19th Century Women's Poetry

Margaret Deland (1857-1945)

Margaretta Wade was born in Allegheny, PA; she married Lorin F. Deland of Boston in 1880 and made that city her home thereafter. She was most famous for her regional realism in short stories, Old Chester Tales (1886), and a novel John Ward, Preacher (1888), which examined theological questions; but she also published The Old Garden, and Other Verses in 1886. The status Deland attained in her lifetime is noted through the fact that in 1926 Deland, Edith Wharton, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman were elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters for their literary accomplishments.


Sent with a Rose to a Young Lady
Deep in a Rose's glowing heart
I dropped a single kiss,
And then I bade it quick depart,
And tell my Lady this:
"The love thy Lover tried to send
O'erflows my fragrant bowl,
But my soft leaves would break and bend,
Should he send half the whole!"

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Love's Wisdom
How long I've loved thee, and how well--
I dare not tell!
Because, if thou shouldst once divine
This love of mine,
Or did but once my tongue confess
My heart's distress,
Far, far too plainly thou wouldst see
My slavery,
And, guessing what Love's wit should hide,
Rest satisfied!
So, though I worship at thy feet,
I'll be discreet--
And all my love shall not be told,
Lest thou be cold,
And, knowing I was always thine,
Scorn to be mine.
So am I dumb, to rescue thee
From tyranny--
And, by my silence, I do prove
Wisdom and Love!

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