In the pantheon of Victorian literature, where names like Tennyson, Browning, and Christina Rossetti shine brightest, the figure of Mathilde Blind occupies a curious position—both central and marginal, celebrated and forgotten. Born into revolution and raised in exile, Blind carved out a unique space in the literary landscape of nineteenth-century Britain as a poet, translator, and pioneering feminist voice. Her life…
“At the same time, it seems, that no progress could well be made in the evolution of society without these departures on the part of individuals from the well-beaten tracks.”
Neighbourhood:
Political Poets, Pre-Raphaelite Poets, Victorian Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Tenderness
Katharine Lee Bates was born on 12 August 1859 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and died on 28 March 1929 in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Her name is permanently associated with “America the Beautiful,” one of the most familiar and resonant poems in United States culture. Yet the anthem has sometimes obscured the range of the woman who wrote it. Bates was not simply a patriotic versifier who happened to find a m…
“And still I would almost rather meet a new dog than a new poet.”
Neighbourhood:
American Poets, Devotional Poets, Hymn Writers, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Spirituality, Wonder, Longing
