Hester Pulter (c. 1596—1678). A Woman Poet and the New Astronomy

Abstract

The writings of Hester Pulter were discovered only very recently in the Brotherton Library, Leeds. One of the striking features of her poetry, is her use of imagery drawn from early modern science and astronomy. Furthermore, the cosmology she imagines in her poems is, in early terms of its time, very up-to-date since it is identifiably Galileian in its detail. This paper discusses Hester Pulter’s use of astronomy in her poetry, relating it to the contemporary scientific context, and considering possible sources for her knowledge of astronomy.