Laura Sophia Temple was a British poet and novelist associated with the

Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. During her lifetime, Temple published three volumes of poetry, as well as a novel, ''Ferdinand Fitzormond; or, The Fool of Nature'' (1806).

Life and career

Laura Sophia Temple was born in 1763. Her parents were Lieutenant colonel Richard Temple and his wife, Frances Temple. She married Samuel B. Sweetman. In 1805, Temple published her first book, a volume of poetry titled ''Poems'', with publisher Richard Phillips''.'' The following year, Temple published the novel ''Ferdinand Fitzormond; or, The Fool of Nature'' (1806), also published by Phillips. A contemporary review of the novel reads, "Mrs. Temple, the fair author of some excellent poems, of which we took ample notice in our preceding volume, has produced a ponderous novel, entitled ''Ferdinand Fitzormond''." Temple's second volume of poetry, ''Lyric and other poems'', was published by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

in 1812. In 1812, Temple published a collection of poems inspired by the second siege of Zaragosa in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, titled ''The siege of Zaragosa, and other poems''.https://archive.org/details/siegeofzaragozao00tempiala Scholar Diego Saglia discussed the work in his book ''Poetic Castiles in Spain: British Romanticism and Figurations of Iberia''. Of the poem "The Days of Chivalry," Saglia wrote, "Defining

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...

as the reign of Beauty, Temple's poem mourns the end of this system as the cause of the present troubles in Britain and Europe and, in particular, points out a historical evil in the preponderance of masculine politics not tempered by feminine guidance." A 1997 study of literature read by

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

between 1800 and 1815 concluded that Wordsworth had read works by Temple.

Bibliography

* ''

Poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'' (1805) * ''Ferdinand Fitzormond; or, The Fool of Nature'' (1806) * ''Lyric and other poems'' (1808) * ''The siege of Zaragosa, and other poems'' (1812)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Laura Sophia 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British novelists 19th-century British poets Romantic poets British women poets