Mary Tighe (1772–1810)

Mary Tighe, née Blachford, was the daughter of an Anglo-Irish clergyman. In 1793, at age 21, she married her cousin, Henry Tighe, of Woodstock in County Wicklow, a member of Parliament, but the marriage proved unhappy. She wrote a long narrative poem called "Psyche or the Legend of Love," which was printed privately in 1805 and published posthumously in 1811 with some other poems. Her work had many admirers in its own day, including Thomas Moore and John Keats. Mrs. Tighe enjoyed acclaim in British literary circles and her portrait was painted by George Romney. She died of tuberculosis at age 27.