Katherine Austen, in her little-known country-house poem, On the Situation of Highbury (1665), appropriates select topoi from the tradition of the genre to ascribe value to the estate and to negotiate her position in relation to it.' In doing so, she creates a socially acceptable, if paradoxical, voice for a wealthy widow eager to increase her social rank.2 As we will see, Austen's country-house poem warrants especially close attention because the voice Austen constructs in it speaks, for most of the poem, from an innovative position-as neither patron / proprietor nor guest-within the tradition of the genre. Austen, who lived from 1628 until 1683, resided in London through the tumultuous events of the Civil War and Restoration. She was from a wealthy mercantile family and married Thomas Austen, a man of similar wealth and rank. She and Thomas shared a strong interest in elevating their socioeconomic standing. However, Thomas did not live long enough for them to achieve their goal during his lifetime. When Thomas died in 1658, he left Katherine with three children, the management of their property, a will that restricted her ability to marry for seven years, the awareness of her widowhood as a potential vulnerability, and her continued desire for greater status, wealth, and personal power.3 The richest source of information about Austen is her manuscript miscellany, Book M, which includes over thirty occasional and religious lyrics on topics such as child loss, Austen's legacy to her children, a Valentine's Day gift, her prophetic interests, and of course, Highbury. It also contains spiritual meditations, including a short essay on Hildegard of Bingen, notes on sermons, comments on her economic affairs, and correspondence. She wrote the miscellany primarily between 1664 and 1666 and made changes to it until 1682. Book M demonstrates her familiarity