Maria Louise Eve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 11, 1842 Augusta, Georgia, US |
| Died | April 5, 1900 (aged 58) |
| Resting place | Augusta, Georgia |
| Occupation | author |
| Language | English |
| Genre | poetry, prose |
Maria Louise Eve (February 11, 1842 – April 5, 1900) as a 19th-century American author of poetry and prose. In 1866, she secured a prize of US$100 for a prose essay, and in 1879, a prize of the same amount for the best poem, expressing the gratitude of the South to the North for aid in the yellow fever epidemic. Her "Brier Rose" won the prize for the best poem offered by The Augusta Chronicle in 1889, and her poem, "The Lion and Eagle", a welcome to the England peace deputation, attracted much attention. Her writings were limited in number, but were of excellent quality.[1] Of Eve's poems, the best known are "Conquered at Last," "Woes of Ireland," Unfulfilled," "Filling his Place," "Easter Morning," and "The Lion and the Eagle."[2]
Maria Louise Eve was born February 11, 1842, near Augusta, Georgia. She was the daughter of Dr. Edward Armstrong Eve, a physician,[3] and Sarah Jane Raiford. Her ancestors were of old English ancestry.[3] Her great-great-grandfather, Oswell Eve, commanded a man-of-war, The Roebuck, under George III, in ante-revolutionary days. Upon the opening of hostilities, he requested "to be sent on other service, as he had many friends in the Colonies". The family afterward came to America, locating first in Philadelphia, removing to Charleston, South Carolina, and finally to the neighborhood of Augusta, Georgia.[2]
From childhood she showed a love for both poetry and prose.[4]
Her first literary success was a prize for the best essay awarded by Scott's Monthly Magazine. Thereafter, she contributed, from time to time, articles on literary and other subjects to some of the prominent magazines and papers of her day. In 1879, her poem "Conquered at Last" won the prize offered by the Mobile, Alabama News for the best poem expressing the gratitude of the South to the North for aid in the yellow fever scourge of the preceding year. That poem was reproduced in nearly all of the papers and many of the magazines of the North, and also in some periodicals abroad. Its great popularity throughout the North, attested by the large number of letters received by her from soldiers and civilians was a complete surprise as well as a great gratification to her. In June 1889, a short poem by her, entitled "A Briar Rose", won the prize offered by The Augusta Chronicle. At the request of the secretary of the American Peace and Arbitration Society, in Boston, as a message of welcome to the English Peace Deputation to America in October 1887, she wrote a poem, "The Lion and the Eagle". The underlying thought of the "Universal Peace," as found in one of her published poems, led the secretary to communicate with her in regard to it, and she subsequently wrote a number of poems bearing on the subject.[3]
Shortly after a yellow-fever scourge swept up the Mississippi Valley the Mobile News offered a prize for the poem by a Southern writer which best expressed the gratitude of the Southern heart towards the people of the North for the philanthropy and magnanimity displayed during the civil war. Seventy-seven compositions from various parts of the South were produced, and the prize was finally awarded to Eve, the author of "Conquered at Last".[5]
Maria Louisa Eve died in Georgia, April 5, 1900.[6]
