Mary Oxlie facts for kids

Mary Oxlie, also spelled Oxley, was a poet from the 1600s. She was active around 1616. People believe she was from Scotland or Northumberland, which is in northern England. She is mainly known for one poem that was published.

Mary Oxlie's Special Poem

Mary Oxlie, from Morpeth, wrote a poem that praises someone. This poem was 52 lines long and was titled "To William Drummond of Hawthornden." It appeared at the beginning of a book of Drummond's poems in 1656. This book was put together by Edward Phillips, who was related to Drummond by marriage.

In 1675, Edward Phillips wrote a book called Theatrum poetarum. In this book, he talked about "Mary Morpeth" and called her a "Scotch Poetess." He said she wrote "many other things in Poetry" besides the poem in Drummond's book. However, we don't know of any other poems by her today. The 1656 book said she was from Northumberland, not Scotland. The exact year she wrote her poem is not certain, but clues in the poem suggest it was around 1616.

Mary Oxlie might have been part of a group of writers who met at Hawthornden, where William Drummond lived. Phillips called her "a friend of the Poet Drummond." Another woman writer, Anna Hume, may have also been part of this group.

What the Poem Says

Mary Oxlie's poem starts with her being humble. She says she isn't a great poet:

I Never rested on the Muses bed,
Nor dipt my Quill in the Thessalian Fountaine,
My rustick Muse was rudely fostered,
And flies too low to reach the double mountaine. (1-4)

This means she didn't get special training from the Muses (the goddesses of art). She felt her writing was simple and not very grand.

She then explains that it was hard for women to write perfectly. She says that good poems should come from a calm mind. But her own worries and daily household chores made her writing less clear.

Perfection in a Woman's worke is rare
From an untroubled mind should Verses flow;
My discontents makes mine too muddy show;
And hoarse encumbrances of household care
Where these remaine, the muses ne're repaire. (6-10)

She suggests that when women have many worries and house duties, the Muses (inspiration) do not visit them.

Despite these challenges, her poem is seen as a well-written pastoral poem. A pastoral poem often describes a peaceful countryside setting. Her poem also gives us a look into the writing groups of that time.

The poem praises Drummond's skill in writing flattering poems to women. But she praises him even more for how he wrote about the sadness of the death of Prince Henry Frederick. He was the Prince of Wales and died too young. Oxlie wrote that Drummond's sadness could even make the sun hide and bring rain.

But when thy Muse dissolv'd in show'rs,
Wailes that peerlesse Prince of ours,
Cropt by too untimely Fate,
Her mourning doth exasperate
Senselesse things to see thee moane,
Stones do weep, and Trees do groane,
Birds in aire, Fishes in flood,
Beasts in field forsake their food;
The Nymphs forgoing all their Bowers
Teare their Chaplets deckt with Flowers;
Sol himselfe with misty vapour
Hides from earth his glorious Taper,

And as mov'd to heare thee plaine

Shews his griefe in show'rs of raine.

This shows how powerful she thought Drummond's writing was.