Rose Terry Cooke
Rose Terry Cooke (1827-1892) was an American author known for her poetry and prose that often reflected her New England upbringing and domestic experiences. Born on a farm near Hartford, Connecticut, to a prominent family, Cooke displayed early literacy skills and a deep appreciation for nature, which would later influence her writing. After graduating from Hartford Female Seminary, she worked as a teacher and governess, but her life took a significant turn following the death of her sister, after which she devoted herself to her sister's children and her own writing.
Cooke gained recognition when her poetry was published in the New York Tribune in 1860, culminating in her first collection, "Poems." Her literary works included ballads and translations, highlighting the beauty of the New England landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. Throughout her career, her writings appeared in notable publications like Harper's and Atlantic Monthly, and she published several collections of verse and one novel. In her later years, she faced health challenges, ultimately succumbing to pneumonia in 1892. Cooke's legacy endures as a testament to the complexities of life as a woman writer in the 19th century, blending domesticity with literary ambition.
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Rose Terry Cooke
Writer
- Born: February 17, 1827
- Birthplace: Wethersfield, Connecticut
- Died: July 18, 1892
- Place of death: Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Biography
Rose Terry Cooke was born on February 17, 1827, on a farm in near Hartford, Connecticut, to a distinguished family. Her father, Henry Wadsworth Terry, was the son of a Hartford bank president and member of Congress; her mother, Anne Hurlburt Terry, was the daughter of John Hurlburt, the first New England shipbuilder to sail around the world. At three, Cooke could already read; at six, when her family moved into her paternal grandmother’s palatial Hartford home, she reportedly learned to become a thorough housekeeper. These early proclivities, combined with her interest in nature, would influence her writing. The festive galas at the Hartford house, for example, are subjects in a number of her short stories.
Cooke graduated from the Hartford Female Seminary in 1843. About this time, she joined a church, where she would find influences for her poetry. Cooke began teaching in Hartford and in Burlington, New Jersey, at a Presbyterian school. Some time later she worked as a governess for a clergyman and his family. However, when her sister died in Hartford, Cooke cut all ties and activities and focused on caring for her sister’s children.
In this atmosphere of domesticity, Cooke began to write, although she gave her verse and stories second priority to her maternal and household responsibilities. It was not until 1860, after author Charles A. Dana referred her poetry to the New York Tribune, that her work saw publication as a book-length collection called Poems. Her first work—ballads, translations, metrical studies in numerous subjective experiences—was a balanced study in the beautiful, the physical, and the metaphysical, especially in poetic studies of the New England countryside; her next pieces would be more focused on New England life, living, and those living it.
Cooke eventually married iron manufacturer Rollin H. Cooke, and the couple settled in Winsted, Connecticut. Between 1878 and 1889, Cooke wrote prose as well as poetry. Her work appeared in Harper’s and Atlantic Monthly, and in five collections of verse, and one novel—all written with the simplicity and care but spontaneity and acumen of a fragile but steadfast homemaker, caring nurturer, and witty acquaintance.
Cooke moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1887, and contracted pneumonia two years later. She became too ill to write, and she spent her remaining years nursing herself from attacks of influenza. She died on July 18, 1892.