Charlotte Smith was born in 1749, and at the age of 15 was married off to Benjamin Smith. Benjamin Smith was a wealthy but irresponsible man who was, “imprisoned for debt and then ran off to France to avoid his creditors, insisting that Charlotte follow him with their nine children” (Poetry Archive). Charlotte Smith ended up leaving her husband and taking her nine children with her. In her lifetime, she produced 63 volumes, which included her Elegiac Sonnets which were written in 1783 to feed her family. The Elegiac Sonnets containing elements of the gothic included the sonnet ‘On Being…