Love's Endings: Thirty Two Poems from Godey's Lady's Book

Godey’s Lady’s Book was one of the most popular magazines of the nineteenth century, read by men and women alike. Although today many think of it only as a fashion magazine, fashion was a relatively minor component. Godey’s aimed to be primarily a literary magazine, with poetry and short stories an important part of each issue. This series of anthologies collects the poetry of Godey’s in thematic volumes. In addition to this volume on Love’s Endings, there are volumes on Love, Mourning, the Civil War, the Sea, and the Rain.

In this volume, the poems portray a variety ways in which love can end. Some are about unrequited love, others about unexpressed love; some are about leaving, others about being left. At least one is about spousal abuse. The range and honesty of the emotions portrayed in these poems can be a bit surprising given what we might expect to find in a nineteenth century ladies’ magazine; we hear anger, regret, longing, blessing, sadness, relief, ambivalence, and sometimes, “good riddance;” in short, the wide range of emotions that can accompany lost relationships. No relationship begins with a plan to end; this volume shows us that people a century and a half ago experienced the same range of emotions we do today when a love is no longer ours.

The Godey’s Poetry series is made up of 18 volumes based on a variety of themes. In addition to this volume, you might be interested in:

Awakening: Fifteen poems of Spring and Summer
Retreat: Fourteen Autumn and Winter poems
Nightfall to Dawn: Twenty One poems
To the Rain: Twenty Two poems
To the Sea: Thirty One poems
Love: Thirty Four poems
Of Thoughts Sublime: Thirty Eight Sonnets
In the Time of Mourning: Thirty Three poems of Grief and Loss
Death and Remembrance: Thirty Four poems
Alone and Weary: Twenty Five poems of Sadness and Hope
Indians’ Lament: Twenty Two poems on Native Americans
Temperance: Seventeen poems on the dangers of drink
Unfurl the Banner, Strew the Flowers: Twelve poems of the Civil War and its Aftermath
America: Thirty Six poems of the New Nation
1828-1831: An Album. Thirty Four poems
Life: Thirty Three casual poems and light verse
Honoring the Muse: Twenty One poems on Poetry and Poets

A final volume focuses on the poetry in Hale’s Boston-based Ladies’ Magazine. “Cherishing the Sacred Fire” presents 100 poems from the Ladies’ Magazine (1828-1836), about 45 of which are included in various collections above. This volume has in-depth Introduction that looks at Hale as an editor and her philosophies on poetry.