Behn, Aphra

(1640-1689)

   Behn (formerly Johnson), a dramatist, novelist, and poet, is said to have been the first Englishwoman known to earn her living by writing. However, this could be challenged by Emelia Lanier (see entry), whose poem "Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" ("Eve's Apology in Defence of Women") was published in 1611. Unrewarded for her time as a Jacobite spy in Holland and briefly imprisoned for debt, she began to write to support herself. Between 1670 and 1688 her output of plays, poetry and novels was prodigious. She published Poems on Several Occasions (1684), and Miscellany, another collection of poems, in 1685. She is buried in the East Walk Cloisters of Westminster Abbey. One of her shorter poems "And Forgive Us Our Trespasses"-reveals her keen religious belief. Some of her other poems: "A Thousand Martyrs I Have Made," "In Imitation of Horace," "On the Death of E. Waller, Esq.," "Silvio's Complaint: A Song," "Song from Abdelazar," "The Disappointment," "The Dream. A Song," "The Invitation: A Song," "To My Lady Morland at Tunbrige," "To the Fair Clarinda," "'Twas There, I Saw My Rival Take."

   Sources: BBC: Historic Figures-Aphra Ben (www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/behn_aphra.shtml). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Everyman's Book of English Verse. John Wain, ed. J.M Dent, 1981. The Aphra Behn Page (www.lit-arts.net/Behn/begin-ab.htm). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).