Seward, Anna

(1742-1809)

   Known as the "Swan of Lichfield," she was born at Eyam, Derbyshire, the daughter of the canon of Lichfield, where she lived out her life. She was a member there of a literary circle that included William Hayley and Erasmus Darwin (see entries).

   A bright child who could repeat passages from John Milton's L'Allegro before she was three, in 1781 she published a "Monody on the unfortunate Major André," which was republished in 1817. Louisa: A Poetical Novel, which passed through five editions, was published in 1782. Her father died in 1790, leaving her well provided for, and she continued to live in her father's residence, the bishop's palace, Lichfield. One of her sonnets, December Morning, was admired by Leigh Hunt (see Hunt, James Henry Leigh). Poem to the Memory of Lady Miller (see entry), honored the lady who helped Seward's writing career. Seward died of scurvy and was buried in Lichfield Cathedral. Some of her poems: "Achilles, a Canzonet," "Blindness," "Colebrook Dale," "Eyam," "Lichfield, an Elegy," "Ode to Content," "Sonnets," "The Anniversary," "The Hay-Field," "Written December 1790."

   Sources: A Century of Sonnets: The Romantic-Era Revival, 1750-1850. Paula R. Feldman and Daniel Robinson, eds. Oxford University Press, 1999. Chloe Plus Olivia: An Antholog y of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present. Lillian Faderman, ed. Viking Penguin, 1994. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth Century Verse. Roger Lonsdale, ed. Oxford University Press, 1984. The Poetical Works of Anna Seward: Volume I. Walter Scott, ed. John Ballantyne and Co., 1810. Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Emily Dickinson. Sheila Coghill and Thom Tammaro, eds. University of Iowa Press, 2000. Women Romantic Poets, 1785-1832: An Antholog y. Jennifer Breen, ed. J.M. Dent and Sons, 1992.