Elizabeth Pennington (1732–1759) was an English poet. Born in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, early on she formed an enduring friendship with Martha Ferrar, a fellow poet who became the chief beneficiary of her will.[1] Pennington also maintained friendships with writers Frances Sheridan and Samuel Richardson, and was praised by John Duncombe in his poetic roll call of women writers, The Feminiad (1754). The poems Duncombe was familiar with must have circulated in manuscript. Her three poems that survive were posthumously published: 'Ode to a Thrush', 'Ode to Morning' and 'The Copper Farthing'. All three became anthology pieces, and were published in collections such as Specimens of British Poetesses (1798) and Poems of Eminent Ladies (1780).
Her poetry makes effective use of the burlesque mode, and shows the influence of John Philips's The Splendid Shilling.[2] Her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that her 'ability to write in a learned and heroic style, despite her limited opportunity for education, is remarkable'.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Gasper, Julia. "Pennington, Elizabeth (1732–1759), poet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74076. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Elizabeth Pennington: The Copper Farthing: or, the School-Boy". spenserians.cath.vt.edu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
External links
edit- Ode to a Thrush
- The Copper Farthing Archived 20 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- The Splendid Shilling
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