Lavinia Stoddard (, Stone; June 29, 1787 – November 8, 1820) was an American poet and school founder. Her poem, "The Soul's Defiance", was included in most of the
anthologies published in the United States in the 19th-century.
Early life and education
Lavinia Stone was born in
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census.
History
Guil ...
, June 29, 1787. While she was an infant, her father, Elijah Stone removed to
Paterson, New Jersey, and here she received, besides the careful instructions of an intelligent and judicious mother, such education in the schools as was at the time common to the children of farmers.
Career
In 1811, she married Dr. William Stoddard, of
Stratford, Connecticut. He was a graduate of
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1804; a graduate of the
Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1810, and a member of the
Rensselaer County
Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...
Medical Society in 1817.
In the then flourishing village of
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
, on the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
, the husband and wife established an academy, which they conducted successfully for several years. Here, they were friends of
Francis Wayland, D.D., LL.D., afterwards of
Brown University, and were both noticed in his
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
in an affectionate and complimentary way.
Stoddard wrote many poems, which were printed anonymously in the public journals, or addressed privately to her acquaintances. Her brother stated that the poem entitled "The Soul's Defiance" was interesting to her immediate friends for the truthfulness with which it portrayed her own experience and her indomitable spirit, which never floundered under any circumstances. This was written in a period of suffering and with a sense of injury. It is the last of her compositions, and perhaps the best. It is included in most of the anthologies published in the United States in the 19th-century.
Personal life
Stoddard became ill with
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
, and about the year 1818, she removed with her family to
Blakeley, Alabama
Blakeley is a ghost town in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. During the height of its existence, Blakeley was a thriving town which flourished as a competitor to its western neighbor, Mobile. Blakeley was the county seat for Baldwin Coun ...
, where Dr. Stoddard soon after died. Partially recovering her own health, she revisited Troy, but the severity of the climate induced her to return to Blakeley, where, she died within a year of her husband, Mrs. Stoddard's death probably hastened by grief for her husband. She died November 8, 1820, and was buried at the Blakeley Cemetery.
"The Soul's Defiance"
I SAID to Sorrow’s awful storm,
:That beat against my breast,
Rage on—thou may’st destroy this form,
:And lay it low at rest;
But still the spirit that now brooks
:Thy tempest, raging high,
Undaunted on its fury looks
:With steadfast eye.
I said to Penury’s meagre train,
:Come on—your threats I brave;
My last poor life-drop you may drain,
:And crush me to the grave;
Yet still the spirit that endures
:Shall mock your force the while,
And meet each cold, cold grasp of yours
:With bitter smile.
I said to cold Neglect and Scorn,
:Pass on—I heed you not;
Ye may pursue me till my form
:And being are forgot;
Yet still the spirit, which you see
:Undaunted by your wiles,
Draws from its own nobility
:Its high-born smiles.
I said to Friendship’s menaced blow,
:Strike deep—my heart shall bear;
Thou canst but add one bitter woe
:To those already there;
Yet still the spirit that sustains
:This last severe distress
Shall smile upon its keenest pains,
:And scorn redress.
I said to Death’s uplifted dart,
:Aim sure—oh, why delay?
Thou wilt not find a fearful heart—
:A weak, reluctant prey;
For still the spirit, firm and free,
:Unruffled by this last dismay,
Wrapt in its own eternity,
:Shall pass away.
References
Attribution
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoddard, Lavinia
1787 births
1820 deaths
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
Writers from Connecticut
American women poets
Founders of schools in the United States
19th-century philanthropists