subject: Frances Osgood : Popular Women Writers Of His Time [print this page] Frances Sargent Osgood, born Locke (June 18, 1811 May 12, 1850) is an American poet and one of the most popular women writers of his time. Nicknamed "Fanny", it is also famous for its trade with romantic poems of Edgar Allan Poe.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Frances Sargent Locke is the daughter of Joseph Locke, a wealthy merchant, and his second wife, Mary Ingersoll Foster. The first wife of his father, Martha Ingersoll was on Mary. Mary was also the widow of Benjamin Foster, with whom she had two children: William Vincent Foster and Anna Maria Wells, who also consacrerat poetry and partner with Frances. Joseph and Mary had seven children, including Andrew Aitchison Locke, also a writer.
After studying at the prestigious school for young ladies in Boston , his poetry is published for the first time in 1826 in a bi-monthly publication of children's poetry called Juvenile Miscellany, edited by Lydia Maria Child.
In 1834, when she composed poems inspired by paintings, Samuel Stillman Osgood, Frances met a young portrait painter of the Boston Athenaeum, who asks him to pose for a portrait. They became engaged before the completion of the canvas and get married October 7, 1835.
After marriage, the couple moved to England. On July 15, 1836 their first born daughter, Ellen Frances. In 1838, in England, she published a collection of poems, A Wreath of Flowers from New England , which includes Elfrida, a dramatic poem in five acts, followed soon by a second volume, The Casket of Fate.
At the death of his father, returning to Boston Osgood in 1839. After the birth of their second daughter, Vincent May, 21 July 1839, they moved to New York. Osgood became a valued member of the literary society of New York and a prolific author. Many of his writings are published in the popular literary magazines of the time. She sometimes publishes under the pseudonyms "Kate Carol" or "Violet Vane . His book, The Poetry of Flowers and the Flowers of Poetry published in 1841. Other published works are: The Snowdrop, a New Year Gift for Children (1842), Rose, Sketches in Verse (1842), Puss in Boots (1842), the Marquis of Carabas (1844) and Cries in New York ( 1846) .
If his career is a success, his personal life makes deteriorating. It is estimated that Osgood split in 1844.
We consider that the first meeting of Poe and Osgood takes place through Nathaniel Parker Willis, in March 1845, while Osgood is separated (not divorced) from her husband . Poe's wife, Virginia, is still alive, but ivctime a deadly disease. Poe would have been attracted by Osgood because of their common origin and Boston, perhaps, its sincerity, which could remind him of Virginia. It would, moreover, was in the early stages of tuberculosis, like Virginia .
Thanks to its position as co-owner of the Broadway Journal, Poe did publish several of his poems, especially those who show a literary flirtation, to which he responds by publishing his own poems, sometimes under the pseudonym Edgar TS Grey. The most famous of these poems is A Valentine (1846). The poem is actually an acrostic that hides the name of Osgood, the initial letter of each component of his full name "Frances Sargent Osgood. Despite their heated exchanges, it is considered that the relationship between Poe and Osgood remained purely platonic .
Curiously, Poes wife, Virginia, approved the relationship and sometimes invited to visit their home Osgood. Virginia should feel that their friendship had a positive effect on her husband, she has led Poe to give up alcohol. Virginia may also have been aware that a death threat and the next looking for someone to take care of Poe . Samuel Osgood's husband did, either, not objected to their relationship, apparently fatigued by the impetuous character of his wife he himself had a reputation as a seducer . Others, however, have not accepted; Osgood and Poe have been widely criticized and harassed.
The poet Elizabeth F. Ellet, which Poe had spurned affection, spreads rumors about the friendship between Poe and Osgood, noting the same in Virginia for alleged improprieties. Ellet has even suggested that the third child of Osgood, Fanny Fay, was not her husband, but Poe. Fanny Fay was born in June 1846, before dying in October .
Kenneth Silverman, a biographer of Poe, considered the hypothesis of the authorship of Poe as "possible but highly unlikely . Osgood, in an effort to protect its public image, sends Margaret Fuller and Anne Lynch Botta Poe to ask him to return his personal letters for destruction . In July 1846, Samuel Osgood's husband, requires qu'Ellet apologize to his wife and threatened to sue for defamation. Ellet responded with a letter in which she returns to his statements and blaming Poe and his wife Virginia. Osgood and Poe have no further relationship after 1847 .
Poe is not the only man to have had a flirtation with literary Osgood. Several men have testified in their writings, their affection for her, including Rufus Griswold, who has Osgood autographed a book of poetry . She also wrote a poem for Valentine's Day where she mixes her own name with that Griswold . The competition between Griswold and Poe around Osgood may have played a role in their rivalry, which Griswold gave a tour infamous slander Poe after his death .
