Psyche, and other poems

This is a poetry collection, not a penny dreadful. Psyche, with Other Poems by the late Mrs. Henry Tighe (Philadelphia, 1812) is a posthumous edition of neoclassical verse. The main work is Psyche: The Legend of Love, a lengthy narrative poem in Spenserian stanza retelling Apuleius's classical myth of Cupid and Psyche. The poem depicts the goddess Venus's jealous rage at mortal Psyche's beauty, her instruction to Cupid to make Psyche fall for a base suitor, Cupid's own enchantment with Psyche, their secret marriage on an island of pleasure, and the emotional trials that follow—Psyche's loneliness during daylight separation and her yearning to see her mysterious lover. The volume includes dedicatory poems and a sonnet addressed to the author's mother. The prefatory material emphasizes the work's moral propriety and classical erudition, presenting innocent love as the poem's theme. Additional shorter poems complete the collection.