Sarah Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Let me gather from the Earth, one full-grown fragrant flower,
Let it bloom within my bosom through its one blooming hour.
Let it die within my bosom and to its parting breadth
Mine shall answer, having lived, I shrink not now from death.
It is this niggard halfness that turns my heart to stone,
'Tis the cup seen, not tasted, that makes the infant moan.
Let me for once press firm my lips upon the movement's brow,
Let me for once distinctly feel I am happy now.
And bliss shall seal a blessing upon the moments brow."

Sarah Margaret Fuller was one of the most influential female writers in the literary circles of her time. Unlike females of her time, Fuller received education at an early age as her father persisted, but it permanently damaged her health. Nevertheless, through her broad understanding of the world, Fuller became a feminist. She was also the editor of various transcendental and romantic literary magazines such as The Dial. In 1847, Fuller traveled to Rome and married Marchese Ossoli. In 1850, while sailing to the United States, she was drowned with her husband and infant son when the ship was wrecked off Fire Island, N.Y. Her works were republished incompletely.

Works
Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)
Summer on the Lakes in 1843 (1844)
Papers on Literature and Art (1846)

Additional Information
An informative homepage on everything Margaret Fuller - http://www.worldlymind.org/fullerwrit.htm

Sources:

"Fuller, Margaret." Infoplease. 2001.http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0819860.html