Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Poet Study

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet during the Victorian era who was popular in Britain and the United States. She was born on March 6, 1806, and died on June 29, 1861.  

Source

Elizabeth was the eldest of 11 children and wrote poetry from the age of 11. According to Wikipedia, "Her mother's collection of her poems forms one of the largest extant collections of juvenilia by any English writer. At 15 she became ill, suffering intense head and spinal pain for the rest of her life. Later in life she also developed lung problems, possibly tuberculosis. She took laudanum for the pain from an early age, which is likely to have contributed to her frail health. 

"In the 1840s Elizabeth was introduced to literary society through her cousin John Kenyon. Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation, and prose. She campaigned for the abolition of slavery and her work helped influence reform in the child labor legislation. Her prolific output made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate on the death of Wordsworth.

"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 the wedding, she was indeed disinherited by her father. In 1846, the couple moved to Italy, where she would live for the rest of her life. They had a son, known as "Pen" (Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning) (1849–1912). Pen devoted himself to painting until his eyesight began to fail later in life; he also built up a large collection of manuscripts and memorabilia of his parents; however, since he died intestate, it was sold by public auction to various bidders, and scattered upon his death."

Elizabeth's work had a major influence on well-known writers of the day, including American poets Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe. She is remembered for poems such as How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43, 1845) and Aurora Leigh (1856). 

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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 candlelight. 

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; 

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. 

I love with a 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.

Olivia thought: 

- She is counting all the different ways you can love someone. 

- Even though you have grief, you can love someone. 

- There's lots of different ways to love someone. 

- I like how she said that even after death, she will love that person. It shows her commitment to that person. 

- Her ways of saying I will love thee - really no matter the circumstances - is what people should be doing now. That's something to think about as you're looking for someone or in a relationship. 

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Patience Taught By Nature

“O Dreary life!” we cry, “O dreary life!”
And still the generations of the birds
Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds
Serenely live while we are keeping strife
With Heaven’s true purpose in us, as a knife
Against which we may struggle. Ocean girds
Unslackened the dry land: savannah-swards
Unweary sweep: hills watch, unworn; and rife
Meek leaves drop yearly from the forest-trees,
To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass
In their old glory. O thou God of old!
Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these;—
But so much patience, as a blade of grass
Grows by contented through the heat and cold.

Olivia thought: 

- Patience though nature is something that people could learn from. Nature doesn't push things faster. 

- Be peaceful and kind even though there is a lot of chaos in your life.  

- Grass will keep growing no matter what. 

- "And still the generations of the birds" - I like that because in birds there are generations that live in the forest together. Even though there are different types and ages they all live in harmony together. 

- Even though things in nature may be changing, nature adapts. It remains serene. 

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If Thou Must Love Me... (Sonnet 14)

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
"I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day"—
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

Olivia thought: 

- The very first line "If thou must love me, let it be for nought." [Looked up the meaning:] If you're going to love me, don't love me for any reason other than love's own sake. 

- This person loves the poet for her smile, her look, and her way of speaking - even though they should love her for love's sake. If you love only these things, then you aren't loving the person. That's the outward appearance. Love them for who they are on the inside - not on the outside. 

- Love a person for all of his or her life, and then afterwards. 

- Sometimes a person will remarry after a spouse dies, but that doesn't mean that they have forgotten or no longer love the first person they loved.

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Flush or Faunus

You see this dog. It was but yesterday
I mused, forgetful of his presence here,
Till thought on thought drew downward tear on tear;
When from the pillow, where wet-cheeked I lay,
A head as hairy as Faunus, thrust its way
Right sudden against my face,—two golden-clear
Large eyes astonished mine,—a drooping ear
Did flap me on either cheek, to dry the spray!
I started first, as some Arcadian
Amazed by goatly god in twilight grove:
But as my bearded vision closelier ran
My tears off, I knew Flush, and rose above
Surprise and sadness; thanking the true Pan,
Who, by low creatures, leads to heights of love.

Olivia thought: 

- It's saying that Flush is people and Faunus is animals. 

- It occured to me that maybe the dog is dead.

- The first two lines - maybe the dog died; lines 3-4 was the poet crying.

- She clearly is talking about her love for her dog. 

- The dog is shaking its head when the ears are flapping her in the face.

- I liked this poem. I liked that it is about a dog.

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Change on Change

1.

Three months ago, the stream did flow,
    The lilies bloomed along the edge;
And we were lingering to and fro,—
Where none will track thee in this snow,
    Along the stream, beside the hedge.
Ah! sweet, be free to come and go;
    For if I do not hear thy foot,
    The frozen river is as mute,—
    The flowers have dried down to the root;
    And why, since these be changed since May,
        Shouldst thou change less than they?

2. 

And slow, slow as the winter snow,
    The tears have drifted to mine eyes;
And my two cheeks, three months ago,
Set blushing at thy praises so,
    Put paleness on for a disguise.
Ah! sweet, be free to praise and go;
    For if my face is turned to pale,
    It was thine oath that first did fail,—
    It was thy love proved false and frail!
    And why, since these be changed, I trow,
        Should I change less than thou?

Olivia thought: 

- Okay. That one was a lot more confusing. 

- Read an analysis of the poem, Change on Change talks about how love can change - just like the seasons. Definitely in the first part, you can tell the poet is happy and everything is going smoothly in her relationship. And then it starts going downhill - just like winter. Plants are dying and the river is frozen and silent now. 

- The time between the good relationship and the present time was three months. 

- It was the guy's fault for the failed relationship. His oath failed and then his love was false and frail. 

- She shouldn't change more than he did. 

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The Autumn

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,

And turn your eyes around,

Where waving woods and water wild

Do hymn an autumn sound.

The summer sun is faint on them - 

The summer flowers depart - 

Sit still - as all transform'd to stone,

Except your musing heart.

Olivia thought: 

- The coming autumn and how you are seeing the change from summer into fall.

- The two lines are telling the reader to be reflective of the moment and sit still. 

- I can picture this - the hill. Instead of a rock, I picture a swing. 

- The summer sun is high and it's more to the northwest when it sets. In the fall, the sunset shifts to the southwest. The sun seems small and you don't see it on the plants and flowers as much anymore during the fall.

- I like the Flush and Faunus one the best out of all of the poems. 

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