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Sarah Piers
Encyclopedia
Sarah, Lady Piers was a literary patron, political commentator, and a poet.
Her father was originally of Roydon in Yorkshire
. She was the daughter of Matthew Roydon and wife of Sir George Piers (1670–1720), a Kentish army captain and Clerk of the Privy Seal
. She had two sons, one of whom died in childhood. She is now known mainly for being one of The Nine Muses
, a close friend and patron of Catherine Trotter, and a target of satire for Delarivier Manley
.
She and Catherine Trotter had a long history of correspondence, private and public: Trotter invited Piers to contribute to the Nine Muses; Piers wrote a dedicatory poem to Trotter's The Fatal Friendship (1698) and a prefatory poem to her The Unhappy Penitent (1701); Trotter dedicated her comedy Love at a Loss (1701) to Piers. Manley satirized both writers, in the second volume of The New Atalantis (1709), as part of a "cabal" of women who carried their friendships "beyond with Nature design'd" (Greer 445).
In an untitled poem published in 1708, Piers praises the virtue of the female community at Tunbridge Wells. In her last known work, George for Britain, she championed the monarchy over republicanism.
Her father was originally of Roydon in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. She was the daughter of Matthew Roydon and wife of Sir George Piers (1670–1720), a Kentish army captain and Clerk of the Privy Seal
Privy Seal
A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official government document.-Privy Seal of England:The Privy Seal of England can be traced back to the reign of King John...
. She had two sons, one of whom died in childhood. She is now known mainly for being one of The Nine Muses
The Nine Muses
The Nine Muses, Or, Poems Written by Nine severall Ladies Upon the death of the late Famous John Dryden, Esq. was an elegiac volume of poetry published pseudonymously. The contributors were English women writers, each of whom signed their poems with the names of Muses...
, a close friend and patron of Catherine Trotter, and a target of satire for Delarivier Manley
Delarivier Manley
Delarivier Manley was an English novelist of amatory fiction, playwright, and political pamphleteer...
.
She and Catherine Trotter had a long history of correspondence, private and public: Trotter invited Piers to contribute to the Nine Muses; Piers wrote a dedicatory poem to Trotter's The Fatal Friendship (1698) and a prefatory poem to her The Unhappy Penitent (1701); Trotter dedicated her comedy Love at a Loss (1701) to Piers. Manley satirized both writers, in the second volume of The New Atalantis (1709), as part of a "cabal" of women who carried their friendships "beyond with Nature design'd" (Greer 445).
In an untitled poem published in 1708, Piers praises the virtue of the female community at Tunbridge Wells. In her last known work, George for Britain, she championed the monarchy over republicanism.
Writings
- "To my much Esteemed Friend On her Play call'd Fatal-Friendship." Reprinted in Kissing the Rod: An Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Women's Verse. Germaine Greer et al., eds. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. 446-447.
- George for Britain (1714)
- "Urania: The Divine Muse. On the Death of John Dryden, Esq. By the Honourable the Lady P[iers]." The Nine Muses, Or, Poems Written by Nine severall Ladies Upon the death of the late Famous John Dryden, Esq. London: Richard Basset, 1700. Reprinted in Kissing the Rod: An Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Women's Verse. Germaine Greer et al., eds. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1988. 448-451.