The Imperfect Circle: Hester Pulter’s Alchemical Forms

Alchemical poetry in English from the seventeenth century is no obscure find. Alchemical poetry written by women, however, is still little documented, though manuscript evidence reveals natural philosophical innovation that ought to caution assumptions about the ‘female’ realms of early modern knowledge. The writings of Hester Pulter present a complex example. Between the mid-1640s and the 1660s, Pulter recorded some 120 original poems in a manuscript that would remain virtually unknown for over 300 years. The experimentation of Pulter’s poetry, its distinctive mixing of the natural philosophical, devotional and the personal, combined with a bold abandonment of conventional poetic form, demands further attention. Pulter’s alchemical knowledge is at the crux of each poem’s journey and form. Via the influence of Kenelm Digby and an interest in palingenesis—attempts to resurrect plants from their ashes—this chapter focuses on Pulter’s adoption of alchemical transmutation as the central conceit of her desire to become one with God. Pulter’s detailed understanding of alchemy is evident, I argue, in her knowing rejection of its artificial goals. Her written transmutations of body, soul and poetic form ultimately return to their prima materia, as Pulter chooses imperfect conclusions and awaits the finishing hand of the Divine.