Anne Finch countess of Winchilsea

Anne Finch Winchilsea, countess of , 1661-1720, English poet. In 1684 she married Heneage Finch, who became (1712) 4th earl of Winchilsea. Though her friendships extended to the foremost literary figures of the day, including Pope and Swift, she never became part of the London literary coterie. Her most celebrated poem, the Pindaric ode "The Spleen," appeared in Charles Gildon's miscellany in 1701. The only early collection of her poems was Miscellany Poems Written by a Lady (1713). Her nature poetry was greatly admired by Wordsworth.

Winchilsea, Anne Finch, countess of, née Kingsmill (1661–1720), poet, born near Newbury, the daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, and orphaned when young. In 1684 she married Colonel Heneage Finch, who succeeded to the title in 1712. She was a friend of Pope, Swift, Gay, and Rowe. Her Miscellany Poems on Several Occasions (1713) were admired by Wordsworth, who chose a selection for an album (1819). Her best-known poem is her ode, ‘The Spleen: A Pindaric Poem’; her couplet about the jonquil and ‘aromatic pain’ was echoed by Pope in his Essay on Man. V. Woolf in A Room of One's Own (1928) concluded that she ‘suffered terribly from melancholy’. Many of her poems have appeared in anthologies and selections.