R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

The Women Poets of the 'Seventies 123like so much orange-peel and spume, from the pages ofIntroductory Notes, and critical Forewords, in the mannerof such facts, telling one really nothing at all—how shouldthey?—about the girl who lived on board the Griper in,I suppose, 1850, or about the father who had won such areputation for saving shipwrecked seamen. One wouldlike to make up a preparation for the future poetess, outof such beginnings; but instead of that, several more factscome rapping out: that she studied the classical authors,notably the Greek dramatists; made translations fromAeschylus and Euripides: was a member of the LondonSchool Board; married Mr Thomas Webster, a solicitor,at the age of twenty-six; and collected her essays into avolume of prose called A Housewife's Opinions, whichcontained a great deal of useful advice. To these facts onemay add some observations of one's own: that she hadread and admired Mr Browning, and that she was notafraid of expressing herself in plain language on even themore delicate subjects; 'if a fault can be found,' said oneof her annotators, ' it is that the delineation of Woman'sheart in the most appalling condition of Woman's life istoo painful'. Her volume of poems, which appeared in1870 under the title Portraits, does indeed contain somedownright speaking; I will read you a few lines from thepoem called The Castaway, in which you will not fail tonotice the influence that Browning had had on her. Thespeaker is a girl in trouble:Well, well, I know the wise ones talk and talk:'Here's cause, here's cure'; 'No, here it is, and here';And find society to blame, or law,the church, the men, the women, too few schools,too many schools, too much, too little taught;somewhere or somehow someone is to blame:but I say all the fault's with God himselfwho put too many women in the world.We ought to die off reasonably, and leaveas many as the men want, none to waste.