Female Poets of the Eighteenth Century

             Throughout history, women have had to fight hard for equality in many aspects of life. In the early history of the United States, women were not allowed to express themselves about certain societal issues. Therefore, women began to write journals, dialogues, and poetry to get some of their thoughts out in the wind. The Eighteenth Century spawned the arrival of many new women poets. These women opened doors that had never been touched by women before. This new wave of feminine poetry showed the world a female point of view on issues such as childbirth, various political issues, love, women"s suffrage, education, and their fight to gain equality. These brave pioneers such as Jane Coleman Turell, Lucy Terry, Annis Boudinot Stockton, Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, Sarah Wentworth Morton, Phyllis Wheatley, and a multitude of others who have paved the way for the many women writers of the centuries to come.

             Jane Coleman Turell.

             Jane Coleman Turell was the daughter of Jane Clark and Benjamin Colman. Her father was the liberal minister of Boston"s Brattle Street Church and president of Harvard College. Due to her father"s high education and societal status Jane was an afforded the opportunity to be exposed to many literary devices at an early age. Throughout her life her father instructed her. Because Jane was not always allowed to go many places due to her ill health, she spends a multitude of her time in her father"s library. This excessive access allowed her to read widely in the areas of divinity, history, and literature. Jane always strived to improve her writing skills, so she began a regular correspondence and exchange of verses with her father. Then at the tender age of ten this child prodigy composed her first hymn. Little did her family know that this was the beginning of a long career in literature (Lauter 669). .

             Jane Coleman Turell was known to be a prolific poet, correspondent, and diarist.

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