The Intoduction by Anne Finch
Anne Finch is enraged in her poem ‘The Introduction’. Although it was not published during her time, the strong voice of feminism was sure to carry over to the women after her. In the Eighteenth Century, women had hardly begun any sort of strive for their rights. Finch explains why they should in her poem, and why they haven’t already.
Finch states in the first two lines of the poem why she could not publish any of her poetry. If she were to share her work, it would either be criticized by the public as “attained, dull and untaught” or ignored altogether. All because it was “by a woman writ”, which I find to be the most powerful line in the poem. Due to someone’s gender alone, their words could be entirely invalidated. Today, that notion seems ridiculous (well, to most people). The fact that her poems were found after she passed shows that just because women were not published at the time, does not mean they weren’t writing.
Finch utilized several literary devices in her poem. The second half of the poem is full of Allusion, where Finch references stories and figures from the Bible. “That saul upon the vast applause does frown, And feels its mighty thunder shake the crown, What can the threatened judgement now prolong? Half the kingdom is already gone” (Line 39) King Saul felt threatened by David after he returned home from conquering Goliath. When he returned “a bright chorus meets” to greet him home, and Saul immediately wants him killed. Saul never succeeds and eventually David becomes king. Women sang in the streets, they were merely objects to greet the men home from war and fluff them upon their arrival.
Finch’s voice is very similar to Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath. Both are women who feel entitled to their actions, despite what men (or other women, who do not feel so privileged) would ‘judge them as’. The Wife of Bath gave Biblical examples to back up her beliefs, just as Finch does.
During that time, Biblical reasoning and examples from
Finch states in the first two lines of the poem why she could not publish any of her poetry. If she were to share her work, it would either be criticized by the public as “attained, dull and untaught” or ignored altogether. All because it was “by a woman writ”, which I find to be the most powerful line in the poem. Due to someone’s gender alone, their words could be entirely invalidated. Today, that notion seems ridiculous (well, to most people). The fact that her poems were found after she passed shows that just because women were not published at the time, does not mean they weren’t writing.
Finch utilized several literary devices in her poem. The second half of the poem is full of Allusion, where Finch references stories and figures from the Bible. “That saul upon the vast applause does frown, And feels its mighty thunder shake the crown, What can the threatened judgement now prolong? Half the kingdom is already gone” (Line 39) King Saul felt threatened by David after he returned home from conquering Goliath. When he returned “a bright chorus meets” to greet him home, and Saul immediately wants him killed. Saul never succeeds and eventually David becomes king. Women sang in the streets, they were merely objects to greet the men home from war and fluff them upon their arrival.
Finch’s voice is very similar to Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath. Both are women who feel entitled to their actions, despite what men (or other women, who do not feel so privileged) would ‘judge them as’. The Wife of Bath gave Biblical examples to back up her beliefs, just as Finch does.
During that time, Biblical reasoning and examples from