Sophie Jewett
Sophie Jewett | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 3, 1861 Moravia, New York |
| Died | October 11, 1909 (aged 48) |
| Pen name | Ellen Burroughs |
| Occupation | Poet, translator, college professor |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Lyric poetry |
Sophie Jewett (June 3, 1861 – October 11, 1909), also known under the pseudonym Ellen Burroughs, was an American lyric poet, translator, and professor at Wellesley College. Much of her poetry contains lesbian themes.[1]
Family[edit]
Jewett was born in Moravia, New York, one of four children of Charles Carroll Jewett, a doctor, and Ellen Ransom (Burroughs) Jewett.[2] Her mother died when she was 7 and her father when she was 9, after which she was raised by an uncle, Daniel Burroughs, and her grandmother in Buffalo.[3][4][2] Her sister Louise became a noted art historian.[5] In Buffalo, she developed a friendship with Mary Whiton Calkins, the daughter of her minister, who also went on to teach at Wellesley College.[3]
Career[edit]
Writing[edit]
When she was 20, Jewett traveled in Europe, and reflections of these experiences appear in her early poetry and in sketches that she published in The Outlook and Scribner's Magazine.[3][4]
Jewett initially published poetry under the pseudonym Ellen Burroughs (borrowed from her mother's name).[4] Her first book under her own name was The Pilgrim, and Other Poems (1896).[4] Jewett wrote in various poetic forms, including the rondeau, the sonnet, and the ballad.[2] Fellow poet Richard Watson Gilder called her a true poet with a golden gift.[2]
In addition to original poetry, Jewett undertook translations, including a version of the complex Middle English poem The Pearl in the original meter and selected lyrics such as a "Nativity Song" adapted from the work of Jacopone da Todi.[2] A collection of southern European ballads translated by Jewett from several languages was edited by the author and literary scholar Katharine Lee Bates and published posthumously.[6]
In 1901, Jewett published an introduction to a critical edition of Tennyson's The Holy Grail.[4]
The English composer Edward Elgar wrote a song entitled "The Poet's Life" (1892) with lyrics by Jewett (credited to her pseudonym of Ellen Burroughs).
Teaching[edit]
In 1889, Jewett began teaching English at Wellesley College, and in 1897 she became an associate professor.[4] Among her students there was the writer Sarah Bixby Smith.[3][7]
Death and legacy[edit]
Jewett died October 11, 1909. Wellesley College founded a scholarship in Jewett's name in 1911 and dedicated a window in her memory in the college chapel.[8]
Publications[edit]
- Original poetry
- The Pilgrim, and Other Poems (1896)
- Persephone and Other Poems (1905)
- The Poems of Sophie Jewett (1910)
- Translations
- The Pearl (1908)
- Folk-Ballads of Southern Europe (1913)
- Children's books
- God's Troubadour: The Story of St. Francis of Assisi (1910)
References[edit]
- ^ Paula, Bennett (1998). Nineteenth-century American women poets : an anthology. Blackwell Publishers. pp. xli. OCLC 1330614844.
- ^ a b c d e The Poems of Sophie Jewett (1910). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1910. (Memorial edition)
- ^ a b c d "Sophie Jewett". The Poetry Foundation website.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sophie Jewett". All Poetry.
- ^ "Louise R. Jewett papers, ca. 1860-1914". Five College Archive and Manuscript Collections.
- ^ Bates, Katharine Lee, ed. Folk-Ballads of Southern Europe. Trans. Sophie Jewett. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1913.
- ^ Smith, Sarah Bixby. "A Westerner at Wellesley." Unpublished manuscript, Rancho Los Cerritos archives.
- ^ Wellesley Magazine, vol. 21 (1912), pp. 1, 12.
External links[edit]
- Works by Sophie Jewett at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
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