Biography of Poet Sara Teasdale

When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair
Though you should lean above me broken-hearted
I shall not care.

I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bow,
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.

While this poem was written in 1915, a full 18 years before her suicide, it expresses the torment that SaraTeasdale faced throughout her life. She was born on August 8, 1884 in St. Louis Missouri. She was the youngest of 4 children in a Victorian Baptist home. As a child, she had many chronic illnesses which prevented her fromattending school at an early age. When the doctors finally allowed her to go to school, she was nine years old.

Due to her weak health, and the home schooling she received prior to age nine, she became an avid reader. Sara pursued her studies. In 1905, she began going on trips to Europe so she could see the world and further her education.

When Sara was in her late twenties, she met two gentlemen who wished to marry her. The first, poet Vachel Lindsay, was a romantic interest. Daily, he would write long letters to Sara expressing his undying love for her.

However, when he finally proposed, even though Sara had strong feelings for him, she declined to spend her lifewith him. Instead, she married a prominent business man, Ernst Filsinger. They moved to New York City, where Sara resided for the rest of her life.

Sara remained friends with Lindsay. A tragic love story began to unfold. Lindsay revealed to Sara that hisgreatest work, poem The Chinese Nightingale, was inspired by her. In 1929, she divorced Filsinger. Her relationship with Filsinger had been one of convenience, and she could no longer live in an unhappy marriage.

For the next two years, she pursued her friendship with Lindsay, until he took his life in 1931, a tragedy that added to the suffering of Sara.

Sara continued to have poor health throughout her life. Her poetry reflects love and death, as well as nature and the cycle of life. In 1918, Sara won the Poetry Society prize, now known as a Pulitzer Prize.

In 1933, Sara Teasdale committed suicide like her friend Lindsay. She was only forty-nine. Her life ended when she overdosed on sleeping pills. She simply took a warm bath, and went to sleep forever. Later that year, Strange Victory, a collection of her poems, was published. Many say this is her best work.

In 1994, Sara Teasdale was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, which honors people from the St. Louis area who made significant contributions to American culture. A plaque set in the sidewalk summarizes her accomplishments. Sara's final resting place is Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis.