Frances Laughton Mace

Frances Laughton Mace ( Frances Parker Laughton; pen name: Inez; January 15, 1836 – July 20, 1899) was an American poet. Her poems first appeared in The Journal of Commerce. She was best remembered for the poem and hymn "Only Waiting", written when she was 18, and published in the Waterville Mail. Its authorship, for a time, was confused. The work was included in her volume Legends, Lyrics, and Sonnets (Boston, 1883). Her later work was included in Under Pine and Palm and Wild Roses of Maine (1896).

Early life and education Frances Parker Laughton was born in Orono, Maine, January 15, 1836. Her father was Dr. Sumner Laughton. Her grandfather, John Laughton, was one of the early settlers of Norridgewock, Maine. Her siblings included Edward Sumner (born 1838), Henry Herbert, and Frederick Malvern (born 1844).

In 1837, the family moved to Foxcroft where she was educated. At the age of 10, she studied Latin and other advanced subjects. At the age of 12, she wrote verses that were published. Some of them appeared in the New York "Journal of Commerce." After the family moved to Bangor, she took courses in German and music with private teachers, and graduated from Bangor High School in 1852. Of her early years, she recollected, "Mine was a silent dreamy childhood haunted by visions of impossible poems."

Career At the age of 18, Mace published her best-known hymn, "Only Waiting till the shadows" in the Waterville, Maine Mail, under the signature "Inez", the text of which was developed after a friend's recital of the story of a very aged man at the alms-house, who, being asked what he was doing now, replied, "Only waiting!" Her hymn became popular in the United States and Britain, and its authorship was disputed,

Literary review In Cottage Hearth: A Magazine of Home Arts and Home Culture of 1885, Augusta Moore spoke up regarding the poem, "Only Waiting":—

Selected works A poem, 1880 Legends, lyrics and sonnets, 1883 Under pine and palm, 1887 Wild Roses of Maine, 1896

Hymns "In counting all the precious boons" "Only waiting till the shadows" "Throw open the gates"