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• 1 media/download-1.jpg media/E47JSDVCHVAPBL6GNZYGY6ZCLM.jpg media/download.jpg 2022-11-12T23:53:51+00:00 "Eloquence" by Charlotte Dacre 55 Edited by Hanna Sterling visual_path 2022-12-14T00:17:54+00:00

   

  AVAUNT thee, soft Eloquence, exquisite harm!

  Nor longer thy poison impart,

  Nor longer endeavour, thou dangerous charm,

  To lure Sensibility's heart.

   

  Oh! first-born of Harmony! sister to Love!

  Partaking its flow'rs and its thorn;

  Now bidding the sad heart tumultuously move,

  Then shewing its fond hopes as forlorn.

   

  Thou canst soothe the pale mourner by sorrow opprest,

  Bring comfort on Pity's fair wings;

  Thou canst lull the poor penitent's struggles to rest,

  And disarm even pain of its stings.

   

  And Music, what rapture thy melody brings,

  What thrillings the bosom inspire,

  If the sweet hand of Sentiment sweep o'er the strings,

  Or Love sound the tremulous lyre!

   

  Though thy magic give ease to the agonis'd wounds

  Of Love, by the canker of care;

  And tho', lur'd by the wonderful skill of thy sounds,

  Hope should rise from the tomb of Despair:—

   

  Yet, Music, tho' none may thy powers deny,

  In chasing Love's deep melancholy,

  'Tis Eloquence bids thee despairing go die,

  And shews us e'en Love is a Folly.

  Context 

  History of Publication

  The piece was originally published in a collection of Dacre's work in 1805, in her second volume of that collection. This collection is called Hours of Solitude. The collections were printed in London by D.N. Shury. Since this was written around Dacre's fifteenth year, it would have been written around 1786 or 1787.

  Content History

  Dacre writes this poem after meeting with a man who does not believe in love, that it's impossible to truly love someone. She writes this poem in response to that conversation. She personifies emotions and character traits, giving them to ability to see and react to love. She describes the ups and downs of love and relationships, and gives readers a good view into her ideals about relationships and the downfalls that come with them. She builds these traits, and she shows the familial relationships between these traits. Identifying how Eloquence works with Sensibility, showing how Harmony is the older sister of Love, then showing that Love is ultimately equal to Folly. Even identifying relationships between Pity, Music, and Sentiment, though these relationships seem seperated from the previous family. Love becomes a connecter of all of the emotions and traits mentioned in the poem. Love allows for feelings like Despair, but also Music, and Sentiment. The point of Dacre's poem seems to be, even though Love itself may be a Folly, there are other good things going on around Love that show the uniqueness and goodness of the emotion. Love building paths to other emotions, traits, and talents. Dacre was only fifteen years old at the time she wrote this poem. Showing a deep and mature understanding of love and idealism throughout the poem. 

  Annotation

  Dacre seems to be writing through the grieving process of a relationship. Moving through the different steps, referring to music that reminds the narrator of a past relationship. Even bringing in the idea of a new relationship that will begin love's folly all over again. 

  “AVAUNT thee, soft Eloquence, exquisite harm!

  Nor longer thy poison impart,

  Nor longer endeavour, thou dangerous charm,

  To lure Sensibility's heart.”

  Eloquence is what is turning people against reason, to allow for it to continue would be detrimental to someone’s heart because they could be hurt by the eloquence, since Eloquence is what leads to love. Eloquence can be shown in flirting or friendship, leading to a relationship. 

  “Oh! first-born of Harmony! sister to Love!”

  There can be no Love without Harmony, since Harmony with another person leads to a continued relationship with that person. 

  “Partaking its flow'rs and its thorn;”

  Taking the good and the bad

  “Now bidding the sad heart tumultuously move,

  Then shewing its fond hopes as forlorn.”

  Moving on after a broken heart, abandoning the hopes of the future brought on by the relationship. 

  “Thou canst soothe the pale mourner by sorrow opprest,

  Bring comfort on Pity's fair wings;”

  Pity can soothe an aching heart, this Pity could also reference the Pity of others possibly leading to support of friends and family. 

  “Thou canst lull the poor penitent's struggles to rest,

  And disarm even pain of its stings.”

  This support can lead to healing.

  “And Music, what rapture thy melody brings,

  What thrillings the bosom inspire,

  If the sweet hand of Sentiment swe’ep o'er the strings,

  Or Love sound the tremulous lyre!”

   

  The music inspires life, and one can hear the Love in Sentiment. This sentiment could be referring to past relationships, and the music and love could be referring to future relationships, however the word, “tremulous,” has a negative connotation, leading one to believe that the narrator is hearing the music and being reminded of bad times, or sad feelings to do with the removal of the relationship. 

  “Though thy magic give ease to the agonis'd wounds

  Of Love, by the canker of care;”

  Love will heal all wounds, even if it’s hard. This line seems to implie there is a new relationship in the picture. 

  “And tho', lur'd by the wonderful skill of thy sounds,

  Hope should rise from the tomb of Despair:—”

  Even though this narrator has been broken by love in the past, the narrator is still willing to hope in a new relationship, to allow for someone else to enter their life. 

  “Yet, Music, tho' none may thy powers deny,

  In chasing Love's deep melancholy,”

  Music’s ability in bringing up emotions is powerful

  “'Tis Eloquence bids thee despairing go die,

  And shews us e'en Love is a Folly.”

  However, eloquence bids music to die, and humans are forever doomed, to repeat love’s folly.
  
  Dacre's experience with her father's divorce and subsequent remarriage, documented below, seems to be prevelant in this piece. Since Dacre was only fifteen at the time that she wrote this piece, that would place this poem around the time of her parents divorce. Possibly allowing for the mature understanding, since Dacre was probably working through her own troubles with the divorce in this piece. She also seems to have a deeper understanding of love, that shows that Dacre was possibly in some sort of relationship, which probably ended poorly shown through the content of this poem. Although, it seems more likely that Dacre was working through her own feelings about her parents divorce. 

  Significance

  This piece should be anthologized because of its significance to female literature and the importance of representation of female authors in the Romantic Period. While anthologies are becoming more inclusive of female authors, so little women are represented in modern day anthologies especially in the Romantic Period, placing Dacre with women like Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Barbauld could be benefiticial to find more female voices of the Romantic Period. It is important to show representation of a woman who is not just a soft and ignorant being, but someone who has thoughts feelings and emotions, shown throughout the poem above. Not only that but this work is a good entry into Dacre's work, showing the use of personal experiences in her writing, and a bold character that is fighting against the norms of the time (though subtley). 

  Personal History

  Dacre, maiden name King, lived with her family, her mother was named Sarah King. She was a stay-at-home mother with the children, while Dacre's father, Jacob King, was a Jewish money lender. Jacob divorced Sarah according to Jewish law in 1784, in order to marry the Countess of Lanesbourogh. His marriage to the Countess heightened his and his daughter's status allowing Dacre to attend a British literary school called, Della-crucan. This is where Dacre learned how to become a novelist and poet, extending her writing skills past her natural abilities. Jacob had two more children after his marriage to the Countess, bearing a daughter and a son, Sophia and Charles. Charlotte Dacre was born sometime between 1771 and 1772, although the exact date of her birth is unknown, the date of her death was November 7th, 1825. 
  
  Dacre wrote throughout the Romantic Period, she wrote about female sexuality and fluidity, and was often persecuted for her beliefs about women. 
  She often created females heroines that were viewed as violent and aggresive in their sexual desires. A counter-part to her collegues, male authors who were writing and perpetuating a "soft woman" character type. She paved the way for a feministic that would move into the Victorian Era and beyond. 
  
  Dacre was married to Nicholas Byrne, changing her name to Charlotte Brynne. However Dacre wrote under multiple names such as Rosa Matilda, and in order to associate herself with her school she began writing under the name Dacre. Dacre had three children with Nicholas Byrne, using her experiences as a mother to help her as a writer. She also has close connections to Mary Robinson, a poet and editor at the Morning Post Newspaper where Nicholas worked and Dacre published under Robinson's influence.
  
  Dacre would remain in relative obscurity for two centuries until her work was reviewed by Lord Byron in his satirical work English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. Percy Shelley would also recognize her style and passion and admire her work, throughout his life time bringing Dacre to light. 
   
   

  Bibliography

  Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Della-cruscan." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 29, 2011. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Della-cruscan.
  Price, Fiona. "Dacre, Charlotte, c.1772-1825." In Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, edited by Christopher John Murray. Routledge, 2003. https://login.ezproxy.unwsp.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routromanticera/dacre_charlotte_c_1772_1825/0?institutionId=5068