Florence Earle Coates

Florence Van Leer Earle Nicholson Coates (July 1, 1850 – April 6, 1927) was an American poet, and women's rights advocate whose prolific output was published in many literary magazines, some of it set to music. She was mentored by the English poet Matthew Arnold, with whom she maintained a lifelong friendship. She was famous for her many nature poems, inspired by the flora and fauna of the Adirondacks, where she lived. She was also an advocate for women and equality. She would be elected poet laureate of Pennsylvania by the state Federation of Women's Clubs in 1915. Biography Coates was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the eldest daughter of Philadelphia lawyer George Hussey Earle Sr. and Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer Earle. She was the granddaughter of noted abolitionist and philanthropist Thomas Earle and a member of the influential Van Leer family. She gained fame both at home and abroad for her works of poetry—nearly three hundred of which were published in literary magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly, Scribner's Magazine, The Literary Digest, Lippincott's, The Century Magazine, and Harper's. Many of her poems were set to music by notable composers such as Amy Beach. She attended school in New England under the instruction of abolitionist and teacher Theodore Dwight Weld, and would further her education abroad at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Paris (Rue de Varenne), and by studying music in Brussels under noted instructors of the day. [[Image:Liriodendron tulipifera - Hamburg (2).jpg|thumb|247px|right|Tulip-tree<poem>"My remembrance of our last visit and of your tulip-trees and maples I shall never lose ..." —Matthew Arnold, in a letter to Coates</poem>]] Literary and social critic Matthew Arnold both encouraged and inspired Coates's writing of poetry. He was a guest at the Coates' Germantown home when his lecture tours brought him to Philadelphia. Coates and Arnold first met in New York—during Arnold's first visit and lecture tour of America—at the home of Andrew Carnegie, "where they formed a lasting friendship". The tour (which lasted from October 1883 to March 1884) brought Arnold to Philadelphia in December 1883, where he lectured at Association Hall on the topics of the "Doctrine of the Remnant" and on "Emerson".