Sarah Helen Whitman

About

Nineteenth-century American poet and writer associated with the Transcendentalist and Spiritualist movements. She published an 1853 poetry collection entitled Hours of Life.

Before Fame

In her early adulthood, she became involved with spiritualism and the occult and held weekend seances at her home.

Trivia

She became interested in the ideals of transcendentalism after attending a Boston lecture given by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Family Life

She grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. At age twenty-five, she married author and editor John Winslow Whitman.

Associated With

Following the death of her husband, she had a romantic relationship with poet Edgar Allan Poe that ultimately resulted in a broken engagement.