Anna Young Smith: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
Adding Oxford Companion. |
Adding info from Oxford companion. |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
'''Anna Young Smith''' (1756–1780) was an American poet from [[Philadelphia]]. |
'''Anna Young Smith''' (1756–1780) was an American poet from [[Philadelphia]]. |
||
Born on 5 November 1756<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenwri0004unse/page/62/mode/2up|title=American women writers : a critical reference guide : from colonial times to the present|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|St. James Press]]|year=2000|isbn=1-55862-433-3|editor-last=Benbow-Pfalzgraf|editor-first=Taryn|edition=Second|volume=4|location=United States|pages=63|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> in Philadelphia to James and Jane Graeme Young.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbrit00redi/page/286/mode/2up|title=A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=1987|isbn=0-8476-7125-9|editor-last=Todd|editor-first=Janet, M.|location=United States|pages=286-287|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> James Young was a merchant of Philadelphia and held positions in government.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_of_Montgomery_County_Pennsylvani/jAmAeuBUMNYC?hl=en&gbpv=1|title=History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania|publisher=Everts & Peck|year=1884|editor-last=Bean|editor-first=Theodore W.|pages=896-898|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He and Jane Graeme Young had four children, two of whom died in infancy.<ref name=":3" /> Anna Smith, then Anna Young, was their eldest child and only daughter.<ref name=":3" /> Just two years after Smith was born, her mother died.<ref name=":3" /> Smith and her brother<ref name=":1" /> were subsequently raised and educated by her aunt [[Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson]] at [[Graeme Park]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Sage|first=Lorna|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Guide_to_Women_s_Writing_i/NB59uc9_ss8C?hl=en&gbpv=1|title=The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1999|isbn=0-521-66813-1|location=United Kingdom|pages=584|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Fergusson hosted a weekly salon at Graeme Park, and it was here where Smith was introduced to influential writers.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi/page/818/mode/2up?q=%2Banna+%2Byoung+%2Bsmith|title=The Oxford companion to women's writing in the United States|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1995|isbn=0-19-506608-1|editor-last=Davidson|editor-first=Cathy N.|location=United States|pages=819|editor-last2=Wagner-Martin|editor-first2=Linda|editor-last3=Ammons|editor-first3=Elizabeth|editor-last4=Harris|editor-first4=Trudier|editor-last5=Kibbey|editor-first5=Ann|editor-last6=Ling|editor-first6=Amy|editor-last7=Radway|editor-first7=Janice|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Fergusson encouraged Smith |
Born on 5 November 1756<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenwri0004unse/page/62/mode/2up|title=American women writers : a critical reference guide : from colonial times to the present|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|St. James Press]]|year=2000|isbn=1-55862-433-3|editor-last=Benbow-Pfalzgraf|editor-first=Taryn|edition=Second|volume=4|location=United States|pages=63|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> in Philadelphia to James and Jane Graeme Young.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbrit00redi/page/286/mode/2up|title=A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=1987|isbn=0-8476-7125-9|editor-last=Todd|editor-first=Janet, M.|location=United States|pages=286-287|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> James Young was a merchant of Philadelphia and held positions in government.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_of_Montgomery_County_Pennsylvani/jAmAeuBUMNYC?hl=en&gbpv=1|title=History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania|publisher=Everts & Peck|year=1884|editor-last=Bean|editor-first=Theodore W.|pages=896-898|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He and Jane Graeme Young had four children, two of whom died in infancy.<ref name=":3" /> Anna Smith, then Anna Young, was their eldest child and only daughter.<ref name=":3" /> Just two years after Smith was born, her mother died.<ref name=":3" /> Smith and her brother<ref name=":1" /> were subsequently raised and educated by her aunt [[Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson]] at [[Graeme Park]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Sage|first=Lorna|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Guide_to_Women_s_Writing_i/NB59uc9_ss8C?hl=en&gbpv=1|title=The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1999|isbn=0-521-66813-1|location=United Kingdom|pages=584|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Fergusson hosted a weekly salon at Graeme Park, and it was here where Smith was introduced to influential writers as a child.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi/page/818/mode/2up?q=%2Banna+%2Byoung+%2Bsmith|title=The Oxford companion to women's writing in the United States|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1995|isbn=0-19-506608-1|editor-last=Davidson|editor-first=Cathy N.|location=United States|pages=819|editor-last2=Wagner-Martin|editor-first2=Linda|editor-last3=Ammons|editor-first3=Elizabeth|editor-last4=Harris|editor-first4=Trudier|editor-last5=Kibbey|editor-first5=Ann|editor-last6=Ling|editor-first6=Amy|editor-last7=Radway|editor-first7=Janice|via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Fergusson encouraged Smith's own literary ambitions.<ref name=":4" /> Smith expressed her appreciation in ''Ode to Gratitude'', the earliest surviving of Smith's works.<ref name=":0" /> It was written when she was 13 and dedicated to Fergusson.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> |
||
By 1772, Smith had relocated to the city to live with her father.<ref name=":3" /> She began sharing poems within Philadelphia's literary circles in 1773 having adopted the pseudonym "Sylvia".<ref name=":4" /> |
|||
By 1772, Smith had relocated to the city to live with her father.<ref name=":3" /> |
|||
In 1775, Smith married Dr. William Smith at Graeme Park.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> It was reported that her father did not consent to the marriage.<ref name=":0" /> Together they had three children.<ref name=":1" /> |
In 1775, Smith married Dr. William Smith at Graeme Park.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> It was reported that her father did not consent to the marriage.<ref name=":0" /> Together they had three children.<ref name=":1" /> |
||
| Line 13: | Line 11: | ||
Fergusson's [[commonplace book]] records Smith's death, stating "this dear child died April 3, 1780".<ref name=":0" /> It is unknown what exactly was the cause of her death, but it may have been complications due to the birth of her third child.<ref name=":1" /> |
Fergusson's [[commonplace book]] records Smith's death, stating "this dear child died April 3, 1780".<ref name=":0" /> It is unknown what exactly was the cause of her death, but it may have been complications due to the birth of her third child.<ref name=":1" /> |
||
Most of Smith's surviving works were written prior to her marriage.<ref name=":1 |
Most of Smith's surviving works were written prior to her marriage.<ref name=":1" /> Her poetry focusses on common themes, such as friendship, love, grief, and nature.<ref name=":0" /> She also wrote about political matters.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Fergusson described her as "a warm Whig" due to her standpoint on the [[American Revolution]].<ref name=":0" /> She wrote of her support for the patriot side of the War in ''Elegy to the Memory of the American Volunteers'' (1775).<ref name=":2" /> This work was popular among readers and was recommended for publication in the ''Pennsylvania Magazine'', therefore becoming the only work to be printed during Young's lifetime.<ref name=":4" /> Smith's writing demanded the fair treatment of women.<ref name=":1" /> In her poem ''Reading Swift's Works'', she praises [[Jonathan Swift|Jonathan Swift's]] "perfect style" but condemns him for reprimanding "helpless women",<ref name=":2" /> writing "Ungenerous bard, whom not e'en Stella's charms / Thy vengeful satire of its sting disarms! / Say when thou, dipp'st thy keenest pen in gall, / Why must it still on helpless women fall?"<ref name=":1" /> |
||
15 of Smith's poems were copied into Fergusson's commonplace book, which dates from around 1787.<ref name=":0" /> Eight poems were printed in the ''Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine'' after Smith's death.<ref name=":0" /> |
15 of Smith's poems were copied into Fergusson's commonplace book, which dates from around 1787.<ref name=":0" /> Eight poems were printed in the ''Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine'' after Smith's death.<ref name=":0" /> |
||
Revision as of 19:58, 14 September 2021
Anna Young Smith (1756–1780) was an American poet from Philadelphia.
Born on 5 November 1756[1] in Philadelphia to James and Jane Graeme Young.[2] James Young was a merchant of Philadelphia and held positions in government.[3] He and Jane Graeme Young had four children, two of whom died in infancy.[3] Anna Smith, then Anna Young, was their eldest child and only daughter.[3] Just two years after Smith was born, her mother died.[3] Smith and her brother[1] were subsequently raised and educated by her aunt Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson at Graeme Park.[2][4] Fergusson hosted a weekly salon at Graeme Park, and it was here where Smith was introduced to influential writers as a child.[5] Fergusson encouraged Smith's own literary ambitions.[5] Smith expressed her appreciation in Ode to Gratitude, the earliest surviving of Smith's works.[2] It was written when she was 13 and dedicated to Fergusson.[2][4]
By 1772, Smith had relocated to the city to live with her father.[3] She began sharing poems within Philadelphia's literary circles in 1773 having adopted the pseudonym "Sylvia".[5]
In 1775, Smith married Dr. William Smith at Graeme Park.[2][3] It was reported that her father did not consent to the marriage.[2] Together they had three children.[1]
Fergusson's commonplace book records Smith's death, stating "this dear child died April 3, 1780".[2] It is unknown what exactly was the cause of her death, but it may have been complications due to the birth of her third child.[1]
Most of Smith's surviving works were written prior to her marriage.[1] Her poetry focusses on common themes, such as friendship, love, grief, and nature.[2] She also wrote about political matters.[2][1] Fergusson described her as "a warm Whig" due to her standpoint on the American Revolution.[2] She wrote of her support for the patriot side of the War in Elegy to the Memory of the American Volunteers (1775).[4] This work was popular among readers and was recommended for publication in the Pennsylvania Magazine, therefore becoming the only work to be printed during Young's lifetime.[5] Smith's writing demanded the fair treatment of women.[1] In her poem Reading Swift's Works, she praises Jonathan Swift's "perfect style" but condemns him for reprimanding "helpless women",[4] writing "Ungenerous bard, whom not e'en Stella's charms / Thy vengeful satire of its sting disarms! / Say when thou, dipp'st thy keenest pen in gall, / Why must it still on helpless women fall?"[1]
15 of Smith's poems were copied into Fergusson's commonplace book, which dates from around 1787.[2] Eight poems were printed in the Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine after Smith's death.[2]
Works
- Ode to Gratitude
- Ode to Liberty
- Elegy to the Volunteers who fell at Lexington
- Lines to the Memory of Warren
- Walk in the Churchyard at Wicaco
- Lines in Praise of Wedlock
- True Wit
- Lines on Dr. Swift
- Epistle to Damon
- Sylvia's Song to Damon
- Lines of the Death of Dr Graeme
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Benbow-Pfalzgraf, Taryn, ed. (2000). American women writers : a critical reference guide : from colonial times to the present. Vol. 4 (Second ed.). United States: St. James Press. p. 63. ISBN 1-55862-433-3 – via The Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Todd, Janet, M., ed. (1987). A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800. United States: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 286–287. ISBN 0-8476-7125-9 – via The Internet Archive.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f Bean, Theodore W., ed. (1884). History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. Everts & Peck. pp. 896–898 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d Sage, Lorna (1999). The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 584. ISBN 0-521-66813-1 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d Davidson, Cathy N.; Wagner-Martin, Linda; Ammons, Elizabeth; Harris, Trudier; Kibbey, Ann; Ling, Amy; Radway, Janice, eds. (1995). The Oxford companion to women's writing in the United States. United States: Oxford University Press. p. 819. ISBN 0-19-506608-1 – via The Internet Archive.