Emily Henrietta Hickey (1845–1924) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

author, narrative poet and translator.

Biography

She was born in Macmine Castle, near

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

in County Wexford, daughter of the Rev. J. S. Hickey, Protestant rector of

Goresbridge Goresbridge () is a small village located in the east of County Kilkenny, in the province of Leinster, Ireland. Goresbridge is named after a 1756 bridge, built by Colonel Ralph Gore, which provides a crossing of the River Barrow between County ...

and granddaughter of Rev. William Hickey ("Martin Doyle"), an agriculturist. She studied at Cambridge and then became lecturer in English language and literature at University College London. She sold her first poem, "Told in the Twilight" to the ''

Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictiona ...

'' in 1866 and afterwards contributed to '' Longman's Magazine'', ''

Good Words ''Good Words'' was a 19th-century monthly periodical established in the United Kingdom in 1860 by the Scottish publisher Alexander Strahan. Its first editor was Norman Macleod. After his death in 1872, it was edited by his brother, Donald Macleod ...

'', '' The Athenaeum'', the '' Irish Monthly'' and many others. Her first book of poems, ''A Sculptor'', ensured her success as a poet. She followed this with ''Verse Tales, Lyrics, and Translations'' (1889), '' Verse-Translations, and other poems'' (1891), ''Michael Villiers, Idealist, and other poems'' (1891), ''Ancilla Domini'' (1898) and ''Our Lady of May and other Poems'' (1902). She also wrote many short stories. With

Frederick James Furnivall Frederick James Furnivall (4 February 1825 – 2 July 1910) was an English philologist, best known as one of the co-creators of the '' New English Dictionary''. He founded a number of learned societies on early English literature and made pio ...

she founded the

Browning Society Browning societies were groups who met to discuss the works of Robert Browning. Emerging from various reading groups, the societies indicated the poet's fame, and unusually were forming in his lifetime.Murray, H. (2002) ''Come, bright improvemen ...

in 1881. Hickey wrote about ten books dealing with religious matters after converting to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1901. One of her better-known poems is ''Beloved, It Is Morn''.A transcript of the poem ''Beloved, It Is Morn''.
/ref> The poem has been set to music by composer Florence Aylward and recorded by tenors Charles Hackett and Harry Anthony. She died on 9 September 1924 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

References

External links

* * *
Recordings of 'Beloved, it is morn' at the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Emily Henrietta Irish women poets 1845 births 1924 deaths 20th-century Irish poets People from County Wexford Irish Catholic poets 19th-century Irish people Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism 21st-century Irish poets 21st-century Irish women writers 20th-century Irish women writers