WorkJohn Sterling

“Daedalus" in Poems”

"Daedalus" in Poems (1839) Inferred

John Sterling (1806–1844) · 1839

InferredMargaret Fuller's engagement with John Sterling's poetry is evidenced in her reaction to his September 1844 death, when she recalled the opening lines of his poem "Daedalus," published in his 1839 collection. By quoting "Wail for Daedalus, all that is fairest!", Fuller demonstrates familiarity with Sterling's work and acknowledges his passing through his own artistic lament.

Additional passages preserved in the Memoirs (1852)

Selected engagements, in chronological order.

Totals count documented engagements, once at the earliest witness. How we count →

Reprints, Memoirs passages, and repeat notes within a single manuscript are shown but never counted twice. Evidence for this work is selective, not exhaustive. Methodology →

DemonstratedConfirmed readingEvidence ↓

Confirmed reading

Passages where the evidence goes beyond allusion to indicate that Fuller had this work in hand — an explicit statement of reading, sustained excerpting or translation, or a specific reading episode recorded by those who knew her.

undatedDaedalusDemonstrated
“Daedalus we must quote. Wail for Daedalus all that is fairest.”
Papers on Literature and Art
127-line excerpt range shows a sustained quotation of Sterling's Daedalus.

When Fuller engaged with this work

I. Childhood

II. Adolescence

III. Self-Directed

IV. Transcendentalist

V. New York1record

VI. Europe

✦. Memoirs (1852)

1810

1820

1832

1836

1844

1846

1850

Preserved in the Memoirs (1852)

1839—

Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli

p137

quoted · read

“This morning came 's letter, announcing Sterling's death :— 'Weep for Dedalus all that is fairest”

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, William Henry Channing, and James Freeman Clarke, eds. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 2 vols. Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1852.

Inferred Margaret Fuller's engagement with John Sterling's poetry is evidenced in her reaction to his September 1844 death, when she recalled the opening lines of his poem "Daedalus," published in his 1839 collection. By quoting "Wail for Daedalus, all that is fairest!", Fuller demonstrates familiarity with Sterling's work and acknowledges his passing through his own artistic lament.