In 1844, multi-published English poet Elizabeth Barrett praised the work of a new poet, Robert Browning, in a poem in her collection, titled simply Poems. The two had never met.
After
reading Poems, Robert wrote Elizabeth Barrett a letter. They continued to write each other every day and met the next year. Their romance faced a mountain of seemingly-insurmountable
obstacles. Elizabeth was thirty-eight when they began to correspond; Robert was
six years younger. Elizabeth belonged to the upper class, while Robert’s father
was a bank clerk.
Elizabeth had a spinal injury from childhood, as well as a
lung disease. Her father never wanted her to marry. He forbade the romance. She
was close to being a prisoner in her father’s house.Robert Browning’s poem that follows gives you a sense
of what their courtship was like.
Meeting at Night
The gray sea and the long
black land;
And the yellow half-moon
large and low:
And the startled little
waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from
their sleep,
As I gain the cove with
pushing prow,
And quench its speed i’
the slushy sand.
Then a mile of warm
sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross
till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the
quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a
lighted match,
And a voice less loud,
through joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
Elizabeth secretly wrote Sonnets from the Portuguese
for Robert while living in her father’s house. Most people consider the Sonnets
to be Elizabeth’s best work. They are one of the most widely-read collections
of love poems in the English language.
How Do I Love Thee?
(Sonnet 43)
How do I love thee? Let
me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth
and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when
feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and
ideal grace.
I love thee to the level
of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun
and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as
men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as
they turn from praise.
I love thee with the
passion put to use
In my old griefs, and
with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I
seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I
love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my
life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee
better after death.
The two enamored poets managed to elope and run away to
Italy. Elizabeth’s father never spoke to her again. In Florence, the bride’s
health improved. Three years later she gave birth to a healthy son whom they
nicknamed Pen.
Widely considered to be Robert’s best poems, a collection
titled Men and Women was dedicated to Elizabeth. Robert insisted his wife was his
inspiration.
Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived a True Love Story for the ages.I hope their romance inspires you as much as it does me.
~Sarah Raplee
Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived a True Love Story for the ages.I hope their romance inspires you as much as it does me.
~Sarah Raplee
