Mary Sidney Herbert

Mary Sidney Herbert became the first English woman to achieve a significant literary reputation. She is celebrated for her patronage, for her translations, for her original poems praising Queen Elizabeth and her brother Philip, and especially for her metrical paraphrase of the biblical Psalms. Her own literary works fit approved categories for women, allowing her to stretch the boundaries for women even while she appeared to remain within them. Unlike most early modern women writers, she never apologizes for, or even mentions, her role as a woman writer, instead presenting her own works as part of the English and Continental literary tradition.

She modeled her work primarily on that of her brother Philip. Mary Herbert went through a lot in her life. Losing her dear brother Philip, as well as her parents is tragic. Because it was so difficult for women to express themselves out loud, she did so through her writing. She pointed to God in many of her works, expressing herself even more.