“odours of the early East,” l. 3, “Aromattick Dew,” l. 8, “fragrant … Flowers,” l. 9).
Elemental Edition
Line number 15

 Gloss note

the sun
Elemental Edition
Line number 16

 Gloss note

chariot
Amplified Edition
Line number 16

 Critical note

This is a reference to the Sun god riding in his horse-drawn chariot across the sky. In Greek myth, the goddess of the dawn, Eos, was the daughter of Hyperion, the Sun god (Griffiths, “Eos”), but here the Sun god pursues the dawn as a would-be lover. Also, Griffiths notes that the mythology depicts Eos as a “predatory lover,” but Pulter presents the dawn as subject to the lust of the Sun rather than the aggressor towards her own romantic conquests.
Transcription
Line number 19

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Amplified Edition
Line number 19

 Gloss note

i.e., throws
Amplified Edition
Line number 20

 Critical note

Aurora may be acting “like” a virgin because she isn’t actually one: in Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], ll. 109-114, and To Astraea [Poem 23], ll. 1-4, Pulter depicts her as the mother of Truth, or Astraea.
Amplified Edition
Line number 21

 Critical note

The poet is using the language of Petrarchan courtship here: “coy,” “blushing,” and “disdain” all suggest the typical lady of the sonnet tradition. But with the use of the word “Rage” Pulter gives the scene a violent edge and suggests the potential menace of a courtship situation. She is likely also evoking the context of Greek mythology which is filled with stories of male aggressors and female victims, such as Apollo and Daphne.
Transcription
Line number 22

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Elemental Edition
Line number 22

 Gloss note

foaming at the mouth
Amplified Edition
Line number 22

 Critical note

Horses are traditionally associated with the bestial side of the human passions that need to be reined in. That the Sun’s horses are foaming with rage suggests that they, like their master, are out of control.
Elemental Edition
Line number 23

 Gloss note

mountain home of Greek gods
Amplified Edition
Line number 23

 Gloss note

Mount Olympus was the home of the Greek gods.
Transcription
Line number 24

 Physical note

several illegible letters, scribbled out; first three letters likely "the"
Amplified Edition
Line number 24

 Gloss note

While whipping horses to increase their speed may have been a common practice, Pulter emphasizes the savagery of the Sun’s actions and their cosmic consequences.
Elemental Edition
Line number 25

 Gloss note

bright red
Amplified Edition
Line number 25

 Gloss note

i.e., vermilion or bright red
Amplified Edition
Line number 26

 Gloss note

i.e., amaze
Amplified Edition
Line number 27

 Critical note

The poet may be comparing the menacing sign of blood-red raindrops falling from the sky to a kind of biblical plague such as the frogs, lice, and flies that God brought upon the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites under Moses go free (Exodus 8). Other examples of God’s punishment upon Pharaoh’s kingdom include cattle killing, boils, pestilence, hail, and fire (Exodus 9), and locusts and darkness (Exodus 10). Additionally, as Alice Eardley notes in her edition, Ovid depicts drops of blood falling from the sky in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses(Alice Eardley, editor, Poems, Emblems, and The Unfortunate Florinda Iter and Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014, p. 57). The context for these lines is the omens which presage the murder of Julius Caesar, a dire event with political ramifications: “when faire Venus saw; and saw with all, / Conspiring weapons threat the High-Priests [i.e., Caesar’s] fall; / Her colour fled … Thus, through all heauen, her Sorrowes vainely speake; / And melt the Gods: who, since they could not breake / The antient Sisters [i.e., the Destinies] adamantine doome, / By sure Ostents [i.e., portents] demonstrate Woes to come … Oft, Meteors through the aire their flames extend: / Oft, drops of blood from purple clouds descend” (George Sandys, translator, Ouids Metamorphosis Englished, mythologiz’d, and represented in figures, 1632, pp. 507-508). Pulter’s reference to blood-red drops that also “descend” to Earth picks up on this political suggestion, in its foreshadowing of confusion to a monarchy or dissolution to a monstruous hydra (line 28).
Elemental Edition
Line number 28

 Critical note

many-headed monster of Greek myth; often used figuratively, especially by Pulter for opponents to royalists in the civil wars
Amplified Edition
Line number 28

 Critical note

In her image of the “Hidrian Monster,” Pulter is drawing a parallel between heavenly signs that portend the fall of a civilization and indications that a political movement will fail (specifically, the implication is the Parliamentarians in the civil war). The Hydra, or monster with many heads which grow back as quickly as they are cut off, was a common symbol of unruly government. Charles I in Eikon basilike, The pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings (1648; really 1649) refers to “the many-headed Hydra of Government” as a “monstrosity” (p. 71; see "The Many-Headed Hydra" in Curations for this poem). For an example of how Thomas Hobbes uses the metaphor in Leviathan (1651), see The Many-Headed Hydra in Curations for this poem.
Amplified Edition
Line number 28

 Gloss note

While Pulter often uses the term “dissolution” or “dissolve” in an alchemical sense to suggest disintegration (as in the title Universal Dissolution [Poem 6], for example), here the sense seems to be political above all.
Elemental Edition
Line number 30

 Critical note

Pulter’s manuscript reads “Delia’s”; however, the sense suggests an authorial or scribal error for the possessive “Delius,” an epithet for Apollo, the Greek sun god.
Amplified Edition
Line number 30

 Critical note

The island of Delos was the supposed birthplace of the god Apollo, and one of the two centres where his cult was established in ancient Greece. Apollo was associated with many things including prophecy, poetry, and the sun. As the elemental edition notes, Delia, the feminized form of the word, may be a transcription error for Delius, but at several other places in her poetry Pulter uses Delia to refer to the Sun god: for example, see The Eclipse [Poem 1], l. 26, The Garden, or the Contention of Flowers [Poem 12], l. 127, and This Soul, that Bird, and Fish (Emblem 35) [Poem 100] l. 3. The context of the poem makes it clear that this name refers to the amorous Sun god, but the name Delia was sometimes used by other writers as a synonym for Apollo’s sister Cynthia, goddess of the moon. For example, the character Arete in Ben Jonson’s play Cynthia’s Revels, act 5, scene 8, line 18, addresses Cynthia as “celestiall Delia” (Ben Jonson, Vol. 4: Cynthia’s Revels; Poetaster; Sejanus; Eastward Ho, edited by C.H. Herford and Percy Simpson, Oxford University Press, 1932, p. 168, Oxford Scholarly Editions Online).
Transcription
Line number 31

 Gloss note

The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Amplified Edition
Line number 31

 Gloss note

The heat with which the sun pursues the dawn would be due to the growing strength of the sun as the day emerges, but also to the ardour or passion or rage (OED, “heat,” 11a) he is feeling.
Elemental Edition
Line number 32

 Critical note

temporary configuration of planets
Elemental Edition
Line number 32

 Gloss note

Greek goddess Nyx
Amplified Edition
Line number 32

 Gloss note

configuration of the planets at one moment
Amplified Edition
Line number 32

 Critical note

Nyx is the Greek goddess of night. Pulter refers to Night and her children tormenting people in To Aurora [1] [Poem 22], ll. 4-6 (“This uglie Hag … / Old Night (I meane) with her infernall brood / Who make mens miseries their accursed food”) and Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104 (“Cavse the black brood of Acharon, and Night, / Would alsoe com, who onely were adicted / To ad aflictions to the most aflicted”; my transcriptions from the manuscript). Acheron denoted the underworld or Hell (M.C. Howatson, editor, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2011, Oxford Reference Online).
Elemental Edition
Line number 33

 Critical note

Night’s asexually (and so, as line 37 suggests, illegitimately) produced offspring, including Doom, Fate, Death, Dreams, Blame, Misery, the Hesperides, the Destinies (or Parcae), Nemesis, Deceit, Lovemaking, Old Age, and Strife. Hesiod, The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles (2017), 42, 45.
Amplified Edition
Line number 33

 Critical note

For a list of the issue or children of Night from the Greek poet Hesiod, see the elemental edition. Alice Eardley in her edition of the poem identifies these with the Furies or the Eumenides (p. 57). Daughters either of the Earth or of Night, the Eumenides had “blood in their eyes, serpents in their hair, and wings on their backs to punish humans for various improper acts” (David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2005, Oxford Reference Online). If the offspring of Night are all female, they provide an inversion of the benevolent, though fleeting, female train of Hours at line 10.
Amplified Edition
Line number 33

 Critical note

The image of Night’s children unrolling the serpents in their hair to use as whips contrasts with Aurora’s beautiful, disheveled hair of line 2.
Elemental Edition
Line number 35

 Gloss note

cursed, hated
Amplified Edition
Line number 35

 Gloss note

i.e., anathemized: cursed
Elemental Edition
Line number 36

 Gloss note

person
Amplified Edition
Line number 36

 Critical note

Here, and in line 34, Pulter is using polyptoton (the same word in various cases) to stress the affliction or suffering of those whom Night’s offspring torment. She repeats this effect in Aletheia’s Pearl [Poem 32], ll. 102-104, quoted above.
Amplified Edition
Line number 36

 Gloss note

creature or person
Transcription
Line number 37

 Physical note

single illegible letter, scribbled out
Elemental Edition
Line number 37

 Gloss note

false; of illegitimate birth or origin
Amplified Edition
Line number 37

 Critical note

Night is depicted as a mother with illegitimate offspring (“Spurious breed”). This offers a contrast to Pulter’s many depictions of devoted motherhood throughout her poetry: herself, and some of the creatures in her emblems and in other poems such as Why Must I Thus Forever Be Confined [Poem 57].
Amplified Edition
Line number 40

 Critical note

The poet now turns from mythological heavenly creatures to her own situation of suffering. The implication is that at night, emotions and pain insidiously enter her when her guard is down. Her image of her “trembling brest” (l. 39) evokes vulnerability but the next line suggests some choice: she would rather be strangled than endure this kind of rest. The violence of strangling picks up other brutal actions in the poem, such as the “lashing” carried out by both the Sun and Night’s children (ll. 24 and 34).
Elemental Edition
Line number 42

 Gloss note

dark, gloomy; of the underworld
Amplified Edition
Line number 42

 Gloss note

i.e., Cimmerian: people who were fabled to live in darkness
Amplified Edition
Line number 43

 Gloss note

imagination
Elemental Edition
Line number 46

 Gloss note

forced abduction; sexual violation
Amplified Edition
Line number 46

 Critical note

Rape could mean to abduct or to take something by force, but the crime of a man taking a woman sexually by force is resonant in this context, given the scene the poet depicted earlier of a violent pursuit by a male figure (the Sun) of an unwilling female figure (Aurora). That earlier scene did not result in an actual rape, but here Night’s children “make a Rape” of the speaker’s “Reason” in the form of tormenting her by depicting the menacing male figure of Death.
Amplified Edition
Line number 48

 Gloss note

The exact identity of those friends is not clear, but many candidates are possible during a period of civil war, and of the poet’s own experience of child loss.
Amplified Edition
Line number 50

 Gloss note

Pulter transforms the figure of Death from something terrifying (“his most horrid’st Shape,” l. 45) to something comforting, since it will bring her to God.
Amplified Edition
Line number 53

 Critical note

It is common to refer to the human body as mere clay, evoking the substance from which Adam was created, but “Rags of Clay” is a less common idiom to use to describe one’s body. Rags might suggest her worn out, grief-stricken flesh. She also uses the phrase in Made When My Spirits Were Sunk Very Low [Poem 66], line 4, where it has special resonance in a poem that announces itself in its full title as having been written “in sickness & sorrow” when she was “seventy one years old.”
Amplified Edition
Line number 54

 Critical note

In the afterlife her spirit will shine brighter than the dawn or the sun, sources of light in this poem. This language of surpassing may also suggest that the Christian framework she is introducing in these final lines is meant to show that the Christian God surpasses the mythological conceptions of day and night that she has depicted in this poem.
Elemental Edition
Line number 55

 Critical note

See KJV, Daniel 7:9,13,22.
Amplified Edition
Line number 55

 Gloss note

As the elemental edition notes, this phrase is Biblical, from Daniel 7.
Transcription
Line number 56

 Physical note

Praisee] poem ends with four dots arranged in a diamond
Elemental Edition
Line number 56

 Critical note

first and last letters of Greek alphabet; as epithet for Christian deity, see KJV, Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13
Amplified Edition
Line number 56

 Gloss note

Pulter’s use of the word “should” in lines 54 and 56 is likely in the sense of “shall” rather than the sense of “ought.”
Amplified Edition
Line number 56

 Gloss note

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are used to refer to God at several places in the Book of Revelation.
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