Frances Sargent Osgood

Frances was a famous writer.

She wrote many poems. She wrote about love and her kids. Many people loved her work.

She was a very popular poet. A man named Edgar Allan Poe liked her poems. He even wrote poems to her.

Frances had three daughters. She wrote poems to show her love for them. She was a very busy writer.

Later, Frances became very ill. She died when she was thirty-nine. She is buried in a quiet place.

Frances Sargent Osgood was a famous American poet.

She was a very popular writer in the 1840s. She wrote many books and poems. Some were for children. Others were about love. She even used secret names like "Kate Carol."

Frances met a man named Samuel Stillman Osgood. He was an artist. They married in 1835. They had three daughters. Frances wrote many poems about her children. She wanted to show her love for them.

A famous writer named Edgar Allan Poe also liked her work. He said she had a bright future. The two writers shared poems with each other. Some people thought they were just friends. Poe's wife, Virginia, was also friends with Frances.

Later in life, Frances became very ill. She had a sickness called tuberculosis. She stayed in her room to write. She died in 1850. Her husband later built a monument for her. It was inspired by one of her poems.

Frances Sargent Osgood was a famous American poet.

She was one of the most popular women writers of her time. People loved her because her writing felt very personal. She wrote about many things like love and her family. She even wrote poems for children. Some of her books had names like The Snowdrop. She sometimes used secret names when she wrote. These names were Kate Carol and Violet Vane.

Writing was a big part of her life from the start. She published her first poem when she was only fourteen. It appeared in a magazine for children. Later, she moved to England and published A Wreath of Flowers from New England in 1838. This book included a long poem in five acts. She also wrote The Casket of Fate. In New York, she became a very busy writer. She wrote for many popular magazines. She published many books like Rose, Sketches in Verse in 1842.

Frances had an interesting life with many people. She married an artist named Samuel Stillman Osgood in 1835. They had three daughters named Ellen Frances, May Vincent, and Fanny Fay.

She also had a famous friendship with the writer Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was a very strict critic of poetry. He said Frances had a rosy future in literature. They exchanged many poems in 1845. Poe even wrote a riddle poem called A Valentine. This poem hid her name in its lines.

Their friendship was a topic of much talk. Poe's wife, Virginia, was actually friends with Frances. Virginia even invited her to visit their home. Some people spread rumors about their relationship. A writer named Elizabeth Ellet suggested things that were not true. This caused a lot of trouble and scandal. Frances worked hard to protect her good name. She asked Poe to return and destroy her private letters. This helped keep her reputation safe during a hard time.

In her later years, Frances faced many hard jobs. She became very ill with tuberculosis. This sickness made it hard for her to move. She had to stay in her room by 1847. She spent much of her time writing about her daughters. She died in New York in 1850. Her last word was "angel," which she wrote on a slate.

She was buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her husband later built a monument for her. It was inspired by her own beautiful poetry.

Frances Sargent Osgood was a prominent American poet during the mid-19th century.

She was celebrated as one of the most popular women writers of her era. Her work was noted for its personal and sincere tone. Many readers felt her poetry possessed a conversational fluency. She wrote about a wide range of subjects. These included love, her family, and her children. Some historians note that her poems for her daughters expressed emotions rarely seen in women's poetry of that time.

Osgood's literary career began at a very young age. She published her first poem at fourteen in a children's periodical called Juvenile Miscellany. This magazine was edited by Lydia Maria Child. As she grew, she published several significant collections. In 1838, while living in England, she released A Wreath of Flowers from New England. This volume contained a five-act dramatic poem titled Elfrida. She also published The Casket of Fate in 1839. After moving to New York City, she became a prolific contributor to many popular literary magazines. She occasionally used pseudonyms, or pen names, such as Kate Carol and Violet Vane.

Her professional success was accompanied by a complex personal life. In 1834, she met Samuel Stillman Osgood, a portrait artist at the Boston Athenaeum. They married on October 7, 1835. The couple had three daughters: Ellen Frances, May Vincent, and Fanny Fay.

Their lives involved several moves, including a period in England and a move to New York. By 1843, it is believed the Osgoods had separated, though they were not legally divorced. In 1846, the couple briefly reconciled and moved to Philadelphia to escape public scandal. However, Samuel later left her again in 1849 to join the California Gold Rush.

One of the most famous aspects of Osgood's life was her relationship with Edgar Allan Poe. In February 1845, Poe gave a lecture in New York where he praised her literary future. They met in person in March 1845 through Nathaniel Parker Willis. During 1845, Poe used his position at the Broadway Journal to print many of her poems. These included titles like "The Rivulet's Dream" and "Love's Reply." Poe also responded with his own poetry, sometimes using the pseudonym Edgar T. S. Grey. His poem "A Valentine" was a famous riddle. It hid Osgood's name by using specific letters from each line.

Despite the intensity of their poetic exchanges, many consider their relationship to be purely platonic. Poe's wife, Virginia, appeared to approve of the friendship. She often invited Osgood to their home. Some believe Virginia felt Osgood had a positive influence on Poe's behavior. For instance, Poe reportedly gave up alcohol to impress her. However, the friendship caused social tension. A writer named Elizabeth F. Ellet spread rumors regarding the nature of their connection. Ellet even suggested that Osgood's third daughter, Fanny Fay, was not Samuel's child.

These rumors caused a significant scandal in the literary community.

Osgood took steps to protect her public reputation during these difficult times. She sent representatives to ask Poe to return and destroy her personal letters. This was a way to ensure her private life did not damage her professional standing. The social pressure and her declining health eventually limited her activities. By 1847, she was largely confined to her room due to illness. During this period, her writing focused heavily on her concerns for her daughters. She continued to write even as her physical strength faded.

Osgood died of tuberculosis in New York in 1850. Toward the end, she lost her ability to speak. Her final word, "angel," was written on a slate for her husband.

She was buried in the Locke family plot at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1851, her friends published a collection called The Memorial to honor her. This volume was later reissued as Laurel Leaves in 1854. While some critics, like Fanny Fern, questioned how her estate was handled, Samuel Osgood eventually installed a monument. This monument was inspired by one of her own poems, "The Hand That Swept the Sounding Lyre."