Born: September 25, 1793 Died: May 16, 1835
Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793–1835) was the literary equivalent of a tragic period drama wrapped in lace and patriotism—with just enough melancholy to make the Romantics swoon. Born in Liverpool and raised partly in Wales, Hemans was writing in multiple languages before most kids were fluent in basic sarcasm. She published her first book of poetry at age 14, firmly outpacing every future teenager who’d ever sulk about misunderstood genius.
While her male counterparts were busy wandering through stormy moors and declaring their love for dead leaves, Hemans wrote lyrical odes to heroism, home, sacrifice, and heartbreak—with a particular flair for female suffering. Her best-known poem, “Casabianca,” famously begins with “The boy stood on the burning deck,” which may as well be a metaphor for Hemans’ whole career: poetic brilliance surrounded by cultural firestorms, yet somehow standing tall and memorized by generations of schoolchildren.
Her work was wildly popular in her lifetime—especially among the Victorians, who just adored a weepy, moralizing tale wrapped in a neatly metered package. And while her poetry was often dismissed in the 20th century as overly sentimental (likely by critics who feared feelings), contemporary scholarship has reclaimed her as a bold female voice navigating a man’s literary world with both elegance and an iron spine in a velvet glove.
She died young, at 41, from what was likely edema caused by cancer—because apparently writing poignant poems about sacrifice wasn’t literal enough.
Today, Felicia Hemans is remembered not just for her historical ballads and high moral tone, but for being one of the most-read and most-misunderstood poets of the 19th century. She made tragedy readable, femininity powerful, and domestic virtue strangely compelling.
