Poems (1786), Volume I.

The collection opens with a modest dedication to the reigning monarch, immediately revealing a young poet’s reverence for duty and a keen awareness of her own inexperience. Written largely in her teens, the verses were first shared in private circles before being encouraged by a learned patron to reach a wider audience. Readers will encounter a playful medieval romance, a hopeful ode celebrating peace, and a vivid sketch of distant Peru, each rewritten with care to refine their early rawness.

Throughout, the poems balance gentle sentiment with occasional bursts of patriotic fervor, reflecting the late‑eighteenth‑century milieu that shaped them. While some pieces retain the simplicity of a fledgling voice, others hint at a growing command of language and form. The work’s publication was buoyed by an impressive roster of aristocratic subscribers, underscoring the esteem in which the poet’s modest yet earnest talent was held.