Behn, Aphra - Athenian Mercury (essay date 1691)
Athenian Mercury (essay date 1691)
SOURCE: An excerpt in Athenian Mercury, Vol. 5, No. 13, January 12, 1691, p. 2.
[In responding to a reader's question, the editor opines that Behn's poetry is uncannily similar in spirit to that of Sappho, and wishes that Behn had produced her own translation of Sappho's verse.]
Quest…. Whether Sappho or Mrs. Behn were the better Poetess?
Answ. We must beg the Person of Honours pardon who lent this Question, if we can't help telling a pleasant passage before we answer it, 'tis met with in the Voyages of one Struts a Dutchman, about some 10 years since translated into English; and 'tis this, In the City of Ardebil in Persia are a Corporation of Whores, all Poetesses, whose chief Subject is the praise of the Emperor. This unlucky Story was brought to mind by some woful Loyal plays, which for 2 Reigns together pester'd the Theaters and...
[The entire page is 419 words long]
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