Agnes Lee (' Martha Agnes Rand; 1862–1939) was an American poet and translator.

Biography

Lee was born Martha Agnes Rand in Chicago on March 6, 1862. She was the second daughter of

William H. Rand William Henry Rand (May 2, 1828 – June 20, 1915) was an American printer and co-founder of the Rand McNally publishing company. He was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, and as a young man was an apprentice at his brothers' print shop in Boston. H ...

, an American printer and publisher who co-founded the Rand McNally Company. She was educated at a boarding school in

Vevey, Switzerland Vevey (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of ...

. Lee wrote a collection of children's verse in 1898 titled ''The Round Rabbit''. Her debut poetry collection, ''The Legend of a Thought'', was published in 1889. She wrote books of poetry including ''The Border of the Lake'' in 1910, ''The Sharing'' in 1914, ''Faces and Open Doors'' in 1922, and ''New Lyrics and a Few Old Ones'' in 1931. She translated

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

's ''Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems'' in 1903. In 1926, Lee received the guarantor's prize from ''Poetry Magazine''. In 1890 she married Francis Watts Lee, a photographer, and moved to Boston. They had a daughter. In 1911 she married Otto Freer, a surgeon. Her second husband died in 1932. Lee died from pneumonia on July 23, 1939, at her home in Chicago. She was buried at

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park R ...

. A collection of letters exchanged between her and poet

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of '' Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

is archived in the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...

in Chicago.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Agnes 1862 births 1939 deaths 19th-century American poets 19th-century American translators 20th-century American poets 20th-century American translators American women poets Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Poets from Chicago 20th-century American women Deaths from pneumonia in Illinois