Elizabeth Carter

thumb| Elizabeth Carter (pen name Eliza; 16 December 1717 – 19 February 1806) was an English poet and translator. As one of the Bluestocking Circle that surrounded Elizabeth Montagu, she earned respect for the first English translation of the 2nd-century Discourses of Epictetus. She also published poems and translated from French and Italian, and corresponded profusely. Among her many eminent friends were Elizabeth Montagu, Hannah More, Hester Chapone and other Bluestocking members. Also close friends were Anne Hunter, a poet and socialite, and Mary Delany. She befriended Samuel Johnson, editing some editions of his periodical The Rambler. Quotes Harmony, with ev'ry grace, Plays in the fair proportions of her face. Cited in Johnson's Dictionary (ed. 1773), proportion, n.s. No more to fabled names confined, To thee, supreme, all-perfect mind,    My thoughts direct their flight: Wisdom's thy gift, and all her force From thee derived, unchanging source    Of intellectual light! O send her sure, her steady ray To regulate my doubtful way    Through life's perplexing road, The mists of error to control, And through its gloom direct my soul    To happiness and good! "Ode to Wisdom", sts. 14, 15, in Dodsley's Collection, vol. 3 (2nd ed., 1763), pp. 209–13 External links S. Austin Allibone, Poetical Quotations from Chaucer to Tennyson (1873), pp. 63, 642–3, Category:1717 births Category:1806 deaths Category:Poets from England Category:Women authors from England Category:Translators from England Category:Women born before the 19th century