Brooks, Maria Gowen

Brooks, Maria Gowen (gou`ən), 1795?–1845, American poet, b. Medford, Mass. Her first collection of verse, Judith, Esther, and Other Poems (1820), was praised by Southey, who named her "Maria del Occidente," which she later used as a pseudonym. While living in Cuba she wrote the epic Zophiel; or, The Bride of Seven (1833) and Idomen; or, The Vale of Yumuri (1843). Her poetry, especially the Ode to the Departed (1843), was esteemed both in America and abroad.