.5 Wave Feminism?

In Heman’s “Properzia Rossi,” I was confused as to how the poet would be able to turn a story about unrequited love into a feminist manifesto, and a contribution to her Records of Woman. After reading the poem, I’m still confused. The protagonist does not even find strength in her art, and spends the entire poem lamenting about her ephemeral nature because of her lost love. She claims “I cannot make thee!” in considering her art, “whose life is of my burning heart!” (page 51). She then goes on to claim how fame is a mockery, once the world sees her work. I was most confused when the poem ends with the protagonist hoping her lover will “revive/ Sad thoughts of [her].” I am sure I am missing something about Hemans work here. From the other blog posts about other poems, I’m noticing a bit of a recurring theme. Perhaps this isn’t the “feminism” we are used to encountering, and is perhaps trying to redefine the dynamic of feminism versus female subordination. Perhaps Hemans, inferring from the title of the collection, is seeking to merely present stories of real women, whose struggle would go unnoticed otherwise because they are in fact, women.