Political matters
Even though Barbauld was a woman writer in a time when women were expected to stay in their homes and raise their children. Many of Barbauld’s poems focus on political matters, a subject considered as being inappropriate for a young woman to talk about. Despite this, she continued to analyze the political situation in her country and to give her opinion on the matter. Barbauld commented on the King’s situation and weather se believed it would be better if he were to die and be replaced by someone else while also writing about men involved in politics and men who worked for the state. Because of her poems, the readers from nowadays can see a clear picture of the situation that existed during the time when Barbauld wrote her poems.
The art of translating
In the poem entitled "To Mr. Bowring’’, the poet discusses the subtle art of translating and how it is both an art form and a skill one acquires after years of hard work. The poet focuses on the work done by someone she knew and how through those translations Mr. Bowring conquered the world by subduing different languages. Being a writer herself, the poet knew what it takes to produce a great literary end result and thus she also appreciated the efforts made by other people to produce great literary pieces
The problem of succession
In the poems entitled "On the King’s Illness’ and "Autumn’’ the main theme is the succession of the king. During the times when the poems were written, the King was gravely ill and considered by many as being unfit to rule. Because of this, many influential people questioned whether the King had to be replaced by someone else. while many people presented the King in a negative light, the poet made sure to present him in a positive light and to let the readers understand that while someone else had to take his place, this was something noble that had to be done and that there was no shame in admitting that someone else had to rule the country. Thus, the problem of succession is one of the main themes in the poem.
