Anna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.
A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare. She was a noted teacher at the Palgrave Academy and an innovative children's writer; her primers provided a model for pedagogy for more than a century. Her essays demonstrated that it was possible for a woman to be publicly engaged in politics, and other women authors such as Elizabeth Benger emulated her. Barbauld's literary career spanned numerous periods in British literary history: her work promoted the values of both the Enlightenment and Sensibility, and her poetry was foundational to the development of British Romanticism. Barbauld was also a literary critic, and her anthology of 18th-century British novels helped establish the canon as known today.
Barbauld's career as a poet ended abruptly in 1812 with the publication of Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, which criticised Britain's participation in the Napoleonic Wars. Vicious reviews shocked Barbauld, and she published nothing else during her lifetime.
We neither laugh alone, nor weep alone, why then should we pray alone? being alone
The most characteristic mark of a great mind is to choose some one important object, and pursue it for life. greatness
But every act in consequence of our faith, strengthens faith. faith
Motherhood: All love begins and ends there. 22 other wisdom & wit from Robert Browning
22 other wisdom & wit from Robert Browning
A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. 53 sayings from Honore de Balzac
53 sayings from Honore de Balzac
With what price we pay for the glory of motherhood. 5 other views from Isadora Duncan
5 other views from Isadora Duncan
The babe at first feeds upon the mother's bosom, but it is always on her heart. 58 sayings from Henry Ward Beecher
58 sayings from Henry Ward Beecher