Cook, Eliza

(1818-1889)

   From a humble background - her father was a London brazier-and largely self-educated, encouraged by her mother, she wrote some remarkably lasting and often quoted poetry. While living near Horsham, Sussex, when her father retired, she began writing poetry; some of her most enduring poems such as "I'm Afloat" and the "Star of Glengarry" were written at a young age. She wrote for various magazines and was praised in the Literary Gazette. She conducted Eliza Cook's Journal from 1849-1854, until ill health caused her to give up. Her sympathetic poem "Poor Hood" led to the erection of a monument in Kensal Green Cemetery, West London, to the genius Thomas Hood. Her main publications: Lays of a Wild Harp, 1835. Old Arm Chair, 1836 (published in the Weekly Dispatch). Melaia and Other Poems, 1838 (American edition, 1844). New Echoes and Other Poems, 1864. Some of her other poems: "A Home in the Heart," "A Song for Ragged Schools," "Away from the Revel," "Old Dobbin," "The Bonnie Scot," "The Englishman," "The Indian Hunter," "The Mouse and the Cake," "The Old Arm-Chair," "The Old Clock."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Great Books Online. www.bartleby.com. 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 Fireside Book of Humorous Poetry. William Cole, ed. Simon and Schuster, 1959. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.