Sara Teasdale Presentation:

Hi, My name is Sara Teasdale and I was born on August 8, 1884 in St.
Louis, Missouri
o I am significantly younger than my 3 older siblings, so I was
babied a lot as a child
o Until the age of 9, I was homeschooled because of my frail health
I spent a lot of time at home learning about the arts:
reading, writing, drawing, etc.
o My family has a Puritan background which influenced my
simplistic lifestyle growing up, yet my being brought up in St.
Louis caused me to be immersed in a multi-cultural city
o After I was homeschooled I attended the Mary Institute, which
was only a block from my home, and after that I graduated from
Hosman Hall when I was 18
I constantly traveled to Chicago with my family, where my artistic
influences emerged as I became part of the Poetry Magazine in
Chicago
I was married in 1914 to Ernst Filsinger
o I rejected a numerous amount of previous suitors, including
Vachel Lindsay
In 1916, I moved to New York with my husband and that is sort of
where my writing took off
o In 1918, I won the Columbia University Poetry Society Prize (soon
became the Pulitzer Prize) for the poem Love Songs
In 1926, I grew tired of my husbands constant traveling, and divorced
him
o Some believe that I lived my life after my divorce as semi-invalid
As I grew older and lived a solemn life, I was weakened by pneumonia
and struggled with my mental state
o I committed suicide on January 23, 1933, at the age of 48

by overdosing on barbiturates.
My early work is characterized by its simplicity and clarity, use of
classical forms, and passionate and romantic subject matter
o Yet, my later books show my growing finesse and changing
outlook on the world

POEMS:
I will read one of my early poems now that will demonstrate my

simplistic views on beauty and the world around me this: The Gift-1907
Now, I will read a poem that shows my changing view on the world and
how my shift in writing style obviously reflect that of my hectic life:
Fear -- 1926