Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) was an English poet, one of the most widely read of the nineteenth century. Her poem Casabianca was recited by generations of schoolchildren, and her Records of Woman celebrated the courage of women.
Wales
Felicia Dorothea Browne was born in Liverpool on 25 September 1793, the daughter of a merchant. After her father's business failed, the family moved to North Wales, where she grew up near Abergele and later St Asaph, reading widely in her family's library.
A precocious poet, she published her first book, Poems, in 1808, at fourteen, with a long list of subscribers.
A writing mother
In 1812 she married Captain Alfred Hemans, an Irish army officer. After the birth of their fifth son in 1818 he left for Italy and never returned. Felicia supported her sons by her writing.
Her books, among them Records of Woman (1828) and Songs of the Affections (1830), sold widely in Britain and America. Wordsworth and Walter Scott admired her.
Dublin
After her mother's death she moved in 1831 to Dublin, where one of her brothers lived. Her health failed, and she died there on 16 May 1835, aged forty-one.
Wordsworth mourned her in his Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg. Her reputation declined in the twentieth century, before being restored by feminist critics.
Anecdotes
Visited by Wordsworth
In 1830 Felicia Hemans stayed in the Lake District and visited Wordsworth at Rydal Mount, where she spent a fortnight with the poet and his family.
The stately homes
Her poem The Homes of England (1827) gave the English language the phrase 'the stately homes of England', later parodied by Noël Coward.
Frequently asked questions
What is Casabianca about?
The death of a boy who remained at his post on the burning flagship L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, waiting for orders from his father.
Why was Hemans so popular?
Her poems, sentimental and patriotic, praising home, faith and courage, matched the taste of her time and were widely recited.
Where did Felicia Hemans live?
In Liverpool, North Wales, and finally Dublin, where she died in 1835.