Barrett Browning

Barrett Browning was one of the most brilliant poets of the Victorian Age. She was born in 1809 in London, England and was raised with an excellent classical school education. In her early teens she showed great signs of a genius. Many of her poems were written before she was just fifteen years of age. By looking at Elisabeth Barrett Browning she was delicate, but inside this fragile woman there was a superior spiritual and mental being. Browning’s first publication of poems written was “Essay On Mind, And Other Poems”. In 1846 at the age of thirty-seven she married her soul mate noted English poet, Robert Browning.

As of all great poets life experiences are a large basis of inspiration in their works. Throughout the chapter of her life tragedy and health woes surrounded Browning. She had a blood vessel burst in her lungs and this forced her to stay confined home for an extended period of time. To better her healing process her doctor recommended her to move to a warmer climate. She relocated to Torquay, England and while she was there her brother and two of his friends drowned in a boating accident. This horrific accident had a profound effect on Browning and provided a hue of thought as well as feeling to her poetry.

Truly understanding the personal history of Browning enables one to read her poetry and understand her being. After reading dozens of her poems all of them stood out and it was very difficult to just focus on five poems. I will discuss “Sonnets From The Portuguese” first. I came across the various sonnets in this piece a decade ago and believe her works to be one of the most romantic poems of all times. Browning wrote “Sonnets From The Portuguese” during the time she first met her husband and one can not help get the impression that it was likely dedicated to him. The love that was blossoming in her heart inspired her to write this literary masterpiece. Browning had various inspirations for her works especially Shakespeare’s spirit. “Sonnets From The Portuguese” and many of her other works where written in Petrarchan sonnets. Petrarchan sonnets in general are characteristically treat its theme in two parts. The octave, eight lines state a problem, express emotional problem, or even ask a question. The sestet, six lines, generally resolves the problem, relieves tensions, or answers the unknown question. The rhyme scheme of the entire majority Browning’s sonnets varied from cdede, cdedce, and cdccdc. In “Sonnets From The Portuguese” one can see many of the verses of her poetry were inspired by Greek literature. When one reads this sonnet one can feel the depth of her soul and the beauty of Greek mythology is expressed in the first line of the stanza that reads “I thought once how Theocritus had sung”. Browning expresses to the reader that she has waited her whole life for him and he has finally come, her one true love.

In the second line of “Sonnets From The Portuguese” Browning uses assonance with the words “dears” and “years”. The basic definition of assonance is the repeating sounds of vowels. In the fifth line assonance is used once again with “antique” and “tongue”. In line seven that reads “The sweet, sad years, the melancholy years” alliteration is used. Alliteration is the repeating initial continents. In lines six and seven a couplet is used. A couplet is two lines that the last word of the line rhymes.

In “Sonnets From Portuguese” again one must put the emphasis on the personal life circumstances and physical condition. Browning was ill and was mourning for a good part of her adult life. This poem tells us this woman has so much love inside of her that she has kept trapped for so long. She was surrounded by sorrow and lived death as opposed to love. What Browning is telling us is her heart feels death and all of sudden something or someone changes it. What one feels in reading this piece is her sorrow is changed to love because of a man. This man has touched her so deeply that she is reinvented and is ready for happiness. Browning is telling one that the beauty of love is taking over and now she can be happy again. It is time to get past her personal losses and “smell the roses”.

In Sonnet 43 “Let Me Count The Ways” one is profoundly taken in to Browning’s world. Browning uses couplets in lines two and three with “sight” and “height” as well as in lines six and seven with “light” and “right”. In this poem the poet continually expresses her new outlook on life. She is with a man that she can easily make a list of reasons why she loves him. Browning expresses to one she loves him the way he looks physically and she also loves him spiritually. She again expresses to one she adores everything about him with a great passion. Towards the fifth and sixth lines of the sonnet one wanders again back to the deeper meaning of certain phrases that are not just comments