I have always liked the work of Robert Graves, so I was really pleased to discover his sister, Rosaleen to add to my growing list of female poets.
Rosaleen, sister of the WW1 soldier poet and writer Robert Graves, was born in Wimbledon on 7th March 1894. Her father was Alfred Perceval Graves, the second son of The Rt. Rev. Charles Graves, Bishop of Limerick. (1846 – 1931), a school inspector originally from Taunton, Somerset, and her mother was Amalie (‘Amy’) Elizabeth Sophie (or Sophia) von Ranke (1857 – 1951), eldest daughter of Professor Heinrich von Ranke MD, of Munich. Rosaleen’s grandmother was the daughter of Norwegian astronomer Ludwig Tiarks. Rosaleen’s father was an Anglo-Irish poet, born in Dublin.
Rosaleen was a poet and musician. She trained as a doctor and became a general practitioner. In the Spring of 1932, Rosaleen married James Francis Cooper at St. Martin’s in London. The couple had three children.
Among her published works are “Night Sounds and other poems”, published by Basil Blackwell in Oxford in 1923, “Snapdragons Poems“ by Rosaleen Graves Cooper and “The Silver Mirror. Breton Folk Air, words translated from the Breton by A.P. Graves and arranged by R. Graves (1928).
Rosaleen died on 3rd August 1989 in Wimbledon, London, England.
