The Woman’s Ornament
By Jane Cave (1754?-1812)
“The Woman’s Ornament” was written by Jane Cave, a lesser-known yet worthy eighteenth-century poet. Cave was born in Talgarth, Wales, to an exciseman who was coverted to Calvinistic Methodism. Her poems generally addressed spiritual concerns or her plaguing headaches.Scholars today know little about her life, and what they do know is often gleaned from her autobiographical poems. For example, her poem “Written by Desire of a Lady, on an Angry, Petulant Kitchen-Maid” shows her “knowledge of servants and the scullery atmosphere,” implying that she held a low position among servants and the scullery (Brackett).
“The Woman’s Ornament” first appeared in 1783 in Cave’s book Poems on Various Subjects, Entertaining, Elegiac, and Religious. The book received a good response; Cave gained roughly 2,000 subscribers.
This poem itself, addressed to a figure named Sylvia, focuses on the essence of true beauty. Cave argues that beauty is not found in one’s clothing, body, wit, or riches; but in biblical virtue. The piece is a “breath of fresh air” in an era where poets tended to focus on externals (often asking [and using poetry to answer] “what does this look like, and how does it make me feel”?). Cave’s poem provides a unique glimpse into the Christian worldview of the time.
Sylvia, as you descend from line to line,
I know your judgment will concur with mine.
Should passion with your better thoughts contend,
In Reason’s empire I’ve insured a friend.
While I attempt tho’ in a feeble strain,
My sex’s brightest ornament t’ explain.
It centers not in yon’ unthinking lass,
Who murders half her moments at the glass;
That well drest1 cap, or better frizzled head,
With richest pearls and tow’ring plumes o’er-spread,
That lovely easy shape, or graceful air,
Which at the ball eclipses all the Fair:
That Angel’s face, whose beauteous hues disclose,
The snowy lilly, or the blushing rose;
With iv’ry teeth, or more bewitching eyes,
Before whose lustre ev’ry brilliant dies;
With voice harmonious, or enchanting tongue,
With pointed wit, or elocution2 hung;
With these, O Sylvia! you may be replete,
Yet want the pearl which makes you truly great.
But can you boast of wealth and store of gold?
In you, some sordid minds the gem behold;
Possest of this, you’ll meet each swain’s reproof,
It strangely turns to beauty each defect,
Makes prudence, virtue, sense, and merit flow,
From ground where folly, vice and malic grow.
But one esteem’d the wisest of the wise,
Beheld our sex’s worth with other eyes,
And her pronounces of the pearl possest,
Who’s with a meek and quiet spirit3 belst4,
Whose soul retains found judgement, solid sense,
And virtue, with religion’s noble fence;
An humble, gen’rous, free, exalted mind,
From all the grosser sentiments refin’d;
A heart sincere, sedate,-- not apt to roam,
A mind domestic, ever best at home.
Be this my lot, my noble portion this,
And lo! I ask for no superior bliss.
1covered with residue
2ability to speak well
3may be a reference to 1 Peter 3:3-4 “Your adornment must not be merely the external […] but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit” (NASB)
4could Cave be intending “blest”?
Picture of a woman at the time—perhaps the “false beauty” Cave is describing?
Jane Cave, as pictured in the 1783 edition of Poems on Various Subjects, Entertaining, Elegiac, and Religious.
Sources:
Brackett, Virginia. “The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry: 17Th and 18th Centuries,” 2008. https://books.google.com/books?id=3XTxs-X-gSwC.
Brown, Susan, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy. “Jane Cave Entry: Overview Screen,” 2006. http://orlando.cambridge.org /public/svPeople?person_id=caveja. (Subscription needed for further access.)
“Cave [Married Name Winscom], Jane (b. 1754/5, d. in or before 1813), Poet.” Accessed November 13, 2020. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-45838?rskey=QfnPiD. (Subscription needed for further access.)
"CAVE, Jane (c. 1757-1813) Poet." In The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, by John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines, and et. al.. Literature Wales, 2008. https://login.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/waencywales/cave_jane_c_1757_1813_poet/0?institutionId=5068.
“Discover the Story of English: More than 600,000 Words, over a Thousand Years.” Accessed November 16, 2020. https://www.oed.com/.
Also referenced: 1 Peter 3:3-4