Mary F. Johnson

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Mary Fitchett Johnson was an English Romantic poet.

She published Original Sonnets, and Other Poems in 1810 when she was living in Wroxhall, Isle of Wight. [1] She describes the poems as "the first attempt of a secluded, unknown and inexperienced female", and written for amusement and the relief of pressure. [2] The poems treat conventional Romantic subjects such as the moods and the natural world, and one of them responds to the poetry of Mary Robinson. [3] The collection received generally favourable reviews for its taste and feeling. [4] According to her cousin, who submitted her last poem "A Dream of the Isle of Wight" to the Gentleman's Magazine soon after her death, "for some mysterious reason, she suppressed the sale of the book." [5]

Johnson married George Moncrieff in 1814 and they had a daughter, Georgiana. She died on 1 March 1863 in Bridge of Earn, Perth. [5]

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References

  1. Feldman, Paula; Robinson, Daniel, eds. (1999). A Century of Sonnets: The Romantic-Era Revival. p. 138.
  2. Johnson, Mary F. (1810). Original Sonnets, and Other Poems.
  3. Behrendt, Stephen (2009). British Women Poets and the Romantic Writing Community. p. 139.
  4. Behrendt, Stephen (2002). "Telling Secrets: The Sonnets Of Anna Maria Smallpiece And Mary F. Johnson". European Romantic Review. 13 (4): 393–410. doi:10.1080/10509580214666. ISSN   1050-9585.
  5. 1 2 Smith, C. Roach (1863). "Isle of Wight Vernacular". The Gentleman's Magazine. 214: 630–3.