The Anglo-Irish poet Mary Tighe is best known as the author of “Psyche; or, the Legend of Love”, an epic poem first printed privately in 1805, and the only work to be published during her lifetime. On her death, though, she left manuscripts of a much larger body of work – over 140 shorter poems, and “Selena”, a novel comparable in length to Fanny Burney’s
Camilla. The posthumous publication of
Psyche, with Other Poems(1811) first brought her to public notice, and attracted the attention of the young John Keats, whose belated denial of her influence has largely been responsible for maintaining Tighe’s (liminal) position in the Romantic canon.
In May 1770, Theodosia Tighe of Rossana, co. Wicklow, married the Anglican clergyman, William Blachford, and in February the following
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Citation: Buchanan, Averill. "Mary Tighe (Mrs Henry Tighe)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11762, accessed 31 October 2024.]
