Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, known by her pen name Lydia Koidula, was an Estonian poet. Her sobriquet means 'Lydia of the Dawn' in Estonian. It was given to her by the writer Carl Robert Jakobson.
Lydia Jannsen was born in Vändra, Pärnu County, Governorate of Livonia (now in central Estonia). The family moved to the nearby county town of Pärnu in 1850 where, in 1857, her father started the first local Estonian language newspaper and where Lydia attended the German grammar school. The Jannsens moved to the university town of Tartu, the most progressive town in Estonia, in 1864. Nationalism, including publication in indigenous languages, was a very touchy subject in the Russian Empire but the rule of Czar Alexander II (1855 - 1881) was relatively liberal and Jannsen managed to persuade the imperial censorship to allow him to publish the first national Estonian language newspaper in 1864. Both the Pärnu local and the national newspaper were called Postimees (The Courier). Lydia wrote for her father on both papers besides publishing her own work. In 1873 she married Eduard Michelson, a Latvian army physician, and moved to Kronstadt, the headquarters of the Russian navy near St. Petersburg. In 1876–78 the Michelsons visited Breslau, Strasbourg and Vienna. Koidula lived in Kronstadt for 13 years but despite spending her summers in Estonia, she never stopped feeling inconsolably homesick. Lydia Koidula was the mother of three children. She died on August 11, 1886 after a long and painful illness. Her last poem was Enne surma- Eestimaale! (Before Death, To Estonia!).
Huvi pärast haarasin raamatu riiulilt kätte ja viskasin pilgu peale. Luuletused pole ei enne minu teema olnud ja nüüd võin öelda, et pole ka praegu. Päris kõiki luuletusi ma ei lugenud, aga suuremal osal vaatasin kõik läbi.
Luuletuste puhul ise jäi väga silma Eesti teema, mis on Lydia Koidula puhul muidugi vägagi loogiline. Samuti jäi silma ka palju luuletusi aastaaegadest (eriti kevadest), armastusest kui ka surmast.
Kirjutan siia kaks luuletust:
NEED KOSTVAD
Harvaste heal inimese rindus Annab vastust teise õnnele, Harvemalt veel kostab meie süda Teise hädal' vastu hellaste.
Süda, kui sind mure, valu koormab, Rõõm ja õnn sind tuks'ma ajavad: Metsas, mägedes siis seda räägi - Need sull' üksi vastu hüüavad!
MUL LAULAB PÕUES LINNUKE
Mul laulab põues linnuke Ja hõiskab helinal, Kui kergetiiva lõoke Seal laia taeva all.
Lend', lenda, hõbehealeke, Lend' läbi merd ja maad! Mo kurva armu viimate Sa kuskil teretad.
Siis kinnituseks, laululind, Tall' minust pajata - Ja et ta meeles peab mind, Mull' tule ütlema!