MyTabstart > Favorites Directory > Poetry > Poem About A Virtuous Woman
This TabStart page features selected resources that offer poems that discuss virtuous women. The verse here explores how virtue is manifested in femininity, and some of the distinguished authors include Debbie Bennett, George Elliott Clarke, and Aemilia Lanyer. There are also curated resources below that present poems that explore honesty in women from writers like Lucille Clifton and Robert Burns.
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"Virtuous Women" - a Poem by Debbie Bennett - PoemHunter.com supplies "Virtuous Women" by Debbie Bennett. This beautiful poem's ending lines declare, "Virtuous Women are Made / and it starts from the Inside."
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George Elliott Clarke's "Discourse on Pure Virtue" - a Poem about a Woman - The University of Toronto presents "Discourse on Pure Virtue" by George Elliot Clarke. The narrator paints a portrait of the virtue of a "brown girl, golden, sable eyed / flourishing yellow hibiscus."
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"To the Lady Anne" -a Poem about a Virtuous Woman by Aemilia Lanyer - The Old Poetry website presents Aemilia Lanyer's "To the Lady Anne," in which the narrator sings the praises of a lovely woman whose mind is "Where virtue should be setled & protected."
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"Virtue" - a Poem by George Herbert - The Poetry Foundation provides "Virtue" by George Herbert, a Welsh poet from the 17th century. This grim verse points out that sweet days, sweet roses, and sweet springs all must die in the custom of the circle of life. "Only a sweet and virtuous soul," Herbert writes, "Like season'd timber, never gives." While Herbert mentions specific elements of nature that must die or end, he certainly could be discussing the physical beauty and youth of a woman or lover.
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"A Dream of Foxes" - a Poem about an Honest Woman by Lucille Clifton - Be sure to take a look at the University at Buffalo's page that features a number of poems by Lucille Clifton. Click on "A Dream of Foxes" in which the poet proclaims that only an honest woman can have safe passage through the foxes.
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"Address to the Devil" - a Poem by Robert Burns - The Poetry Foundation contributes Robert Burns' 18th century "Address to the Devil." The Scottish Romantic poet's language beams with movement and physicality as he scorns the devil and his perceived methods of engaging with humanity. At one point the author praises an "honest woman" in his household who awakes to do her prayers when she hears the devil coming.
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"Against Fruition" - a Poem by Sir John Suckling - The Academy of American Poets provides "Against Fruition by Sir John Suckling, an English poet from the 17th century. The author does not praise and exalt love as is often the tradition. He even mentions his "honest whore" as he declares "Then fairest Mistresse, hold the power you have, / By still denying what we still do crave."