Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Lucy Larcom was born as Sarah Lucia Larcom on September 5, 1824. She is commonly known as Lucy Larcom.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born: September 5, 1824
Died: April 25, 1893
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Lucy Larcom was an American poet, writer, and educator. Her work primarily focused on issues affecting women's lives during the late 19th century.
Early Life and Background
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Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, to a family of modest means, Lucy Larcom's early life was marked by hard work and determination. She attended school for only two years due to her family's financial constraints. However, this did not hinder her passion for learning. At 16, she began working at the Boston Factory, where she labored for twelve hours a day in difficult conditions.
Major Accomplishments
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Despite facing numerous challenges throughout her life, Lucy Larcom's determination and strong will led to several notable accomplishments:
Education: She managed to acquire an education through self-study and perseverance. This enabled her to become one of the few women of her time who were well-versed in literature.
Writing Career: Larcom started writing poems while working at the factory. Her early work was published in various newspapers, which marked the beginning of her successful writing career.
Advocacy: She became an advocate for workers' rights and improved conditions for women laborers.Notable Works or Actions
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Some of Lucy Larcom's notable works include:
A New England Girlhood (1889) - a collection of poems that reflect her life experiences, including working at the factory.
* Poems (1858) - a collection of her early poems.
Impact and Legacy
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Lucy Larcom's legacy extends far beyond her literary contributions. Her determination to educate herself despite adversity has inspired countless women throughout history. She paved the way for future generations by advocating for workers' rights, particularly those affecting women.
Larcom's work continues to be widely read and studied today due to its authenticity and portrayal of life during this period.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Lucy Larcom is widely quoted and remembered for her remarkable story of perseverance in the face of adversity. Her courage to stand up for what she believed in, combined with her literary talent, has cemented her place as a pioneering figure in American literature.
Quotes by Lucy Larcom
Lucy Larcom's insights on:
A journal of the ‘subjective’ kind I have always thought foolish, as nurturing a morbid self -consciousness in the writer; and yet, alone so much as I am, it is well to have some sort of a ventilator from the interior.
A complete autobiography would indeed be a picture of the outer and inner universe photographed upon one little life’s consciousness. For does not the whole world, seen and unseen, go to the making up of every human being?
Because its myriad glimmering plumes Like a great army’s stir and wave; Because its golden billows blooms, The poor man’s barren walks to lave: Because its sun-shaped blossoms show How souls receive the light of God, And unto earth give back that glow I thank him for the Goldenrod.
The whole world of thought lay unexplored before me, – a world of which I had already caught large and tempting glimpses...
My ‘must-have’ was poetry. From the first, life meant that to me. And, fortunately, poetry is not purchasable material, but an atmosphere in which every life may expand. I found it everywhere about me...
Labor, in itself, is neither elevating or otherwise. It is the laborer’s privilege to ennoble his work by the aim with which he undertakes it, and by the enthusiasm and faithfulness he puts into it.
Everything in nature has its own intrinsic charm, as the work of its Creator’s hand; but the chief beauty of the whole lies in its suggested relations to humanity. Things announce and wait for persons. The house would not have been thus beautifully built and furnished, except for an expected tenant.
It is a conquest when we can lift ourselves above the annoyances of circumstances over which we have no control; but it is a greater victory when we can make those circumstances our helpers,--when we can appreciate the good there is in them. It has often seemed to me as if Life stood beside me, looking me in the face, and saying, "Child, you must learn to like me in the form in which you see me, before I can offer myself to you in any other aspect.