Alicia D'Anvers
Encyclopedia
Alicia D'Anvers [née Clarke] (1668 (baptised) – 1725) was an English
poet.
D'Anvers is known to have published two poems with a third generally attributed to her: the first was dedicated to Queen Mary
; it is a poetic dialogue between Britannia and Belgia which addresses criticisms that King William III
had divided loyalties between the Netherlands, the country of his birth, and Britain. According to Germaine Greer
et al., it is "as dull as might be expected." The second and third poems satirize elements of academic life at Oxford University. These latter were part of a long satiric tradition not usually practiced by women; D'Anvers would seem to have been quite familiar with college politics. Both poems target the alleged sexual antics of Oxford students, though The Oxford-Act is particularly bawdy. Academia, or, The Humours of the University of Oxford was D'Anvers most popular poem; told from the perspective of a town servant, it lampoons the current state of the university through the eyes of a visiting country bumpkin, one John Blunder, and consists of 1,411 lines of "robust colloquial iambic tetrameter
s, called hudibrastic
s."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet.
Biography
Born in Oxford, her father was superior beadle of civil law and first architypographus, or director of printing, for Oxford University. She married barrister Knightley D'Anvers (c.1670–1740), son of physician Daniel D'Anvers, in 1688.D'Anvers is known to have published two poems with a third generally attributed to her: the first was dedicated to Queen Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
; it is a poetic dialogue between Britannia and Belgia which addresses criticisms that King William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
had divided loyalties between the Netherlands, the country of his birth, and Britain. According to Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
et al., it is "as dull as might be expected." The second and third poems satirize elements of academic life at Oxford University. These latter were part of a long satiric tradition not usually practiced by women; D'Anvers would seem to have been quite familiar with college politics. Both poems target the alleged sexual antics of Oxford students, though The Oxford-Act is particularly bawdy. Academia, or, The Humours of the University of Oxford was D'Anvers most popular poem; told from the perspective of a town servant, it lampoons the current state of the university through the eyes of a visiting country bumpkin, one John Blunder, and consists of 1,411 lines of "robust colloquial iambic tetrameter
Iambic tetrameter
Iambic tetrameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" simply means that there are four feet in the line; iambic tetrameter is a line comprising four iambs...
s, called hudibrastic
Hudibrastic
Hudibrastic is a type of English verse named for Samuel Butler's Hudibras, published in parts from 1663 to 1678. For the poem, Butler invented a mock-heroic verse structure. Instead of pentameter, the lines were written in iambic tetrameter...
s."
Works
- A Poem Upon His Sacred Majesty, His Voyage For Holland: By way of Dialogue, Between Belgia and Britannia. London, Printed for Tho. Bever, at the Hand and Star, near Temple Barr, in Fleet-street, 1691. Etext
- Academia, or, The Humours of the University of Oxford. In Burlesque Verse. London: Printed and sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers Hall, 1691 (repr. 1716, 1730). Etext
- The Oxford-Act: a Poem London : Printed for Randal Taylor, 1693.