Harrell 1

Mary Brandon Harrell

English II- Block 1
Mrs. Kirschner
6 April 2016
Exploring the Shifts of Sara Teasdale
In the beginning of the 20th century, Modernism thrived as an artistic movement that
stemmed from the changing world around it. Authors wrote during a time when tradition was not
as important anymore, and people were beginning to change how they lived. Sara Teasdale was
one of the moving Modernists who wrote inspiring pieces that contained elements of the
experimentation with gender roles, an introduction of racial issues, inclusion of pop culture,
wealth of middle and upper classes, and showed the bleakness of the rural life. Sara Teasdale was
nothing short of an amazing writer. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1884, Teasdale was brought
up in a household of strong Eastern Puritan ancestry and in a city with many German
immigrants, creating a stressing importance of art and music (Phillips). Embodying her Puritan
background, St. Louis roots, and enthusiasm for the arts, Sara Teasdale blossomed into a
recognizable 20th century Modern poet whose love for romance and nature is depicted clearly
throughout her works.
Teasdales early childhood experiences are a significant reason for her successes as a poet
when she became older. Sara Teasdale was the youngest of four children, and her family
worshiped Puritan values, believing strongly that the New England education was superior to
other forms of education (Laurence). Sara was homeschooled until the age of nine because of her
frail health (Phillips). She then attended a private school that was only a block from her home
(Phillips). She attended the Mary Institute and graduated from the girls' school, Hosman Hall,

Harrell 2
when she was eighteen (Phillips; Laurence). There, the social and intellectual influences of the
school were distinct, lending to her continuous fascination with the artistic side of life
(Laurence).
After growing up to finding more of a familiar way to look at the world, Sara married
Ernst Filsinger, who had a familiar background and similar qualities of living a low-paced
lifestyle (Laurence). They were married on December 14, 1914, and lived happily for their early
years of marriage. Teasdale and Filsinger lived in New York City, which influenced a numerous
amount of Sara's poems, like Helen of Troy and Rivers to the Sea (Laurence). Eventually,
after many solemn years of unhappy marriage, Teasdale divorced her husband in the late 1920's
in Reno, while he was in South America (Laurence). After their divorce, she became antisocial,
and her health rapidly declined (Laurence). Teasdale faced a constant struggle with depression,
and committed suicide in New York in 1933, by overdosing on barbiturates (Laurence).
Teasdales life consisted of several dramatic shifts: going from happily married to divorced and
alone, which were reflected through other dramatic shifts in her poetry.
These climatic transformations are extremely prevalent in the poems: The Gift, The
Lighted Window, Love Songs, and Fear. Written in 1907, The Gift encompasses
Teasdales early work in its simplicity and clarity, use of classical forms, and passionate and
romantic subject matter. In the poem, Sara is asking her Lord what all can she give to him to
repay him for all he has given her. The only gifts she has are the ones he has given, and if he
takes those, then he would be living in a reflection of her. She describes her God as her "lover."
At the end of the poem, she shifts into the mindset of feeling sorry that she has strayed away
from her path with God. The words of the poem are light and simple, like Showed me the light
and the joy that cover/The wild sweet earth and the restless sea? (Teasdale 3-4), which reflects

Harrell 3
her innocence at the time.
Similar simplistic techniques seen in The Gift are also seen in The Lighted Window.
In this poem, there is an importance of the mystery "he" that remains throughout the poem. Sara
uses vivid imagery to convey that the man's boyhood was lost in a desired confusion of color. As
the boy says goodbye to his childhood, there is a dark undertone alluding to the cold winter and
the fact that he is watching his boyhood slip away. Phrases like "in the winter dusk" (Teasdale)
and "Hurried, harassed" (Teasdale) create a sense of place and pace for the poem, which is
important to the overall success of the dark and troubled undertone. In this poem, Teasdale uses
her simplistic and methodical way of thinking of life as a platform for the story being told. Even
though the story reveals a darker side to Teasdale, it continuously shows her use of classical
forms and clarity to portray passionate scenes of life during the Modern world.
In Love Songs and Fear, there is a strong shift in the mindset of Teasdale. Her poems
become more about the loneliness of relationships than the overflowing love of them and about
the steepness of darkness than the ever-glowing sun. Most importantly, her passionate subject
matter turned creepy and morbid. The distinct difference in the mindset of Teasdale during Love
Songs and Fear is extremely prevalent. Teasdales Love Songs, written in 1917, opens in a
town in Italy where she realizes that even though the beauty is dark, it still shines. The first
stanza, I have remembered beauty I the night/Against black silences I waked to see/A shower of
sunlight over Italy (Teasdale 1-3), contains her previous thoughts of beauty and love before the
mysterious "you. In the final stanza, My thoughts seek you as waves that seek the shore/And
when I think of you, I am at rest (Teasdale 13-14), determines the fact that her "love song" is, in
fact, directed at her true loved ones. Sara Teasdale won the Columbia University Poetry Prize in
1918 for this poem, as it clearly shows her passionate and romantic style by the use of subject

Harrell 4
matter.
More powerful shift takes place in the poem, Fear. From the beginning, Sara expresses
her fear of something in the dark. Teasdale uses personification in the second line of the poem to
express this crisp hatred for "the cold black fear. She shows this through her illusions to her
childhood and how every child is always afraid of the dark. She ponders if the dark will kill her
and if so, will someone save her? Not only does this represent her fear of the dark, but also her
fear of solitude. She doesn't understand how anyone could just leave her to die, knowing she is
surrounded by her greatest fear. There is a definite change in perspective about love, beauty, and
death, as this is a poem written later in her life. Since Teasdale divorced in 1929 and became
extremely depressed, this poem seems to be a prelude to that overwhelming solitude that she
experienced (Laurence).
Understanding the background, style, and shift of Sara Teasdales life and works is
extremely important in truly analyzing her poems: The Gift, The Lighted Window, Love
Songs, and Fear. She grew up in an evolving world while cities were becoming more
industrialized. With industrialization, came the growth of artistry. Many artists, poets, and writers
were moving into largely populated cities in hopes of a better chance for their works. Being in
such a cultural city, Sara was influenced by the expanding artistry, which explains one of the
main reasons she became a poet. Sara also faced a duality in her nature, since she was taught to
be an obedient young lady, but was brought up in an industrialized and changing world (Cain).
Carol B. Schoen analyzed this duality when reading Teasdale's works (Cain). She found that the
duality is a conflict between the Victorian expectations imposed by Sara's mother and Sara's own
erotic feelings (Cain). This conflict is reflected in Teasdale's poetry through the contrast of
"silence" and "sound, the contrast of reality and a world of dreams, and the contrast between

Harrell 5
pain and pleasure (Cain). Teasdales background clearly influenced her writing and is imperative
in truly understanding her writing style and the shift that it faces.
Being a classical poet, Teasdales poems consisted of forms like quatrains or sonnets that
had pure, openhearted lyrics (Teasdale, Sara). Teasdale's poetry contained more of nature and
beauty, rather than distinct love poetry (Cain). Reoccurring images like the sea and stars show
her love for nature's beauty, and the moon and snow symbolize resignation and melancholy
(Cain). Teasdales poetry also consisted of a woman's changing perspective on beauty, love, and
death. Many of her poems show that developments in her own life may have led to these
changing perspectives. One of Teasdales good childhood friends, Marguerite Wilkinson, once
said, "Sara Teasdale has found a philosophy of life and death," having "grown intellectually since
the publication of her earlier books" and displaying a "growth in artistry" ("Sara Teasdale").
Even people during her lifetime noticed the ever-growing changes in Teasdales poetry. Some
people even realized that her writing was affected by the world around her, including the
beginnings of World War I (Izzo). Teasdales changing style was seen by all, now and in the time
of her writing, and is because of the industrializing Modern world filled with new ideas, where
artistry boomed. Teasdales changing perspective on life was directly caused by the Modern
period of industrialization of new, bright ideas.
Sara Teasdale lived a life full of twists and turns. Her Puritan roots, St. Louis background,
and fatal illness gave her a life of continued artistry that lead to her overwhelming depression.
The deepening solitude that is easily seen in Sara's later works is also seen in her life. She would
no longer attend meetings of the Poetry Society and was deprived of her daily contact with
Marguerite Wilkinson when Wilkinson passed away. After her divorce, she felt somewhat
relieved, yet those years did not prove productive. Between her divorce and death, she only

Harrell 6
published two works (Phillips). The later years of Teasdale's life were hard because of the death
of her parents, brother, and good friend, Amy Lowell (Phillips). Her works show that she
accepted solitude as her condition of life (Phillips). Saras background and life clearly influenced
her writing. From her frail childhood to her solemn depression after her divorce, there is a
distinct shift in her writing. Looking at her works parallel to her life experiences is key in
understanding Teasdale as an early 20th century, Modern writer.

Harrell 7
Works Cited
Cain, Natasia Sexton. "SARA TEASDALE AT 125. (Cover Story)." Choral Journal 50.4 (2009):
8-18. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Izzo, David Garrett. "Sara Teasdale: Timeline of Life and Career." Modern American Poetry.
N.p., 28 July 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
Laurence, Patricia Ondek. Sara Teasdale. Critical Survey of Poetry, Second Revised Edition
(2002)L 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 1 Mar. 2016
Phillips, Rebecca. Sara Teasdale. Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century (2000): 13. Literary Reference Center. Web. 1 Mar. 2016
"Physical Growth of the City of Saint Louis." St. Louis Missouri Archives. St. Louis City Plan
Commission, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"Sara Teasdale." The Poetry Foundation. 2015 Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
Teasdale, Sara. Britannica Biographies (2012): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2016
Teasdale, Sara. "Sara Teasdale." PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.com, 6 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 Mar.
2016.