Episode Details

Poetry about Love Between Women from the 16th and 17th Centuries The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 68

This episode takes a poetic tour through expressions of, and reactions to, love between women in 16th and 17th century Europe.

In this episode we talk about:

• Poems about the pangs of love
  • “To Mrs M Awbrye” by Katherine Philips
  • “A Song” by Aphra Behn, see also the podcast on Behn
  • “Love and Friendship: A Pastoral” by Elizabeth Singer Rowe
  • “On the Death of my Dear Friend and Play-fellow” by Jane Barker
• Men jealous of women’s love for each other
  • “Elegy for a Lady Enamoured of Another Lady” by Pontus de Tyard
  • “On the Friendship Betwixt Two Ladies” by Edmund Waller
  • “Two Beauties, Tender Lovers” by Denis Sanguin de Saint-Pavin
• Men appropriating lesbian imagery
  • “Sappho to Philaenis” by John Donne
  • “To Mr. J.D. (T.W.)” by Thomas Woodward
• Poems of satire and vituperation
  • “Epigram on Cecilia Bulstrode” by Ben Johnson
  • “Tribades or Lesbia” by François de Maynard
  • “Women’s Complaint to Venus” and “Venus’s Reply” by anonymous
• The triumph of love
  • Maitland Quarto MS Poem 49
  • “My Divine Lysi” by Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz
  • “On a Lady Named Beloved” by Anne de Rohan-Chabot

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
• Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
• RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
• Twitter: @LesbianMotif
• Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
• The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com
• Email: Heather Rose Jones
• Twitter: