Author: Moody, Elizabeth (dates uncertain; d. 1814)
Title: Poetic Trifles.
Date: 1798
Contemporary Reviews of this Volume
British Critic, 14 (July 1799), 72.
Art. 15. Poetic Trifles. By Elizabeth Moody. 12mo. 5s. Cadell and Davies. 1799.
This is a title frequently adopted, and often with the most critical propriety. The productions here published may not improperly be called Trifles; but they are Trifles of a better order, and indicate much taste and elegance of sentiment. The following frames may serve as a specimen.
On the Word Last.
I.
Painful source, of many a sorrow,
Sound precluding hopes to morrow,
Sad finisher of Life’s repast;
What shadows all our joys appear,
When thou com’st lagging in the rear,
And whisp’ring tell’st thou art the Last.
[The review goes on to quote three more stanzas]
Critical Review, s2, v25 (Feb. 1799), 229-30.
Poetic Trifles. By Elizabeth Moody. 8vo. 5s. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1798.
Under this unassuming title we find a variety of pieces discovering good sense and a lively imagination. The little poem which we extract will, we hope, be of service, and induce some of our countrymen, who may hereafter visit the Grotta del Cane, not to gratify their curiosity by an experiment of idle and wanton cruelty.
Curst be that grot, Italia’s vile disgrace!
Region of sorrow to the canine race!
That grot from tortur’d dogs derives its name,
And on our misery builds detested fame.[The review quotes 51 more lines]
We were surprised to find this lady’s blank verse so bad. How her eye or ear could endure it, after she had read any one poem in the metre, is astonishing.
The Monthly Magazine, Suppl. v7 (July 20, 1799), 537.
Mrs. Moody’s Poetic Trifles, as she diffidently calls them, are many of them extremely beautiful and delicate; they display strong sense and feeling: Mrs. M. however, is very unsuccessful in her attempts to write blank verse.
Monthly Visitor, 8 (Sept. 1799), 37.
Mrs. Moody’s Poetic Trifles exhibit a cultivated imagination and a benevolent heart.
Monthly Visitor, 6 (Apr. 1799), 411-13.
Poetic Trifles, by Elizabeth Moody. Cadell and Davies.
This little volume, which its authoress modestly entitles Poetic Trifles, discovers a cultivated mind and a feeling heart. There are many pieces which we have read with pleasure, through it must be confessed a few of the articles are on trifling subjects. That on Fashion pleased us, and accordingly we transcribe it.
To Fashion.
Gay fashion! Thou goddess so pleasing,
However imperious thy sway,
Like the mistress, capricious and teasing,
Thy slaves tho’ they murmur obey.The simple, the wife, and the witty,
The learned, the dunce, and the fool,
The crooked, straight, ugly, and pretty,
Wear the badge of thy whimsical school.[The review quotes 4 more stanzas]
We are gratified also with another piece, for its beauty and simplicity; being short we cannot help adding it.
To a beautiful little Girl, of Four Years old,
sitting in her Baby House,
surrounded by her Playthings.Little queen of infant treasure,
Smiling on thy seat of pleasure;
Happy in each fancied blessing,
More than monarchs worlds possessing.
Culling sweets from every rose
That in thy fairy garden grows;
Thy breast as yet untaught by sighs
To check the transports as they rise.[The review quotes an additional 26 lines]
There is a tenderness in these verses which the reader will feel and admire. They address the heart in a language which cannot fail of being understood.
From these selections it is evident that Mrs. Moody possesses agreeable talents for poetry. She has, it seems, appeared in print on former occasions; for she ingeniously remarks in her preface—“Having from time to time dispatched a dove to reconnoitre the land, and perceiving that this dove obtained tolerable footing, she, like the patriarch of old, ventures to send out her whole family!”
New Annual Register, 19 (1798), [310].
Mrs. Moody’s “Poetic Trifles,” as she modestly terms them, consist of a variety of elegant effusions, some of which have already received the sanction of public approbation, and others are for the first time permitted to escape beyond the circle of her social connexions. Their general characteristics are good sense, generosity and delicacy of sentiment, liveliness of imagination, and harmony of numbers. In the cause of humanity, and of tender feeling towards the brute creation our poetess is an amiable and commendable enthusiast.
Monthly Review, 27 (Dec. 1798), 442-47.
Art. XV. Poetic Trifles. By Elizabeth Moody. 8vo. 58. Boards. Cadell jun. and Davies. 1798.
The polished period in which we live may be justly dominated the Age of ingenious and learned Ladies;--who have excelled so much in the more elegant branches of literature, that we need not to hesitate in concluding that the long agitated dispute between the two sexes is at length determines; and that it is no longer a question, -- whether woman is of is not inferior to man in natural ability, or less capable of excelling in mental accomplishments.
To the list of distinguished Poetesses of our own country, -- not to mention those fair foreigners who, perhaps, merit equal celebrity, -- we have now the pleasure of adding the name of the author of the elegant pieces before us, which she modestly denominates Trifles.
The productions of the muse of Surbiton may briefly be characterized as exhibiting a lively and natural flow of wit, and a strong sense, expressed in easy and harmonious numbers: -- in a moral view that are entitled to higher praise. They are introduced to the reader by a very sensible preface, fraught with a degree of vivacity not often found in such preliminary discourses: -- to which, in general, no more regard is paid than to the great man’s porter, who opens the gate that the visitors may enter, -- As a few specimens may be more satisfactory to our readers than merely the critic’s verdict, however just and impartial, we shall transcribe the following poems:
On Youth.
BLITHSOME Goddess! Sprightly Youth!
Source of innocence and truth,
Fairest virtues form thy train,
Choicest blessings crown thy reign.
As thy opening charms advance,
See them all around thee dance.
See them all around thee bow,
Weaving garlands for thy brow.
[The critic goes on to quote 28 more lines]
To a Friend:
On her having suffered a dangerous Illness in the Winter,
and recovered from it in the Spring.Winter frowns o’er Stella’s head,
Sickness hover round her bed;
Tears of anguish fill her eyes,
Painful sorrows force her sighs.Spring returns, and balmy gales;
Stella the breath of health inhales;
Disease withdraws its pallid hues,
The blush of health her cheek renews.[The review quotes 4 more stanzas]
To a Lady;
Who sent the Author a present of a fashionable Bonnet.Since you are, dear madam, so favour’d by time;
That he seems to have granted a lease of his prime,
With the power to renew it whenever you please:
Unincumber’d by taxes of age and disease;
Prolonging that date, which in others appears
The frail fleeting tenure of very few years:
Why could you not ask him some favor to send,
Enclos’d with a present design’d for a friend?[The review quotes 32 more lines]
We shall conclude our extracts with a poem which does honour to [illegible word] the heart and the pen of the benevolent and patriotic writer:
Thoughts on War and Peace.
Hard is the heart that does not sigh for Peace,
That views unmov’d infernal Discord rage!
That does not pray the strife of arms may cause,
And vengeful powers their mutual wrath assuage.If such there be “whose breasts the Furies steel,”
To whom the selfish grief alone is known,
O let them turn to heaven! -- and ask to feel
That generous sorrow which is not their own![The review quotes the additional 27 stanzas]
Cordially and devoutly do we join in the beneficent lady’s Prayer for Peace, in the conclusion of this last extract.
We were tempted to pluck another flower from the Surbiton Parterre, -- when Conscience exclaimed “Forbear!” -- on which the felonious hand was instantly withdrawn.
Prepared by Lindsey Yank, University of Nebraska, Spring 2018
© Lindsey Yank, 2018