Analysis: Comparing Sarah Wilmot's "To Harry at Eton," and "From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter," by Zoe Paul
Analysis: Comparing Sarah Wilmot's "To Harry at Eton" and "From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter"
by Zoe Paul
Sarah Wilmot’s “To Harry at Eton” and “From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter” are both written in response to poetry she received from her children. Despite the similarities between occasion and subject matter, the two poems illustrate the difference in Wilmot’s reaction to her son’s writing and her reaction to her daughter’s writing. Compared to “To Harry at Eton,” which describes mundane details of daily life, “From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter” uses allusion and form to create a dramatic tone and encourage her daughter’s writing.
In “To Harry at Eton,” Wilmot is so pleased at her son’s letter, which has “Fill’d your Papa & me with joy” (lines 1-2), that she responds in verse with arrangements to pick him up from school. In couplets she discusses which horse to send, which friend can join them, and where they will meet. The arrangements to spend time together are framed as reward for the cleverness Harry has displayed with his verses, but Wilmot offers no further praise or critique of his writing. Wilmot is clearly excited at the prospect of seeing her son, but her affection seems rooted in the quotidian. Unlike “From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter,” this poem contains no allusions; all references are to people and things present in their daily life. Addressed to Harry as a letter, this poem is much more casual than the verse dedicated to Wilmot’s daughter.
“From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter” is responding to the same occasion as the first poem; this poem is “in answer to some verses.” However, Wilmot’s attitude towards her daughter’s writing is markedly different. Where the poem addressed to her son is merely an arrangement of a get-together, Wilmot is effusive in her praise towards her daughter. She refers to her son as “Dearest boy” (“To Harry at Eton” line 1), but her daughter is “My Dearest Child, my much loved Treasure” (“From Mrs Wilmot to Her Daughter” line 1) whose lines she has read with “rap’trous pleasure” (line 2). Other than mentioning the joy with which she read Harry’s letter, Wilmot does not further discuss his writing in “To Harry at Eton.” In “From Mrs Wilmot to her Daughter,” Wilmot invokes the muses as “sacred sisters” (line 3) inspiring her daughter’s “early mind with their poetic fire” (line 4). Wilmot is positioning her daughter alongside a tradition of feminine artistic accomplishment. Wilmot’s own position as a coterie poet, as well as her association with the Bluestockings, means she was involved in a tradition of sharing and supporting writing. The lavish praise Wilmot gives her daughter serves as encouragement to join this tradition.
The poem Wilmot writes for her son, while loving and affectionate, consists solely of mundane concerns: the conditions of a weekend together as a family. While she is excited to see him, Wilmot is unconcerned with Harry’s creative accomplishments. In contrast, Wilmot references the muses as the artistic inspiration serving her daughter. These poems indicate Wilmot’s contrasting attitudes towards her children’s intellectual pursuits