As a young lady, she visited Chicago and became acquainted with Harriet Monroe and the intellectual society that surrounded her. Teasdale published seven collections of poetry during her lifetime and was much admired for her well-crafted lyrical poems about a woman's evolving ideas on beauty, love, and death. She died at age 36 in 1886. Teasdale's work is considered to be part of the movement known as "The Rhyme Royalists", which also included poets William Ernest Henley and Arthur Hugh Clough. All three were associated with the London Review, and their poetry was often reviewed by Edward Thomas, who coined the term "metaphysical poetry" to describe it. Teasdale met Thomas in 1875 when she worked as an assistant editor at the London Review. He was impressed by her talents and they soon became friends. They traveled together to visit writers such as George Meredith and Henry James, and in 1880 they went on a trip to Switzerland where they fell in love. But because of his poverty, Thomas could not marry until he got a job that paid enough money. In the meantime, they stayed close friends. About five years after their trip to Switzerland, Sara wrote to tell him that she had married. Although she never mentioned her husband by name, it is assumed that he was Edgar DeWalt Teasdale, a wealthy railroad builder.