The poem "The Unsex'd Females" was a partisan volley against the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft and other women, and was especially critical of her views on politics, reason, religion, the French Revolution, and gender roles. The poem was first published in 1798 and was written by Richard Polwhele (January 6, 1760 - March 12, 1838), a British curate whose mother had associated with such writers as Hannah More and Catherine Macaulay. Polwhele published a number of reactionary political poems critical of the French Revolution and its values in the Anti-Jacobin Review, and also published other historical and political essays and books.
Polwhele, in "the Unsex'd Females," sees Mary Wollstonecraft's writings as anti-Christian and pro-revolutionary, and also attacks her personal life. He sees her -- and others he names whom he sees as like Wollstonecraft -- as "unsex'd" meaning violating what he defines as women's proper role. He sees these women as insubordinate, immoral, and not feminine, even though not all of them share the revolutionary ideas of Wollstonecraft. Other women writers, including Hannah More whose voice he imagines as the voice of the poem, he recommends as being more respectful of what he defines as women's proper role.
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THE
UNSEX'D FEMALES:
A
POEM,
ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR OF
THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE.
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"Our unsex'd female writers now instruct, or confuse, us and
themselves, in the labyrinth of politics, or turn us wild with
Gallic frenzy." -- -- -- -Pursuits of Literature, Edit. 7. p. 238.
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LONDON:
PRINTED FOR CADELL AND DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.
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1798.
1: THOU, who with all the poet's genuine rage,
2: Thy "fine eye rolling" o'er "this aweful age,"
3: Where polish'd life unfolds its various views,
4: Hast mark'd the magic influence of the muse;
5: Sever'd, with nice precision, from her beam
6: Of genial power, her false and feeble gleam;
7: Expos'd the Sciolist's vain-glorious claim,
8: And boldly thwarted Innovation's aim,
9: Where witlings wildly think, or madly dare,
10: With Honor, Virtue, Truth, announcing war;
11: Survey with me, what ne'er our fathers saw, `
12: A female band despising NATURE's law,
13: As "proud defiance" flashes from their arms,
14: And vengeance smothers all their softer charms.
15: I shudder at the new unpictur'd scene,
16: Where unsex'd woman vaunts the imperious mien;
17: Where girls, affecting to dismiss the heart,
18: Invoke the Proteus of petrific art;
19: With equal ease, in body or in mind,
20: To Gallic freaks or Gallic faith resign'd,
21: The crane-like neck, as Fashion bids, lay bare,
22: Or frizzle, bold in front, their borrow'd hair;
23: Scarce by a gossamery film carest,
24: Sport, in full view, the meretricious breast;
25: Loose the chaste cincture, where the graces shone,
26: And languish'd all the Loves, the ambrosial zone;
27: As lordly domes inspire dramatic rage,
28: Court prurient Fancy to the private stage;
29: With bliss botanic as their bosoms heave,
30: Still pluck forbidden fruit, with mother Eve,
31: For puberty in signing florets pant,
32: Or point the prostitution of a plant;
33: Dissect its organ of unhallow'd lust,
34: And fondly gaze the titillating dust;
35: With liberty's sublimer views expand,
36: And o'er the wreck of kingdoms sternly stand;
37: And, frantic, midst the democratic storm,
38: Pursue, Philosophy! thy phantom-form.
39: Far other is the female shape and mind,
40: By modest luxury heighten'd and refin'd;
41: Those limbs, that figure, tho' by Fashion grac'd,
42: By Beauty polish'd, and adorn'd by Taste;
43: That soul, whose harmony perennial flows,
44: In Music trembles, and in Color glows;
45: Which bids sweet Poesy reclaim the praise
46: With faery light to gild fastidious days,
47: From sullen clouds relieve domestic care,
48: And melt in smiles the withering frown of war.
49: Ah! once the female Muse, to NATURE true,
50: The unvalued store from FANCY, FEELING drew;
51: Won, from the grasp of woe, the roseate hours,
52: Cheer'd life's dim vale, and strew'd the grave with flowers.
53: But lo! where, pale amidst the wild, she draws
54: Each precept cold from sceptic Reason's vase;
55: Pours with rash arm the turbid stream along,
56: And in the foaming torrent whelms the throng.
57: Alas! her pride sophistic flings a gloom,
58: To chase, sweet Innocence! thy vernal bloom,
59: Of each light joy to damp the genial glow,
60: And with new terrors clothe the groupe of woe,
61: Quench the pure daystar in oblivion deep,
62: And, Death! restore thy "long, unbroken sleep."
63: See Wollstonecraft, whom no decorum checks,
64: Arise, the intrepid champion of her sex;
65: O'er humbled man assert the sovereign claim,
66: And slight the timid blush of virgin fame.
67: "Go, go (she cries) ye tribes of melting maids,
68: "Go, screen your softness in sequester'd shades;
69: "With plaintive whispers woo the unconscious grove,
70: "And feebly perish, as depis'd ye love.
71: "What tho' the fine Romances of Rousseau
72: "Bid the flame flutter, and the bosom glow;
73: "Tho' the rapt Bard, your empire fond to own,
74: "Fall prostrate and adore your living throne,
75: "The living throne his hands presum'd to rear,
76: "Its seat a simper, and its base a tear;
77: "Soon shall the sex disdain the illusive sway,
78: "And wield the sceptre in yon blaze of day;
79: "Ere long, each little artifice discard,
80: "No more by weakness winning fond regard;
81: "Nor eyes, that sparkle from their blushes, roll,
82: "Nor catch the languors of the sick'ning soul,
83: "Nor the quick flutter, nor the coy reserve,
84: "But nobly boast the firm gymnastic nerve;
85: "Nor more affect with Delicacy's fan
86: "To hide the emotion from congenial man;
87: "To the bold heights where glory beams, aspire,
88: "Blend mental energy with Passion's fire,
89: "Surpass their rivals in the powers of mind
90: "And vindicate the Rights of womankind."
