Poet. Born Felicia Dorothea Browne, she published her first volume of poetry at 14. Her second volume appeared in 1812, the year she married Capt. Alfred Hemans, a British army officer. Though she bore five children over the next six years, she continued to write and publish. Felicia and Capt. Hemans separated in 1819, by which time she was a popular enough author to support her family through her writing. Her often sentimental verses invoked several themes that appealed to readers, including patriotic service, Christian spirituality, and domestic contentment. After her death in 1835, she became, if anything, more popular. For more than a century her works went through numerous printings and endless anthologization in Britain and America. Her best remembered works are “The Homes of England,” “The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England,” and “Casabianca,” which is better known by its opening line, “The boy stood on the burning deck.”
Poet. Born Felicia Dorothea Browne, she published her first volume of poetry at 14. Her second volume appeared in 1812, the year she married Capt. Alfred Hemans, a British army officer. Though she bore five children over the next six years, she continued to write and publish. Felicia and Capt. Hemans separated in 1819, by which time she was a popular enough author to support her family through her writing. Her often sentimental verses invoked several themes that appealed to readers, including patriotic service, Christian spirituality, and domestic contentment. After her death in 1835, she became, if anything, more popular. For more than a century her works went through numerous printings and endless anthologization in Britain and America. Her best remembered works are “The Homes of England,” “The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England,” and “Casabianca,” which is better known by its opening line, “The boy stood on the burning deck.”
Bio by: Anglofranc
Inscription
In the vault beneath
Are deposited the mortal remains of
Felicia Dorothea Hemans
She died May 16th 1835
Aged 41
Calm on the bosom of thy God
Fair spirit rest thee now!
Even while with us they footstep trod
His seal was on thy brow
Dust To its narrow house beneath
Soul To its place on high
They that have seen thy look in death
No more may fear to die
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