by Martha Linsley Spencer
I held within my hands today
The book
in which she wrote her name —
“Prudence Corwin’s book.”
(it read)
“Seventeen hundred and seventy-nine.”
the letters
Clear and plain as she had written them,
So long ago —
Upon the title page
(it said)
“Paradise Lost, a poem — the author,
John Milton.”
My great Grandmother read this book —
So long ago — So long ago.
(Northford 1930.)
Public domain.
Johnston, Margaret Thompson. A Tribute to Martha Linsley Spencer, Connecticut Poet. Hartford: Press of Finlay Brothers, 1956.
Martha Linsley Spencer Papers, Watkinson Library and College Archives, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
“Miss Spencer Dies, had Taught Dramatic Arts.” The Hartford Courant (1923-), Jul 18, 1954.
Morse, Allen. “Worthy Tribute.” The Hartford Courant (1923-), Apr 01, 1956.
Morse, F. Samuel. “A Gallant Lady.” The Hartford Courant, July 25, 1954.
Spencer, Martha Linsley. “Nutmegs are Wooden.” Yankee Magazine, April 1947.
Spencer, Martha Linsley. Remembered Years, collected poems. Hartford, Connecticut: Finlay Brothers Press, 1954.
Sullivan, Jessica. “The People Behind the Poetry: American Poets Martha Linsley Spencer and Edwin Arlington Robinson Reveal Their Prosaic Lives.” The People Behind the Poetry (blog). April 10, 2021.