Author: McMullan, Mary Anne
Title: The Naiad's Wreath
Date: 1816
Descriptive and Critical Essay
Mary Anne McMullan’s 1816 collection, The Naiad’s Wreath, opens with a note to the reader regarding the fact that neither a ‘kind bard’ nor a ‘literary friend’ has edited it in any way. She asks her readers to forgive any mistakes because of this. The work contains twenty-one original poems in its eighty-seven pages. Her poems are formatted as rhymed verse, with alternation between stanzas and a sort of prose-like rhyming free verse. Many of the poems use an alternating rhyme scheme, and several use a couplet rhyme scheme. The first few poems are addressed to specific individuals, although her reasons for doing this unclear: perhaps she wrote them out of love or respect for the person, or perhaps they actually requested or commissioned her to write and dedicate the poem to them.
Several of McMullan’s poems explicitly discuss war. Most involve the cost of war – to individuals, to families, to the land, and to the nation she cares so deeply for. Her poem “The Welcome” carries a generally more optimistic and upbeat tone, though that tone dampens at the end. The poem reflects on the sweetness of a soldier coming back from war, and ends with the stanza:
Our faith may look beyond the skies,
May on the wing of cherub rise,
May be increas’d in other orbs,
Where perfect love the soul absorbs;
Hear, springing from the conquer’d tomb,
The blissful, final, Welcome home!
United still to thee, Mary. (McMullan, 17)
This bittersweet note at the end of the poem encapsulates McMullan’s tone for the entire collection; devastated by war and deeply concerned for the state of her nation, yet she is still fully capable of celebrating the positive moments in life. She often uses nature metaphors as well as varied imagery of nature, frequently praising the beauty of the natural world. She also expresses her appreciation for friendship and family. Furthermore, she frequently incorporates references to Greek history and mythology, which is reflected in her work’s title, The Naiad’s Wreath. Obviously well educated, she shows that she considers herself an intellectual, if not to say an academic.
Many of McMullan’s poems involve heavy historical themes and content as well. “Shades of my Fathers” praises many men who (assumedly) shaped the land, history, and nation of Scotland. The poems grow more and more nationalistic throughout the collection, with mentions of freedom and heaven’s blessings becoming more common toward the end. She even becomes imperialistic in “On the Algerine Expedition,” where she expresses Britain’s supposedly God-given direction for the colonization of “Afric” by the Greek god Neptune himself.
McMullan makes very clear that although she clearly understands the point – and even the necessity -- of war, still she values peace. Her works frequently discuss the proud conquests by soldiers and by her nation while still yearning for the peaceful return of tranquility. In this way, she differs from many women poets who tend to focus on one of those two aspects or the other, without recognizing the balance.
She also clearly displays how important intellectualism is to her. The best representation of this is in her poem “A Nursery Tale.” In it, she writes,
All useful knowledge, Frederick dear, pursue,
With smiling Virtue, fair-rob’d Truth in view.
In dove-like mildness let thy wisdom shine,
Point to its source, and ev’ry though refine.
All duty dictates, zealously attend,
As son, as brother, husband, father, friend. (8)
Not only does McMullan express a clear appreciation for knowledge and truth here, she also clearly demonstrates that she cares a great deal about family values. In this nursery tale, she wishes to impart a sort of wisdom onto George Frederick Augustus, by telling a sort of story personifying moral characteristics. She warns that he will grow up, forget about nursery tales, and have to begin learning Greek and Latin, along with other studies. The poem ends with the above passage, asking Frederick to spend his time pursuing knowledge while also remembering to be a family man.
Other notable themes for poems include the following:
--The material and tone of her poem “Invocation” is on par with Anna Maria Smallpiece’s “Sonnet 10” and Isabella Lickbarrow’s “On Sleep.” In it, she seeks to invoke peaceful dreams that can help to soothe her soul, as opposed to nightmares or even the pain of reality. The sadness in her life was difficult, no doubt, owing to the loss of her husband and it is not surprising that her view of the world often fell a bit dark.
-- “A Kate La Bien Aime” mourns the loss of a friend while celebrating the friendship itself. McMullan makes several analogies to nature and the ways in which the natural world reminds her of Kate. “To The Memory of a Departed Friend” carries a similar theme, yet with a more religious take on death.
-- “The Duchess La Valliere” is written with McMullan very clearly not personally representing the narrator. This poem, according to McMullan’s notes at the end, was based on a painting that depicts the Duchess La Valliere holding a veil and (according to the tone of the poem) not showing a great deal of enthusiasm about it.
-- “Desultory Thoughts on the Sea Side” runs as the longest poem in the collection, covering a total of 14 pages, while most of the other poems average about three pages.
Prepared by Marisa Rogers, University of Nebraska, Spring 2018
© Marisa Rogers, 2018