The Muse’s Mirrour was a book of poems by mainly amateur poets,
though the credits list some illustrious names including playwright Richard
Sheridan; Laurence Sterne, the author of Tristram Shandy; and radical
politician John Wilkes.
The use in the text of the long “s”, easily mistaken for the
letter “f”, and the many now obscure classical references, such as Phoebus and
Phoebe – the sun and the moon – make comprehension sometimes difficult for the
modern reader. Several poems are in Latin.
The book contains a true miscellany of poetry, some comic,
some scurrilous, some philosophical, some tedious and worthy, reflections on
life and mortality. They were essentially written by an educated elite, for an
audience of their peers.
Several poems attempt to ridicule their betters, though the
names of the intended targets are usually only hinted at, but all would have
instantly known who was meant.
An example in the book is an Epigram written by Kitty
Carmine (an obvious nom-de-plume) “On seeing Lady A-----R’s picture.”
Lady A-----R was undoubtedly Lady Anstruther (1717-1802), wife
of Sir John Anstruther, who was painted twice in her mid-forties by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, the greatest portrait painter of his era.
Considered a beauty in her day,
she was also mocked in society for her supposedly humble origins.
The reference in the poem to Manly, is to Captain Manly, a plain speaking seafarer in a
Restoration comedy by William Wycherley.
The Poem:
