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OmniClassics · Literature

The Poems of Felicia Hemans

Mrs. Hemans

Hemans's collected poetry places domestic attachment beside exile, public history, and costly acts of devotion.

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About the book

This substantial collection reaches from Felicia Hemans's juvenile poems through longer works, translations, songs, and groups of dramatic or historical poems. Family affection is a recurring center, but the poems repeatedly test it against separation, war, national memory, religious feeling, and death. Records of Woman gives particular attention to women's experience within stories of fidelity, artistic aspiration, and sacrifice, while pieces such as Casabianca dramatize the terrible pressure of obedience and duty. The volume also preserves her engagement with other European poets through translation. Published by William P. Nimmo in 1875, it offers a broad historical collection rather than a small modern selection. Reading across its different forms reveals how public events are made emotionally legible through intimate bonds and individual voices.

  • Home and exile
  • Duty and sacrifice
  • Women's voices

Why read it

The breadth of the collection opens a larger poetic world beyond the few frequently anthologized pieces.

English collected edition published by William P. Nimmo, 1875

Contents and reading sections