Grade 9

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

BIOGRAPHY

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a prolific Victorian-era poet, and advocate for social justice,
defied societal norms by pursuing literary fame and marrying for love. Her life was marked
with tragedy and illness, yet her works continue to inspire generations. She is remembered for
poems like „George sand: A Desire‟. She explored a wide variety of themes, writing love
poems, addressing human rights, and more. Elizabeth began writing poetry at an early age,
and her work quickly garnered (gathered) attention. In addition to her literary achievements,
Barrett Browning was a fascinating figure in her own right, overcoming a chronic illness and
a difficult family life to become one of the most beloved poets of the 19th century.

Life Facts
 She was born in Coxhoe Hall, County Durham, England on 6 March 1806 and died
on 29 June 1861 (aged 55)
 She married Robert Browning in September 1846
 She lived her last years in Italy.
 She was the eldest of twelve children.
 She wrote “The cry of the children” condemning child labour.
 She had an unknown debilitating (making someone very weak and firm) illness

Early life
Elizabeth was born in Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England in March 1806. Her family had been
living in Jamaica operating in slave trade, before she was born and had become quite wealthy.
They were owners of a number of large estates throughout northern Jamaica, as well as sugar
plantations and workshops.
She was the first of twelve children born to Edward Barrett Moulton and Mary Graham
Clarke. Her early childhood was a pleasant one; she spent time riding horses and walking in
the country. In 1820, Elizabeth, unfortunately, was faced with poor health. She and her two
sisters all came down with the same illness. Severe headaches, spinal pains and lack of
mobility were some of their symptoms. Elizabeth‟s fortune unfortunately did not change and
she never recovered, forcing her to take laudanum, and then morphine (painkillers) for the
rest of her life.

Elizabeth was educated at home and tutored at home by Daniel McSwiney with her oldest
brother. She began writing verses at the age of four. During the Hope End period, she was an
intensely studious and intelligent child. She claimed that she was reading novels at age 6,
having been entranced by Pope‟s translations of Homer at age 8, studying Greek at age 10,
and writing her own Homeric epic The Battle of Marathon: A Poem at age 11.

In the 1840s, Elizabeth was introduced to literary society through her distant cousin and
patron John Kenyon. Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838, and she
wrote prolifically from 1841 to 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose. She
campaigned for the abolition of slavery, and her work helped influence reform in child labour
legislation.

Elizabeth‟s volume poems (1844) brought her great success, attracting the admiration of the
writer Robert Browning. Their correspondence, courtship, and marriage were carried out in
secret, for fear of her father‟s disapproval. Following her wedding, she was indeed
disinherited by her father. In 1846, the couple moved to Italy, where she lived for the rest of
her life. Elizabeth died in Florence in 1861. A collection of her later poems were published
by her husband shortly after her death.

Elizabeth‟s work had a major influence on prominent writers of the day, including the
American poets Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson. She is remembered for such poems as
“How do I love Thee” (sonnet 43, 1845) and “Aurora Leigh” (1856).
SONNET 43: HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
By ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

This is one of the most famous and recognizable poems in English language. In this poem,
Barrett Browning explores the many ways the speaker (thought to be herself) loves the
addressee of the poem (assumed to be her husband Robert). The speaker is proclaiming her
unending passion for her beloved. She tells her lover just how deeply her love goes, and she
also tells how she loves him. She loves him with all her being and she hopes that God will
grant her the ability to love him even after she passed.

Themes

Browning engages with themes of love/ devotion and relationships in this poem. From the
first line, it is clear that this is a love poem. She addresses her listener, likely her husband
Robert Browning and tells him that there are many reasons why she loves him and that she is
going to list them out. Death comes into the poem at the end as the speaker talks about the
length and durability of their relationship. She hopes that God will allow her to love her
partner even in death. It becomes clear at the end that her love is a spiritual one as much as it
is a romantic one.
 Structureand
Structure andforms
form

It follows a typical structure of a sonnet; fourteen lines. It‟s an Italian sonnet split into two
groups- octave: eight lines that have the rhyme pattern [abbaabba] followed by a rhyming
sestet [cdcdcd]

Rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDCDCD.

Speaker of the poem

One can assume, although it is not 100% certain, that Browning is also the speaker of the
poem since it is well known just how deeply she and Robert Browning loved and cared for
each other. The speaker is directly talking to her beloved in the sonnet; she uses personal
pronouns such as I, you.

Analysis
Line 1: the poet is basically responding to a question she‟s been asked (how much do you
love me?). She is going to mention how much she loves this person. The word count in the
first line shows us that there are many ways in which she loves the addressee.

Line 2: here the speaker tells us that her love knows no boundaries, nothing can measure it- it
is infinite. She describes her love as being a never ending measurement. It is wide, tall an
deep as her soul can reach. We assume it is infinite because a soul is not a physical thing that
can be confined. There is no end to her love. We could also conclude that this is a metaphor
that compares her love to a never ending measurement.

Line 3-4: „ends of being‟- refers to what happens after death

 „Ideal grace‟- heaven. When their lives end and their spirits go to heaven, the poet
will love her beloved still, that is to say, not even death can make them part as her love is
immortal. She uses assonance in these lines to express how much she loves the addressee.

Line 2 depth- breadth

3 reach- feeling

4 being- ideal

Line 5: She loves her beloved in ordinary everyday life

Line 6: She needs the addressee as much as she needs other basic necessities of life.

By sun and candle light- imagery of daytime and night time.

Representing Representing

Daylight night time

The speaker loves her beloved every time- during the day and during the night.

Line 7: She loves him as freely as people strive to do what is good and right. She uses simile
to compare her love to the good nature of people.

Line 8: Another simile. She loves him purely, the same way people try to be humble. Her
love is given purely with no agenda or strings attached. There is alliteration here to emphasise
the poet‟s pure intentions.

Purely – praise

Line 9-10: She is comparing the intensity of her grief and things she deeply hates and
compares it to the depth of the love she has for this person. She is telling her beloved that she
loves with the same intensity and passion that she has for things that she hates.

„And with my childhood faith‟- with the same intensity her faith and religion gave her as a
child. As children have a huge amount of faith, she has that same amount of love. Here she
makes reference to her religion.
Line 11-12: more religious reference – lost saint

All people she once loved and adored. She loves him

With all the love she has ever felt all her life.

Line 13-14: She continues to say she loves this person with all that she is- with her smile,
tears. If God allows it, she will love him even in the after death; her love will continue to
grow even after then. It is so strong that not even death will end it.

TIP: There are tones of love, adoration and devotion. She counts eight descriptions of
how she loves him. ‘I love thee’ has been repeated at the beginning of several
consecutive lines to create emphasis.

She also makes several religious references which imply her love is spiritual and infinite, it is
not confined to her human body. “My soul”, “idel grace”, “childhood‟s faith”, “saints”,
“God”, “after death”