Celia Thaxter

Celia Thaxter

Celia Laighton Thaxter (June 29 1835, Portsmouth, New HampshireAugust 25 1894) was an American writer of poetry and stories.

Thaxter grew up in the Isles of Shoals, first on White Island, where her father, Thomas Laighton, was a lighthouse keeper, and then on Smuttynose and Appledore Islands.

When she was sixteen, she married Levi Thaxter and moved to the mainland. Her life with Levi was not harmonious and she missed her islands, and so after 10 years away, she moved back to Appledore Island. Her first published poem, "Landlocked", was written during this time on the mainland.

Celia became the hostess of her father's hotel, the Appledore House, and welcomed many New England literary and artistic notables to the island and to her parlor, including writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Whittier, Sarah Orne Jewett, and the artists William Morris Hunt andChilde Hassam, who painted several pictures of her. She was present at the time of the infamous murders on Smuttynose Island, about which she wrote the essay, "A Memorable Murder".

William Morris Hunt, a close family friend, spent the last months of his life on Appledore Island, trying to recover from a crippling depression. He drowned in late summer 1879, three days after finishing his last sketch. Celia Thaxter discovered the painter's body, who had apparently killed himself.

Her poems first appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and she became one of America's favorite authors in the late 19th century. Among her best-known poems are "The Burgomaster Gull", "Landlocked", "Milking", "The Great White Owl", "The Kingfisher", and especially "The Sandpiper" [cite book | last=Vallier | first=Jane | title=Poet on Demand: The Life, Letters, and Works of Celia Thaxter | publisher=Peter E. Randall | year=1994 | isbn=978-0914339472 ] .

Celia Thaxter died suddenly on August 25 1894, aged 59, and was buried on Appledore, not far from her cottage [cite web | last=Mandel | first=Norma | title=Celia Thaxter Timeline | url=http://seacoastnh.com/celia/life.html] .

Notes

External links

* [http://seacoastnh.com/smuttynose/memo.html A Memorable Murder]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Thaxter, Celia Laighton — ▪ American poet née  Celia Laighton  born June 29, 1835, Portsmouth, N.H., U.S. died Aug. 26, 1894, Appledore Island, N.H.       American poet whose work centred thematically on the islands and ocean of her youth.       Celia Laighton grew up… …   Universalium

  • Celia (given name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Celia imagesize= caption= pronunciation= gender = meaning = region = origin = related names = footnotes = Celia is a given name for females, as well as a nickname for Cecilia, Celeste, or Celestina. Variants… …   Wikipedia

  • Celia — Célia Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Célia est un prénom féminin. En 2004, c était un des prénoms les plus souvent donnés (23e prénom féminin cette année là)[1]. La fête usuelle est le… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Thaxter — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835–1894), US amerikanische Dichterin Phyllis Thaxter (* 1921), US amerikanische Film und Theaterschauspielerin Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Célia — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Célia est un prénom féminin. En 2004, c était un des prénoms les plus souvent donnés (23e prénom féminin cette année là)[1]. La fête usuelle est le 22… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Thaxter — /thak steuhr/, n. Celia (Laighton) /layt n/, 1835 94, U.S. poet. * * * …   Universalium

  • Thaxter — /thak steuhr/, n. Celia (Laighton) /layt n/, 1835 94, U.S. poet …   Useful english dictionary

  • Roland Thaxter — (né le 28 août 1858 et mort le 22 avril 1932) est un mycologue américain. Il est le fils de la poétesse Celia Thaxter. Il est surtout connu pour ses travaux sur les Laboulbéniales, auxquelles il a consacré une vingtaine de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Childe Hassam — Born October 17, 1859(1859 10 17) Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts Died …   Wikipedia

  • Isles of Shoals — Infobox Islands name = Isles of Shoals image caption = Isles of Shoals image size = 300px locator map custom = no native name = native name link = nickname = location = Gulf of Maine, Atlantic Ocean coordinates = coord|42|58|53|N|70|36|41|W… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”