ABSTRACT
In c o n tra s t to th e “read in g fo rm a tio n ” of W hitney ’s fo rm er h ouseho ld , th is sp ea k e r s tav es off id leness th ro u g h so litary scho l arsh ip . Later, sh e te s ts th e d an g e rs of w an d erin g ou tsid e ; sh e ad o p ts th e pose of th e “v a g ra n t n ig h tw a lk e r” a n d y e t re jec ts th e n o tio n th a t w a lk ing o u ts id e alone c a n c a u se h e r m o ra l o r p h y s i cal h a rm . W hen a “frien d ” ad v ises h e r to “have reg ard u n to y o u r h e a lth ,” sh e re sp o n d s: “I’le n e ith e r sh u n , n o r seeke for d ea th , / y e t oft th e sam e I crav e” (lines 37, 43 -4 ). E schew ing th e co u n se l of friends, sh e w a n d e rs hom e “all sole a lo n e” a n d faces s tu d y w ith renew ed energy (line 51). F o rtu n e now favors h e r a n d “m ad e m ee p le a su re s feel” by b rin g in g h e r to “P la t h is P lo t,” w h ere sh e m ak es th e g ra tifica tio n of read in g in to a b a s is for in d u stry :
I m ee rep o sd e one how re. A nd longer wolde, b u t le a su re lack t, a n d b u s in e s se b a d m ee hye: A nd com e agayne som e o th e r tim e, to fill m y g asin g eye.
