After
years of reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, what I find most
astonishing about her is her intellectual brilliance. In a time when women were neither allowed to
attend university, nor encouraged to read classical literature, she was extraordinarily
well-read, even by modern standards. She wrote her first poem at age four or
six. By the time she was aged ten, she'd
read widely in world history, Shakespeare, Homer, and Milton.
In
addition, she convinced her father to allow her to 'audit' her brother's
sessions with his tutor, under whose tutelage she read classical works in
Latin, French, Greek, and Italian.
In
1820, at age fourteen, she published a book-length poem, The Battle of Marathon
(which she had completed two years earlier) and established herself as a
literary prodigy to the London literatti. She went on to publish several volumes of
poems: An Essay on Mind (1826), a
translation of Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (1833), The Seraphim and Other Poems (1838), Casa Guidi Windows: A Poem (1851) and Aurora Leigh (1857), her magnum
opus, to name a few. Most were well-received
by the critics of her day. She was
famous, celebrated in England, and had achieved fame on her own merit.
For
much of her childhood (and later, as an adult), Elizabeth was delicate and
sickly, spending most of her days seated in the Barrett parlor or in her
room. She received guests—family and
friends—in this manner. Occasionally,
she took walks in the family estate's white rose garden or travelled to London
(which had air pollution that exacerbated her condition). A wealthy owner of Caribbean plantations, her
father, Edward Moulton Barrett, was a loving tyrant with antiquated ideas regarding
his mixed-race ancestry.* The family
secret was that not only did he own African slaves but was descended from one. As a result, he forbad all his 11 children
from marrying.
What
saved Elizabeth, in my opinion, was her love of literature and books, her
determination to broaden her intellect.
A neighbor and scholar, Hugh Stuart Boyd, tutored and guided her
studies. Secondly, through an inheritance from her mother and aunt, she was
financially independent (wealthy by the time's standards). Thirdly, as assessed by Dr. Peter Dally in
his book, Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A
Psychological Portrait, she was mentally tough, with an admirable strength
of character.
In
1845, a less well-known poet named Robert Browning wrote her what is,
essentially, a fan letter: "I love your verses with all my heart, dear
Miss Barrett. . . . and I love you
too." She had read and liked his
poetry. A meeting was arranged at her
home. During the next twenty months,
they continued to meet, while Elizabeth secretly composed the forty-four
sonnets that chronicle their love story.
Writing them must have been emotionally cathartic for her. She declared her love for Robert to herself,
not even dreaming of a life together.
But,
at 32, Robert was handsome, bold, impetuous.
He persuaded her of his love. A
plan was devised with help from her siblings.
Robert and Elizabeth wed, then fled on September 12, 1846 to Italy. We know this because it is also the date of
their last letter (forming a total of 570 letters) before their elopement.
In
Italy, under a warm Tuscan sun, Elizabeth blossomed. Her health and physical strength improved,
and she was happy. She wrote a
tremendous number of letters to friends and family. The couple travelled
throughout Europe. In 1849, she gave
birth to their only child, a son named Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning.
When
Robert, now a father, discovered the sonnets, he marveled at their beauty and
craftsmanship. He urged Elizabeth to
publish the poems. She, however, was
reticent of sharing what she perceived as poetic musings to herself—a sort of
diary in verse—at a time when, as she says in one sonnet, she had been glad to
just breathe his air.
So
in order to obscure her authorship and give themselves a measure of privacy, they
concocted the story that Elizabeth had translated the love sonnets of an
obscure Portuguese poet. Hence, the
book’s title, Sonnets from the
Portuguese. (According to some
sources, the title came from his nickname for her—“my little Portuguese”—due to
her olive-toned/light tan complexion, of which Elizabeth was self-conscious.)
In
1850, Sonnets from the Portuguese was
published and overlooked by most critics. Then, after eleven additional years living
out a happy existence in Italy, Elizabeth died on June 29, 1861, as Robert held
her.
I've
re-read these poems after many years and, for the most part, they still have
their lyrical beauty. In one sonnet,
Elizabeth ponders what her life will be like if she gives up everything to be
with him. In another sonnet, she
chronicles their first passionate kiss.
In yet another, he brings her flowers.
My two favorites are sonnets 22 and 43.
The classic lines, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. . . ."—most people
in the US will recognize from high-school English class.
The
remaining sonnets are technically well-crafted, though some are without the lyricism
of the two sonnets mentioned.
I
admit that today I find several of the sonnets heavy-handed, very Victorian. But we must acknowledge that Elizabeth
Barrett Browning was of the Victorian era.
Even so, I admire her forward thinking. By modern standards, she was 'politically
correct' on most social justice issues of her day: she championed women's equal
rights, the 1833 Emancipation Act, which abolished slavery in England, and held
strong opinions on French and Italian politics.
And these issues are reflected in her poetry.
Overall,
I was thrilled to re-read these poems. I
love reading and re-reading sonnets 22 and 43 with their lyrical turn of
phrase, as much as I did as a teen:
Sonnet
22
When
our two souls stand up erect and strong,
Face
to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher,
Until
the lengthening wings break into fire
At
either curved point,--what bitter wrong
Can
the earth do to us, that we should not long
Be
here contented? Think! In mounting higher,
The
angels would press on us and aspire
To
drop some golden orb of perfect song
Into
our deep, dear silence. Let us stay
Rather
on earth, Belovѐd,--where the unfit
Contrarious
moods of men recoil away
And
isolate pure spirits, and permit
A
place to stand and love in for a day,
With
darkness and the death-hour rounding it.
____________________________________________________________
Yolanda
A. Reid is the author of two novels and a
debut poetry collection,
Sonnets to the Japim Bird.
______________________
To read Sonnets from the Portuguese, visit http://www.sonnets.org/brownine.htm#043.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/elizabeth-barrett-browning
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/elizabeth-barrett-browning
*http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Elizabeth-Barrett-Was-Part-Black-
Book-Says-3045240.php
www.online-literature.com/elizabeth-browning/
www.victorianweb.org/authors/ebb/ebbio.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/elizabeth-barrett-browning
