Judith Madan (; 26 August 1702 – 7 December 1781) was an English poet. She was the granddaughter of the diarist Sarah Cowper and aunt of the poet

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the Engli ...

. She was a correspondent, admirer and protégé of Alexander Pope prior to her marriage, and she composed an admired early-gothic work, ''Abelard to Eloisa'', as a response to Pope's ''Eloisa to Abelard''.

Life and career

She was the only daughter of Spencer Cowper, lawyer, judge (

Justice of the Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas (England), Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court o ...

), and member of Parliament, and his wife Pennington (; died 1727), and is thought to have been born at the family seat, Hertingfordbury Park,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She began writing poetry as a teenager. While still Judith Cowper she met

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

sometime after the 1717 publication of his ''Eloisa to Abelard''. She wrote ''Abelard to Eloisa'', a prominent example of the many literary responses to Pope's work, before she was 20. It was the first English adaptation of the story to feature Abelard as the speaker. Her original characterisation of Abelard prefigures the Romantic era hero: Laura Alexander, the academic and fellow of the

American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) is an academic society for humanities research related to the "long" eighteenth century, from the later seventeenth through the early nineteenth centuries. ASECS was established in 1969 ...

, says of Cowper's creation that, "in her Abelard san original pathos figure that anticipates the "man of feeling" in later eighteenth-century literature of sensibility." Cowper and Pope corresponded until at least 1723 and in his letters he took an interest in her poetry, sometimes setting her literary projects, apparently as a salve or preventive to the depression from which Cowper periodically suffered. Cowper seems to have written little following her marriage. Subscription or participating public library (worldwide) membership required. On 7 December 1723 Cowper married Colonel Martin Madan, groom of the bedchamber to

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis, German: ''Friedrich Ludwig''; 31 January 1707 – 31 March 1751) was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen C ...

, and MP for Wootton Basset. He died at Bath on 4 March 1756, aged 53. Their sons included Rev. Martin Madan, author of ''Thelyphthora a defence of polygamy'', and the Right Rev. Spencer Madan, bishop successively of Bristol and Peterborough. Their elder daughter, Frances Maria Cowper, married William Cowper of Hertingfordbury, her first cousin; a volume of Frances Maria Cowper's religious verse, attributed to "a lady" and revised by her famous poet cousin, was published in 1792. Their younger daughter, Penelope (died 22 December 1805), became the wife of General Sir Alexander Maitland (1728–1820). Judith was the aunt of

the English

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

hymnodist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditionally ...

, and grandmother of General

Frederick Maitland General Frederick Maitland (3 September 1763 – 27 January 1848) was a British Army officer who fought during the American War of Independence, the Peninsular War and later served as Lieutenant Governor of Dominica. Life The youngest son ...

. She died at Stafford Row, Westminster on 7 December 1781.

Works

* ''Abelard to Eloisa'', written 1720, published in 1728 in William Pattison's ''Poetical Works'' and thereby misattributed to him initially * ''The Progress of Poetry'' (1721) * ''Verses on the Death of Mr. Hughes'', works in honour of the poet

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

, written 1719-1730

References

External links

*
Judith Madan
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madan, Judith 1702 births 1781 deaths 18th-century English women writers 18th-century English poets English women poets People from East Hertfordshire District 18th-century English people

Life and career

Works

References

Further reading

External links