Caroline Anne Southey facts for kids

Caroline Anne Southey (born Caroline Anne Bowles; December 6, 1786 – July 20, 1854) was an English poet and painter. She became the second wife of the famous poet Robert Southey.

Early Life and Education

Caroline Anne Bowles was born on December 6, 1786, at Buckland Manor, near Lymington. She was the only child of Captain Charles Bowles and Anne Burrard. Her father had retired from the East India Company, a big trading company. When she was young, her family moved to a smaller home called Buckland Cottage. But she spent her summers by the sea at Calshot Castle, visiting her uncle, Sir Harry Burrard.

Caroline was mostly taught at home by William Gilpin. He was a writer and artist known for his ideas about "the picturesque," which meant finding beauty in nature. Caroline showed a talent for art early on. Some of her paintings are still kept by the Wordsworth Trust today.

Becoming a Poet

After her mother died in 1817, Caroline faced money problems. This was because of how her guardian managed her finances. To help herself, she decided to publish a long poem she had written. She asked the official poet of the country, Robert Southey, for advice. He later became her husband.

Her first publisher wasn't very encouraging. But another poet, James Montgomery, helped her. Her poem, Ellen Fitzarthur: a Poem in Five Cantos, was published in 1820. It was popular enough to get a second edition in 1822. Many of her other works appeared in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. She often wrote letters to the magazine's founder, William Blackwood.

Working with Robert Southey

Caroline first met Robert Southey in 1820. They decided to write a long poem together about Robin Hood. However, they only finished a small part of it, called Robin Hood: A Fragment, after Southey passed away. Caroline found it hard to work with the unusual rhythm Southey chose for the poem. She once wrote to him, "It is to me just like attempting to drive a small carriage on a train track." This meant it was very difficult for her.

Most of the Robin Hood fragment was written by Caroline. It included some beautiful poems about her marriage to Robert Southey. They married on June 4, 1839, after his first wife had died. Southey's older children were not happy about the marriage, except for his eldest daughter, Edith.

Later Life and Legacy

Just three months after they married, Robert Southey became very ill and his memory started to fade. He passed away in March 1843. Because of some disagreements and gossip, Caroline lost the support of friends like Wordsworth. She had to leave Southey's home, Greta Hall, right after his death. She moved back to Buckland Cottage and stopped writing.

Her marriage meant she lost the yearly money she received from Colonel Bruce. But in 1852, she was given a special payment of £200 a year from the government. Caroline Southey died at her home on July 20, 1854.

Her Unique Writing Style

Robert Southey once said about her writing, "You have the eye, the ear, and the heart of a poetess..." Later, people realized her work was not as well-known as it should be. They said her writing had a natural and simple style.

A modern expert, Anne Zanzucchi, describes Caroline as a creative and skilled writer. Her books included different types of writing:

• Prose stories (like Chapters on Churchyards)
• Funny poems that made fun of things (like The Cat's Tail)
• Poems where one character speaks (like Tales of the Factories)
• Poems about her own life (like The Birth-day)

Her book Tales of the Factories was one of the first protest poems. It spoke out against unfair conditions in factories. This was even before similar works by other famous poets like Caroline Norton and Elizabeth Barrett.

Caroline Southey's life with Robert Southey was even made into a BBC drama called The Fly and the Eagle. In 1953, the composer Grace Williams turned Caroline's poem To Death into a song.

Works by Caroline Southey

Caroline Southey wrote many books and poems during her life. Here are some of her notable works:

• Ellen Fitzarthur : A Metrical Tale, in Five Cantos (1820)
• Solitary Hours (1826)
• Chapters on Churchyards (1829)
• The Cat's Tail: Being the History of Childe Merlin. A Tale (1831)
• Tales of the Factories (1833)
• The Birth-day; a Poem, in Three Parts (1836)
• Robin Hood : A Fragment (1847) - written with Robert Southey