Phoebe Cary was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, September 24, 1824. Her
advantages for education were somewhat better than those of her sister
Alice, whose almost inseparable companion she became at an early age.
They were quite different, however, in temperament, in person and in
mental constitution. Phoebe began to write verse at the age of
seventeen years, and one of her earliest poems, _Nearer Home_,
beginning with "One sweetly solemn thought," won her a world-wide
reputation. In the joint housekeeping in New York she took from choice
(Alice being for many years an invalid) the larger share of duties
upon herself, and hence found little opportunity for literary work.
In society, however, she was brilliant, but at all times kindly. She
wrote a touching tribute to her sister's memory, published in the
_Ladies' Repository_ a few days before her own death, which occurred
at Newport, R. I., July 31, 1871. In the volume of _Poems of Alice and
Phoebe Cary_ (Philadelphia, 1850) but about one-third were written by
Phoebe. Her independently published books are _Poems and Parodies_
(1854), and _Poems of Faith, Hope and Love_ (1868).