In the brilliant constellation of nineteenth-century New England intellectuals, Maria White Lowell shines with a particular poignancy—not merely because her light was extinguished too soon, but because her influence radiated far beyond the slim volume of verses published after her death. Born Anna Maria White on July 8, 1821, in Watertown, Massachusetts, she lived only thirty-two years, yet in that brief span she tra…
“It is easy enough to be married—the newspaper columns show us that every day, but to live and be happy as simple King and Queen without the gifts of fortune, this is, I confess, a triumph which suits my nature better.”
Neighbourhood:
American Poets, Devotional Poets, Love Poets, Romantic Poets, Transcendentalists, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Despair, Sorrow, Longing
On a spring day in 1823, in the small coastal village of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, a child was born who would grow to become one of the most original and underappreciated voices in nineteenth-century American literature. Elizabeth Drew Barstow entered the world on May 6, in a town where the rhythms of the sea shaped daily existence and where salt spray and shipbuilding defined the community's character. The second…
“Recognition is the thing; for praise I labor as well as money.”
Neighbourhood:
American Poets, Death & Mortality, Love Poets, Nature Poets, Victorian Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Wonder, Spirituality