Thank you, Allen, for Sarah Teasdale

[nbcatlover]

I was not familiar with her work. She does seem to have strongly influnced Lizzie, and her own life was a sad one:

Sarah Teasdale, an American poet, was born in 1884 in Saint Louis, Missouri to John W. Teasdale and Mary E. Willard. She was tutored at home and then graduated from a local private school in 1903. In 1905 she visited Europe and in 1907 she published her first collection of poems. In 1911, the publication of "Helen of Troy" introduced her to Louis Untermeyer, who, with his wife Jean, was to become a lifelong friend. On December 19, 1914, she married Ernst B. Filsinger. They divorced fifteen years later. Following the divorce, she published numerous volumes of poetry. Sarah Teasdale committed suicide on January 29, 1933 in New York

.
from http://webhome.idirect.com/~francisc/po ... chives.htm

"I Have Loved Hours at Sea"
by Sarah Teasdale

I have loved hours at sea, gray cities,
The fragile secret of a flower,
Music, the making of a poem
That gave me heaven for an hour;

First stars above a snowy hill,
Voices of people kindly and wise,
And the great look of love, long hidden,
Found at last in meeting eyes.

I have loved much and been loved deeply --
Oh when my spirit's fire burns low,
Leave me the darkness and the stillness,
I shall be tired and glad to go.

from http://www.akenglish.com/Windows/Classi ... ver%20Know

Do you think it is possible that Lizzie met Sarah Teasdale in New York? Some of her poems sound a lot like I think Lizzie felt. Here's a good source for more of her work:

http://www.poemhunter.com/sarah-teasdal ... 04/page-4/

[Allen]

Thanks for providing the links to her poetry so that others may read it as well! I enjoy it very much. There are also poems listed by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charlotte Bronte, who I also enjoy reading. All three of the Bronte sisters wrote great poetry, but my favorite of the three is Emily.

That's an interesting question as to whether or not Lizzie and Sarah ever met, and I do wonder if Lizzie ever read any of her poetry. I would like to believe that she did. I also agree that the poetry does reflect the way Lizzie may have been feeling. But in this regard I might seem a bit cold to some, because I believe if Lizzie did kill her parents, she got a lighter sentence than she deserved with a life time of being ostracized.

[nbcatlover]

Lizzie's fireplace carving at Maplecroft reminded me of the poem you used:

And old-time friends & twilight plays,
And starry nights and sunny days
Come trooping up the misty ways
When my fire burns low.

The last line, especially, seems to have Teasdale's inspiration. According to Rebello, the source of Lizzie's poem has not been located (p. 325).

After reading some of Teasdale's other poems, some of them seemed to have Lizzie-like themes to me--friendships, unfulfilled love, sadness, love of the natural world. How ironic it would be if Lizzie wrote her carving verse and it, in turn, inspired Teasdale. It is unclear what year Lizzie had the fireplace carving done. Both ladies, however, seemed nostalgic for the past and had regrets.