Elizabeth Bentley

Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839), from Genuine Poetical Compositions: On various subjects, 1791. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Elizabeth Bentley
Born	1767 Norwich, England]], UK
Died	1839 Norwich, England, UK
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	British
Period	1791–1821
Subjects	[pastoral, abolitionism, animal welfare

Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839) was an English poet.

Life

Bentley was born in Norwich, to Elizabeth (Lawrence) and Daniel Bentley. The latter, a journeyman cordwainer who had himself received a good education, educated Elizabeth, his only child. The family faced financial difficulties after he had a stroke in 1777 and was unable to work at his usual trade. He died in 1783, when his daughter was 16.

2 years later, Bentley reported a new-found desire to write poetry "which [she] had no thought or desire of being seen." Her debut collection, Genuine Poetical Compositions (1791), had an impressive 1,935 subscribers, including literary notables Elizabeth Carter, Elizabeth Montagu, William Cowper, and Hester Chapone.

After the publication of her initial volume, Bentley kept a small boarding school and did not publish much — some poems for children; an ode on the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) — for 3 decades. This hiatus ended with the publication of her Poems in 1821.

She died 9 years later in an almshouse.

Writing

As a working-class poet, Bentley — "content to be the last and lowest of the tuneful train" — adopted a humble stance towards her readers and let it be known that the venture was intended to establish an annuity for her and her mother. Both her collections contained portraits of the author and accounts of her life; the account written in 1790 and published in the earlier volume is the source of most that is known of her.

Her poetry celebrates the countryside and engages in public debates on topics such as abolitionism and cruelty to animals. William Cowper compared her favorably with Mary Leapor, a working-class poet of the previous generation, citing her "strong natural genius."

Recognition

Bentley received financial support from the Royal Literary Fund in 1799 and 1829.

Publications

Poetry

• Genuine Poetical Compositions, on Various Subjects. Norwich, UK: privately published, printed by Crouse & Stephenson, 1791.
• An Ode on the Glorious Victory over the French and Spanish Fleets, on the 21st of October, 1805, and the Death of Lord Nelson. Norwich, UK: Stevenson & Matchett, 1805.
• Poems: Being the genuine compositions of Elizabeth Bentley. Norwich, UK: privately published, 1821.
• Miscellaneous Poems: Being the genuine compositions of Elizabeth Bentley of Norwich. (3 volumes), Norwich, UK: Matchett, Stevenson & Matchett, 1835. Volume 1, Volume II, Volume III

Juvenile

• Tales in Verse for the Entertainment of Children. 1831.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

• Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. "Bentley, Elizabeth." The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. 85.
• Landry, Donna. “Bentley, Elizabeth (bap. 1767, d. 1839).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 12 April 2007.

External links

Poems

• "Ode to Night"
• Elizabeth Bentley 1767-1839 at the Poetry Foundation
• Elizabeth Bentley at PoemHunter (3 poems)
• Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 (profile & 11 poems)
• Elizabeth Bentley at AllPoetry (128 poems)

About

• Elizabeth Bentley 1767-1839 at Norfolk Women in History
• Elizabeth Bentley at Literary Norfolk