Cordial Connection: Poetic and Medical Discourse in “Passions Delate”

As a previous article in this series has established, Jane Cavendish frequently uses her poetry as a means to confront social, educational and political constraints. In her poem “Passions Delate”, Cavendish thematises both science and poetry in terms of their respective abilities to temporarily relieve physical and mental distress caused by the English Civil War.

“Passions Delate”

Greife sadnes sounds what shall shee take
Giue her a Cordiall newes if she bee weake
Then rubb her Temples, with some spiritt ioy
Then att her Nose to burne some merry toy
Which by witts fancy blazeinge will reuiue
Some motion, soe you’l thinke shee is aliue
But now if you will my opinion haue
’Tis quinticence of newes, that will her saue
That’s Newcastles water, therefore now it giue
Mixed, hee is landed safe, & then shee’l liue.

(The Collected Works of Jane Cavendish, ed. Alexandra G. Bennett (Routledge 2018), p. 56)

The poetic framework in which “Passions Delate” operates can be seen as dialogic, developing as a conversation between two voices. The first poses the question “what shall shee take”, which is subsequently answered by the second voice, pointing to a wide array of medical knowledge regarding cordials and their use. This immediate list-like response is presented in a distant and practical manner, suggesting a tone more medical than affective. In doing so, Cavendish de-subjectivises her own suffering, whereby personal trauma insists on the recognition of its own commonness in times of political upheaval.

The poem continues by describing both internal and external uses of cordials. The description of these treatments as cooling when used on the external “temples” and bringing “spiritt ioy” through intoxication reveals not only their chemical but also their metaphorical nature. This highlights a dual understanding of recovery, where one addresses the physical body and the other attends to the inner spirit. However, throughout the poem, Cavendish appears to regard the cordial consolation of her suffering as remaining at the surface rather than penetrating beneath it. In this way, she makes the superficial nature of the “merry toy” evident. In its 17th-century context, this term carries a sense of impermanence and triviality (OED I.4.a). This choice may also offer an element of playfulness or irony that makes fun of the belief that herbal mixtures could truly cure mental suffering. Thereby, Cavendish points out the limitations of medical treatments that can only provide a fleeting sense of relief built on an undeniable corrosion of reality in which “you’l thinke shee is aliue”. This shows a deep reflection on how natural remedies based on domestic practice cannot truly mend mental suffering.

Following a tonal shift in the latter half, the poem departs from a preestablished and general medical cure towards a more personal suggestion. In doing so, Cavendish moves from the comprehensive “Cordiall newes” to the more concrete “quinticence of newes”. The term “quinticence” implies the purest, most concentrated form of consolation, suggesting a remedy far more powerful than an ordinary cordial. This elevates the spiritual impact of these lines, as they frame the mixture not as a traditional remedy, but as something that has a deeply personal, possibly transformative effect on the speaker. This means that by subsequently replacing the somewhat formulaic term “Cordiall”, Cavendish reflects a more intimate and immediate sentiment that is shaped by her current circumstances. By defining these ‘news’ as “Newcastles water”, Cavendish could be seen to add a connection to her father, William Cavendish, 1^st Duke of Newcastle. Given that a cordial was often “named for the individual who devised it” (Bennett, 136), the cordial’s essence does therefore not refer to alcohol but to a feeling of familial connection. In doing so, emotional nourishment, which even if it derives only from acts of fictionalising, surpasses the kind of healing gained from any medical treatment.

Alternatively, the city of Newcastle might also be interpreted as a geopolitical symbol, as it initially supported the Royalist cause and later came under Parliamentarian rule in 1644 (Charleton 49). This development mirrors Cavendish’s own disempowerment during the Parliamentarian control. Thereby, the city becomes a symbol for both political loss and personal deprivation of power.

The poem’s concluding line, “hee is landed safe, & then shee’l liue”, bridges the difference between the reality the poem constructs and Cavendish’s real-life circumstances. This is reflected through the conditional structure of her father’s wellbeing as a requirement for her continued endurance, which emphasises the interdependence of fiction and reality. Thereby, even though William Cavendish’s return is only imagined, the act of writing it into existence allows Cavendish to reclaim a sense of control over her life.

In this regard, “Passions Delate” surpasses the notion of a mere poetic dialogue as it could be seen as an act of imaginative liberation and self-preservation. The very title of the poem, “Passions Delate”, already foreshadows this process: her suffering is first dilated and scrutinised through the prism of medical pragmatism, only to be finally dissolved through fictional intervention.

Through her display of both medical and spiritual resolution, Cavendish creates a literary space in which science and poetry complement each other in serving the same purpose, as she unveils her immediate mindset to a contemporary audience. The cordials described in the poem are not only chemical, but also careful distillations of emotional attachments preserved through the poem’s conceits. Thereby, Cavendish not only expresses the shortcomings of medicine when it comes to dealing with complex emotions such as grief and longing, but also demonstrates the expressive potential of poetry as an alternative remedy that arises from the poem’s rich rhetorical resonances.