Abstract
While scholars have studied the works of major Quaker poets such as Susanna Wright (1697-1784) and Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817), comparatively little attention has been given to poetry as contributing to the larger culture of eighteenth-century Quaker women’s writing. Through an examination of sources ranging from letters and diaries to copybooks and samplers, this article demonstrates how female Friends in Ireland, Britain, and North America actively wrote and shared verse within the context of their religious and social lives. Analysing the writings of girls as well as women, the article argues that female Friends of all ages joined in practices of verse composition and circulation that connected them to the irreligious community and facilitated their sociability.