Frances Sargent Osgood (1811–1850)

American poetess, daughter of Joseph Locke, a merchant; born in Boston, MA, on the 18th of June 1811. In 1835 she married S. S. Osgood, a portrait-painter; resided in England from 1836 to 1840, and while there published The Casket of Fate and A Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England (1838). Returning to Boston in 1840, she soon afterward removed to New York, and subsequently published The Language of Gems; Poetry of Flowers, and Flowers of Poetry (1841); The Interpretations of Flora; The Snow Drop (1841); Cries of New York; The Flower Alphabet; Poems (1846); The Floral Offering (1848). A complete edition of her poems was published in 1850. She died in Hingham, MA, on the 12th of May 1850. See also Literary Criticism.