Eliza Cook
Eliza Cook was an English poet born on December 24, 1818, in London, into a working-class family as the youngest of ten siblings. Despite her father's disapproval of her reading pursuits, her mother supported her education, leading Cook to demonstrate literary talent from a young age. By fifteen, she had already written several poems, and her first collection, *Lays of a Wild Harp*, was published in 1835. Cook's poetry often focused on everyday life and romantic themes, with notable works including "The Old Arm-chair," a tribute to her mother, and "Don't Tell the World That You're Waiting for Me." Over her career, she published around five hundred poems and contributed widely to popular periodicals of her time. In 1849, she founded and edited *Eliza Cook's Journal*, which continued until 1854. While her work gained popularity among readers, it received mixed reviews from critics, including the prominent poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Cook's poetry, though not regarded as among the greatest of the Victorian era, offers valuable insights into the experiences of the nineteenth-century middle class. She passed away in 1889 after enduring a prolonged illness.
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Eliza Cook
Writer
- Born: December 24, 1818
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: September 23, 1889
- Place of death: Wimbledon, London, England
Biography
Eliza Cook was born on December 24, 1818, in London, to Joseph Cook and his wife. Eliza was the youngest of ten siblings in the working-class family, and her father did not want her to spend time reading. Fortunately, Cook’s mother helped her learn to read and write. Cook demonstrated her literary talent early, and by age fifteen she had written a number of poems.
In 1835, she published her first collection, Lays of a Wild Harp. With her attention to rustic, everyday life, her poems were often compared to those of Robert Burns. One of her best- known poems, “The Old Arm-chair,” is a sentimental tribute to her mother. Another well-known poem, “Don’t Tell the World That You’re Waiting for Me,” narrated by a male speaker imploring his young woman to wed, is indicative of Cook’s other common theme, romantic love. In all, Cook published some five hundred poems. Her plain- spoken style as well as its sentimental content made her work accessible and popular.
During the late 1830’s and 1840’s, Cook published in many popular periodicals. In 1849, she began a magazine called Eliza Cook’s Journal, the majority of which she edited until 1854. Through the 1860’s, she continued to publish volumes of poetry, eventually winning a Civil List Pension in 1864.
Although her work was well received by some critics, the renowned poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning found much of Cook’s work to be ridiculous. While Cook’s work does not place her in the ranks of the great Victorian poets, her poetry provides an important window into the world of the nineteenth century middle class. After suffering many years of illness during which she was unable to write, Cook died in 1889.