Manuscript description

[

The opening page of the manuscript, unpaginated, is written in three different hands. The first (likely eighteenth- or nineteenth-century) hand notes: "These poems were written by a person of the name of Philipps as appears by the ode on the death of his or her firstborn child, contained in this volume". Underneath this note Thomas George Kidd has written his name in Hebrew. Underneath these symbols, a third, nineteenth-century hand (likely that of a librarian) has written: "This MS. contains 119 leaves / 20. Novr. 1824". Finally, the signature in English of Thomas George Kidd occurs, followed by "Norfolk dij[m?] Regio". The verso is blank. This cover is extremely worn, torn and discoloured.

[

A much later, fourth hand, provides biographical notes on Philips, 'Orinda' as she is termed here. These notes are largely extracted from: William Thompson, , Poems on Several Occasions, to which is added Gondibert and Birtha, a tragedy, Oxford, 1757, 2 volumes.The reader is referred to a folio edition of Philips; to two odes on Philips by Abraham Cowley; to her translation of Corneille's Pompey, , including the earl of Roscommon's Prologue; and to Jeremy Taylor's discourse on friendship. Her dates of birth and death are provided. At the point where the scribe quotes Langbaine, this account of Philips breaks off mid-sentence, suggesting that the remainder must have been torn out. A stub between pp. 1/2 and 3/4 is visible.

To my dearest Antenor on his parting

Though it be just to grieve when I must

...

Which is the right Antenor, thou or it

[

Hall has transcribed two humorous poems (likely of his own composition), both concerned with Lincolnshire pies, and a short introduction to the second poem.

Engraved on Mr John Collier's Tombstone at Beddington

Here what remains of him does lie

...

But what's beyond our love or wit

On little Regina Collier on the same Tombstone

Virtue's blossom, beauty's bud

...

Her wages got without her pains

In memory of Mr Cartwright

Stay prince of Fancy stay we are not fit

...

'Tis high wit-Treason to debase thy coin

Books in the Letter'd Book

Culpepper's Herbal colour'd plates: 6

...

Cotton's Visions in verse - 3

[

This is an inventory of 72 books in Hall's hand.

On Mr Francis Finch (the excellent Palemon)

This is confessed presumption, for had I

...

It doth obscure Palemon, not express

[p. 14 is blank and unruled.]

6th April 1651 L'amitie: To Mrs M. Aubrey

Soul of my soul! my Joy, my crown, my friend!

...

Which they & all the sullen world have lost

[p. 16 is blank and unruled.]

To Mrs M. A. upon absence (set by Mr Henry Lawes) 12 Decemb. 1650

Tis now since I began to die

...

Too dead & dull for thee to own

[

The musical setting is as yet unlocated.

[p. 18 is blank and unruled.]

15 Septemb 1651 Rosania shaddow'd whilst Mrs M. Aubrey

If any could my dear Rosania hate

...

Or into words confine what's infinite

[pp. 20, 22 and 24 are blank and unruled.]

Rosania's private marriage

It was a wise & kind design of fate

...

The World her Convert, & her history?

[

Mary Aubrey married William Montagu sometime prior to September 1652.

[pp. 26 and 28 are blank and unruled.]

To Rosania (now Mrs Montagu) being with her 25th September 1652

As men that are with Visions grac'd

...

That small recruit increast the Thirst

[

"Rosania" replaces "the", struck through, in the title.

[pp. 30 and 32 are blank and unruled.]

Injuria amici

Lovely apostate! what was my offence?

...

And kiss the hand that robs me of my health

[pp. 34 and 36 are blank and unruled.]

Philoclea's parting Mrs M. Stedman. Feb: 25. 1650

Kinder than a condemned man's reprieve

...

Upon a sadder, or a nobler score

To J. J. Esq: upon his melancholy for Regina

Give over now thy tears thou vain

...

Thy Queen must cure, or not deserve thy grief

[p. 38 is blank and unruled.]

To the truly noble, and obliging Mrs: Anne Owen (on my first approaches)

Madam, As in a triumph conquerors admit

...

You made a noble soul, then found it so

[p. 40 is blank and unruled.]

To the excellent Mrs A. O. upon her receiving the name of Lucasia, and adoption into our society. 29. December 1651

We are complete, & fate hath now

...

Be kept with us perpetual Holy day!

[

The date, 1651, is inserted above a deletion.

[p. 42 is blank and unruled.]

To (the truly competent Judge of Honour) Lucasia upon a scandalous libel made by J. Jones

Honour, which differs man from man much more

...

Who dare be Just, and rip my heart to you

[

Most likely Jenkin Jones (b.1623) of Llandetty, this may alternatively be either Colonel John Jones, regicide, of Maes-y-garnedd (1597?-1660), or Jenkin Jones, of Kilgerran (d.1689).

[pp. 44, 46 and 48 are blank and unruled.]

To My excellent Lucasia on our friendship. 17th July 1653

I did not live until this time

...

Immortal as our Soul

[

The digit 3 in the date 1653 is superimposed; it may have been either 1 or 2 prior to this. In the final line, two words are deleted between " Immortal" and "as".

[p. 50 is blank and unruled.]

To Mrs M. Karne when J. Jeffreys Esqr. courted her

Madam, As some great Conqueror who knows no bounds

...

Who shall most thank you, for Philaster's life

[pp. 52 and 54 are blank and unruled.]

To Mr Henry Vaughan Silurist on his Poems

Had I ador'd the multitude & thence

...

Learn there's no pleasure but in serious things

[pp. 56 and 58 are blank and unruled.]

A retir'd friendship to Ardelia. 23d August 1651

Come my Ardelia to this bower

...

Enjoy, what princes wish in vain

[

Ardelia is as yet unidentified.

[pp. 60 and 62 are blank and unruled.]

To the truly noble Sir Ed: Dering (the worthy Silvander,) on his dream, & navy

Sir To be noble when 'twas voted down

...

That what you will accept, you must create

[

Unlike the copies of this poem in the Dering and Rosania manuscripts, Edward Dering's precursor lines are not transcribed here.

[pp. 64 and 66 are blank and unruled.]

To the Right Honourable Alice Countess of Carbery, on her enriching Wales with her presence

Madam As when the first day dawn'd, man's greedy eye

...

I that speak least my wit, may speak my heart

[

This page is torn at the bottom right corner. There is a catchword, "Then" at the bottom of the page, indicating that the remainder of the poem was torn out.

[p. 68 is blank and unruled.]

To Mr J. B. the noble Cratander upon a composition of his which he was not willing to own publicly

As when some Injur'd Prince assumes disguise

...

Let trepidation be my Reverence

[pp. 70 and 72 are blank and unruled.]

Lucasia

Not to oblige Lucasia by my voice

...

But they admire best who dare imitate

[pp. 74, 76 and 78 are blank and unruled.]

Friendship's Mysteries to my dearest Lucasia (set by Mr H. Lawes)

Come my Lucasia since we see

...

Grows deathless by the sacrifice

[

A variant version of this song is set to music by Henry Lawes, attributed to Philips and headed 'Mutuall Affection betweene Orinda and Lucasia', in Henry Lawes, , The Second Book of Ayres, and Dialogues, for One, Two, and Three Voyces, London, 1655, sig. Hr.

[pp. 80 and 82 are blank and unruled.]

Content to my dearest Lucasia

Content the false world's best disguise

...

Enjoy content, or else the world has none

[pp. 84, 86 and 88 are blank and unruled.]

To my dear Sister Mrs C: P. on her nuptials

We will not like those men our offerings pay

...

To Friendship duty, gratitude & Love

[

Cicely Philips married John Lloyd of Kilrhewy, Pembroke, on 31 October 1653. Her brother, James Philips officiated at the ceremony.

To the truly noble Mr Henry Lawes

Nature which is the vast creation's soul

...

What built a world may sure repair a state

[

p. 90 is blank, save for the couplet: "And all the world on which we can reflect / Music to th'Ear, or to the intellect", which is copied in the middle of the page in Philips's hand, with an arrow indicating that it should be inserted between lines 12 and 13 of the recto facing. An asterisk on each page further highlights the insertion to be made.

[pp. 92 and 94 are blank and unruled.]

To the Noble Palaemon on his incomparable discourse of Friendship

We had been still undone, wrapt in disguise

...

When Marbles crumble to forgotten dust

[

For Finch's discourse on friendship, see W. G. Hiscock, "Friendship: Francis Finch's Discourse and the Circle of the Matchless Orinda", Review of English Studies, 15, 466-468, 1939.

[pp. 96 and 98 are blank and unruled.]

Wiston Vault

And why this Vault, & Tomb? alike we must

...

not here Orinda lies, but here she lives

Friendship in Emblem, or the Seal to my dearest Lucasia

The hearts thus intermixed speak

...

Lucasia's, & Orinda's name

[

Stanza 5, "From smoke or hurt those flames are free ... Warm'd & Enlighten'd not consum'd", is transcribed on p. 100, in Philips's hand, with crosses indicating that it should be inserted between two stanzas on the recto opposite. The numbered stanzas have been changed to accord with the insertion of this fifth four-line stanza.

To my Lucasia

Let dull Philosophers enquire no more

...

Gets eminence & gets Eternity

On the death of my first & dearest child, Hector Philipps born the 23d of April & dy'd the 2d of May 1655. set by Mr Lawes

Twice Forty months in wedlock I did stay

...

So ill can mortals their afflictions spell

[

Only the first two of four stanzas are transcribed here: the numbers 3 and 4 are written, with space for the text, which was not inserted.

For the musical setting, see Joan Applegate, "Katherine Philips's "Orinda upon Little Hector" : an Unrecorded Musical Setting by Henry Lawes", English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700, 4, 272-280, 1993.

An answer attempted

you say you often ask yourself

...

Till after they were dead and gone

[

This poem, transcribed by Hall, is likely of his own composition. Unusually for this manuscript, the transcription is continuous across the pages.

On p. 113, this poem is written over a title in Katherine Philips's hand: " To my dearest friend on her greatest loss, which she suffer'd the 21th Decemb, 1655". This refers to the death of Lucasia's husband, John Owen. Philips had transcribed the title in the centre of the page.

[pp. 115-116 are blank.]

[

This is a short prayer, written in a different, almost illegible hand (Hand D), which occurs nowhere else in the manuscript.

[p. 118 is blank and unruled.]

In memory of that excellent person Mrs Mary Lloyd of Bodidrist in Denbighshire who died the 13th of Novemb. 1656 soon after she came thither from Denbighshire

I cannot hold, for though to write be rude

...

'Tis more to die a Saint, than Live a Queen

[

The ruling of the recto leaves becomes very scant from p. 119. The text of this elegy is copied to occupy the full page, bar the left margin. There are lines ruled on pp. 121, 123, 125, but these were drawn after the fact; they surround the text, rather than the text fitting inside them. Further, instead of Philips's characteristic flourish at the end of a poem, a simple line is drawn across, and the next poem begins immediately underneath.

[pp. 120, 122 and 124 are blank and unruled.]

Parting with Lucasia 13th Jan 1657/8 A song

Well! we will do that rigid thing

...

Which is the strongest thing I know

[

P. 127 is unruled.

[

This verse is not termed a song in either the Dering (item 69) or Rosania (item 20) manuscripts. The musical setting is as yet unlocated.

Against Pleasure set by Dr Coleman

There's no such thing as pleasure here

...

Who said of Pleasure, it is Mad

[

The musical setting is as yet unlocated.

Epitaph on Mr John Lloyd of Kilrhewy in Pembrokeshire (who dy'd July the 1656) inscrib'd on his Monument in Kilgarron (in the person of his wife)

Preserve thou sad, & sole Trustee

...

To follow him, & pity me

[

The scribe has left a gap for the date of death, not inserted.

To the Right Honourable the Lady E. C.

[

The title only is transcribed.

[This is the last entry at the front of the manuscript. The following description of the manuscript now jumps to the back and works forwards to the middle.]

Out of Mr More's [Cup. Conf.]

Thrice happy he whose na[me is writ above]

...

He takes his own and stilly goes his way &ca.

[

The top right corner of the transcription is torn away, rendering the lines incomplete.

These 18 lines are transcribed from More's Cupid's Conflict, , printed in Henry More, ,Democritus Platonissans: or, an essay upon the infinity of worlds out of Platonick principles. Hereunto is annexed Cupid's Conflict, together with the Philosopher's Devotion, Cambridge, 1646, and in Henry More, Philosophical Poems, etc., Cambridge, 1647. The immediately following poem by Philips (item 46) is her response.

Underneath these 18 lines, the signature of Thomas George Kidd occurs again. Underneath that signature, in a different hand, is written the following: " Counts nought his own but what lives in his sp'rit".

[This is the first reversed entry at the back of the manuscript.]

[pp. [223-230] are blank and unpaginated.]

[

There are 4 unpaginated leaves to the end of the manuscript, on different paper.

[p. 221 is blank and unruled.]

God

Eternal [reason, glorious majesty]

...

But t'imitate enjoy, and study thee

[

This poem is Philips's response to More (item 45).

The top right corner of the transcription is torn away, rendering the lines incomplete.

On Con[troversies in religion]

Religion which true [policy befriends]

...

And like him all the world she can embrace

[

The top right corner of the transcription is torn away, rendering the lines incomplete.

[p. 217 is blank and unruled.]

[

Hall transcribes two humourous poems about pies, an anecdote, another homely verse, and three Latin anagrams derived from the names of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. All are likely his own compositions.

Happiness

Nature courts happiness although it be

...

And all God's will can do, and bear, and choose

Death

How weak a Star doth rule mankind

...

Shall die as infants go to Sleep

[p. 205 is blank and unruled.]

The World

We falsely think it due unto our friends

...

For time and Death, & sin, shall be no more

[pp. 203, 201, 199 and 197 are blank and unruled.]

The Soul

How vain a thing is man whose noblest part

...

Shall never need another Law

[pp. 195, 193, 191 and 189 are blank and unruled.]

L'accord du bien

Order by which all things were made

...

But one harmonious constant bliss

[pp. 187, 185, 181, 179 and 177 are blank and unruled.]

Invitation to the Country

Be kind my dear Rosania though 'tis true

...

We either can enjoy, or will despise

[

In the first line, "Rosania" is inserted above a deleted word.

[pp. 175 and 173 are blank and unruled.]

In memory of Mrs E. Hering

As some choice Plant, cherish'd by sun, & air

...

More apt to live, than write thy Elegy

[

The title originally read "In memory of Mrs E. H.", altered to " E. Hering" in a different ink. Hering is as yet unidentified.

[pp. 171 and 169 are blank and unruled.]

On the 3d September 1651

As when the Glorious Magazine of Light

...

And firmly stands when Crowns & Sceptres fall

[pp. 167 and 165 are blank and unruled.]

A Friend

Love nature's plot, this great Creation's soul

...

A life, A fortune, all to Serve a Friend

[pp. 163, 161, 159 and 157 are blank and unruled.]

Submission

Tis so; and humbly I my will resign

...

But the next touch, will silence all again

[pp. 155, 153, 151 are blank and unruled.]

2. Corinth. 5. 19. v. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 8 April 1653

When God contracted to humanity

...

Die to the world, as he died for it then

[pp. 149 and 147 are blank and unruled.]

To Mrs Wogan my honour'd friend on the Death of her husband

Dry up your tears, there's enough shed by you

...

It doth appear your funeral to us

[pp. 145 and 143 are blank and unruled.]

La Grandeur d'esprit

A chosen privacy, a cheap content

...

Nor any riot help to serve his taste

[

A later hand has numbered the sequence of pages: 1 (p. 142), 2 (p. 140), 3 (p.138). These numbers occur in the bottom right corner of the pages, as the manuscript is viewed upside down.

[pp. 141, 139 and 137 are blank and unruled.]

In memory of the most Justly honour'd Mrs Owen of Orielton

As when the ancient world by reason liv'd

...

Prudent & good, noble & sweet as She

Friendship

Let the dull brutish world that know not love

...

As but themselves I can no likeness find

To my Lucasia in defence of declared friendship

O! my Lucasia let us speak our Love

...

Which all our Joys & noble thoughts inspires

[These stanzas are misnumbered: they jump from 15 to 18, at pp. 106 and 104.]

[This is the last page on which verse is transcribed upside down and the end of the sequence of poems transcribed from the back of the manuscript. ]