The Nine Muses, Or, Poems Written by Nine severall Ladies Upon the death of the late Famous John DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...
, Esq. (London: Richard Basset, 1700) was an
elegiacElegiac refers either to those compositions that are like elegies or to a specific poetic meter used in Classical elegies. The Classical elegiac meter has two lines, making it a couplet: a line of dactylic hexameter, followed by a line of dactylic pentameter...
volume of
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
published
pseudonymouslyA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
. The contributors were English women writers, each of whom signed their poems with the names of
MuseThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s. The collection was edited by
Delarivier ManleyDelarivier Manley was an English novelist of amatory fiction, playwright, and political pamphleteer...
(who wrote as "
MelpomeneMelpomène , initially the Muse of Singing, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now...
" and "
ThaliaThalia can refer to four distinct entities in Greek mythology, two of whom were daughters of Zeus, and a third of whom bore him sons. The name Thalia, or Thaleia is spelled Θάλεια in Greek and derives from the same stem as θάλλειν "to bloom"....
") and includes pieces by
Susanna CentlivreSusanna Centlivre , was an English poet and actress and one of the premier dramatists of the eighteenth century. During her long career at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane she became known as the Second Woman of the English Stage after Aphra Behn...
("perhaps," according to Blain et al.),
Sarah Fyge EgertonSarah Fyge Egerton , poet, was born in London. She is best known for The Female Advocate , a verse satire published in response to Robert Gould's misogynist satire, A Late Satyr Against the Pride, Lust, and Inconstancy, etc. of Woman . By her own report she was fourteen years old when she wrote it...
("
EratoIn Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek Muses. The name means "desired" or "lovely", being derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes alludes to in Book III of his Argonautica....
", "
EuterpeIn Greek mythology, Euterpe was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of delight", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music...
", and "
TerpsichoreIn Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
"),
Mary PixMary Pix was an English novelist and playwright. Church records indicate that she lived in London, marrying George Pix, a merchant tailor from Hawkhurst, Kent in 1684. Baptismal records reveal that she had two sons, George and William...
("
Cliothumb|Clio—detail from [[The Art of Painting|The Allegory of Painting]] by [[Johannes Vermeer]]In Greek mythology, Clio or Kleio is the muse of history. Like all the muses, she is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She had one son, Hyacinth, with the King of Pieria, Pierus. Some sources say she...
"), Catherine Trotter ("
CalliopeIn Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of heroic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey.One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus,...
"), and
Sarah PiersSarah, Lady Piers was a literary patron, political commentator, and a poet.Originally of Roydon in Yorkshire, she was the daughter of Matthew Roydon and wife of Sir George Piers , a Kentish army captain and Clerk of the Privy Seal. She had two sons, one of whom died in childhood...
("
UraniaIn Greek mythology, Urania , was the muse of astrology. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted as having a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars. She is often associated with Universal Love and the...
").
The Nine Muses, Or, Poems Written by Nine severall Ladies Upon the death of the late Famous John DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...
, Esq. (London: Richard Basset, 1700) was an
elegiacElegiac refers either to those compositions that are like elegies or to a specific poetic meter used in Classical elegies. The Classical elegiac meter has two lines, making it a couplet: a line of dactylic hexameter, followed by a line of dactylic pentameter...
volume of
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
published
pseudonymouslyA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
. The contributors were English women writers, each of whom signed their poems with the names of
MuseThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s. The collection was edited by
Delarivier ManleyDelarivier Manley was an English novelist of amatory fiction, playwright, and political pamphleteer...
(who wrote as "
MelpomeneMelpomène , initially the Muse of Singing, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now...
" and "
ThaliaThalia can refer to four distinct entities in Greek mythology, two of whom were daughters of Zeus, and a third of whom bore him sons. The name Thalia, or Thaleia is spelled Θάλεια in Greek and derives from the same stem as θάλλειν "to bloom"....
") and includes pieces by
Susanna CentlivreSusanna Centlivre , was an English poet and actress and one of the premier dramatists of the eighteenth century. During her long career at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane she became known as the Second Woman of the English Stage after Aphra Behn...
("perhaps," according to Blain et al.),
Sarah Fyge EgertonSarah Fyge Egerton , poet, was born in London. She is best known for The Female Advocate , a verse satire published in response to Robert Gould's misogynist satire, A Late Satyr Against the Pride, Lust, and Inconstancy, etc. of Woman . By her own report she was fourteen years old when she wrote it...
("
EratoIn Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek Muses. The name means "desired" or "lovely", being derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes alludes to in Book III of his Argonautica....
", "
EuterpeIn Greek mythology, Euterpe was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of delight", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music...
", and "
TerpsichoreIn Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
"),
Mary PixMary Pix was an English novelist and playwright. Church records indicate that she lived in London, marrying George Pix, a merchant tailor from Hawkhurst, Kent in 1684. Baptismal records reveal that she had two sons, George and William...
("
Cliothumb|Clio—detail from [[The Art of Painting|The Allegory of Painting]] by [[Johannes Vermeer]]In Greek mythology, Clio or Kleio is the muse of history. Like all the muses, she is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She had one son, Hyacinth, with the King of Pieria, Pierus. Some sources say she...
"), Catherine Trotter ("
CalliopeIn Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of heroic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey.One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus,...
"), and
Sarah PiersSarah, Lady Piers was a literary patron, political commentator, and a poet.Originally of Roydon in Yorkshire, she was the daughter of Matthew Roydon and wife of Sir George Piers , a Kentish army captain and Clerk of the Privy Seal. She had two sons, one of whom died in childhood...
("
UraniaIn Greek mythology, Urania , was the muse of astrology. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus. She is usually depicted as having a globe in her left hand. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars. She is often associated with Universal Love and the...
"). The poet writing as "
PolyhymniaPolyhymnia , in Greek mythology, was the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn and eloquence as well as agriculture and pantomime. She is also known as the Muse of mime...
" has not been accurately identified.