To All the Lauded, Lonely, Lady Poets

The last few years, I have developed a tradition of writing poetry on Valentine’s Day, often to a literary character. A few years ago, I wrote in honor of one of my favorite book characters here. Last year, my thoughts turned from the literary characters to the authors and poets who created them. I found an unexpected common thread which really resonated with me as a single woman who loves to write.

To all the lauded, lonely, lady poets 
Whose pain went in poems, and woes in words,
Your love in lines, and time spent making rhymes. 

To every unmarried authoress
Who wove grand tales and birthed uncommon plots
Your pen unbound, though bound to pen names yet. 

To those who chose your characters should have
Quite all that you desired yourselves to hold
Or killed your darlings when it helped me weep. 

To those who held children through enchantment,
Yet with empty arms, I, a captive still,
Learned my words from you, first babble then prose.

For whom the muse would take a sister form
While brother authors embraced lover-muse,
To sisters Anne, Charlotte, Emily (both),

To Jane and Maud, Harper and Flannery
Louisa, Christina, and Dorothy, 
Elizabeth, Beatrix, and Rosemary.

You’ve taught the truth, but slant, about the heart
Its loves, its hates, its depth and breadth and height,
Its deceit, courage, and each quiet need. 

I savor each syllable, books in bed
I gaze soul-deep in glass you hold for me
Known better by your mind than a lover.

To women who wrote, while lonely, with love, 
In response to your letter to the world,
Here, at last, is a love poem for you. 

I hope you were guessing along the way, but if you’d like a key to the poets/authors in the list, they are: Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Conner, Louisa May Alcott, Christina Rossetti, Dorothy L. Sayers, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Beatrix Potter, and Rosemary Sutcliff. If you are unfamiliar with their work, they are all worth reading! Most of these women were unmarried their whole lives. Some of them did eventually marry later in life and a few even had children (far past the expected age for their culture) but the works they are primarily known for were written while they were still unmarried.

In transparency about the writing process, this poem received much feedback and revision over the last year, and several rejections from publications. However, I’m so happy to share it with you now!

Photo of Jane Austen’s house