Elizabeth Barrett Browning
A portrait of Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Born	March 6, 1806(1806-03-06) Durham, England
Died	June 29, 1861 (aged 55) Florence, Italy
Occupation	Poet
Influenced Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Dante Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861) was one of the most respected poets of the Victorian era. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (778x1200, 100 KB) Summary Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Project Gutenberg eText 16786 from The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Worlds Best Poetry, Volume 3, by Various http://www. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... This article is about work. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1881). ... The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ...

Biography

Sarah Barrett Moulton: “Pinkie” by Thomas Lawrence. Oil on canvas, 57½" x 39¼" (146 x 100 cm).

Elizabeth spent her youth at Hope End near Great Malvern, England. The Barrett family had amassed a considerable fortune from the Jamaican sugar plantations inherited by her father, Edward Moulton Barrett, who was born there. The Barretts had been associated with Jamaica for generations. As a boy he emigrated to England with his brother and sister (she is the subject of the painting "Pinkie" in the Huntington Museum). He and his wife, Mary Graham-Clarke, were parents of twelve children (Elizabeth was the eldest). Elizabeth was educated at home and attended lessons with her brother's tutor and was thus well-educated for a girl of that time. when in her early teens, Barrett contracted a lung complaint, possibly tuberculosis, although the exact nature of her illness has been the subject of speculation. She was subsequently regarded as an invalid by her family. The first poem we have a record of is from the age of six or eight (the manuscript is in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library; the date is in question because the 2 in the date 1812 is written over something else that is scratched out). A long Homeric poem titled "The Battle of Marathon" was published when she was fourteen, her father underwriting its cost. In 1826 she published her first collection of poems, "An Essay on Mind and Other Poems." Its publication drew the attention of a blind scholar of the Greek language, Hugh Stuart Boyd, and another Greek scholar, Uvedale Price, with both of whom she maintained a scholarly correspondence. At Boyd's suggestion, she translated Aeschylus's "Prometheus Bound" (published in 1833; retranslated in 1850). Alexander MacKenzie painted by Thomas Lawrence (c. ... Great Malvern is a town in Worcestershire, England positioned at the foot of, and partly on the sides of, the Malvern Hills. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Huntington Library The Huntington Library is an educational and research institution established by Henry Huntington in San Marino, California, USA. In addition to the library, there is an art collection and botanical gardens. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Greek ( IPA: or simply IPA: — Hellenic) has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single natural language in the Indo-European language family. ... This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. ...

The abolition of slavery, a cause which she supported (see her work The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point (1849)), considerably reduced Mr. Barrett's means. He moved with his family first to Sidmouth and afterwards to London. After the move to London, she continued to write, contributing to various periodicals "The Romaunt of Margaret", "The Romaunt of the Page", "The Poet's Vow", and other pieces, and corresponded with literary figures of the time, including Mary Russell Mitford. In 1838 appeared The Seraphim and Other Poems. Slave redirects here. ... Location within the British Isles Sidmouth Arms of Sidmouth Town Council Sidmouth is a small town of 14,400 on the east Devon coast in south west England about 15 miles south east of Exeter. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (December 16, 1787 - January 10, 1855), was an English novelist and dramatist. ...

The death of her brother, Edward, who drowned in a sailing accident at Torquay in 1840, had a serious effect on her already fragile health; and for several years she rarely left her bedroom. Eventually, however, she regained strength, and meanwhile her fame was growing. The publication in 1843 of "The Cry of the Children" gave it a great impulse, and about the same time she contributed some critical papers in prose to Richard Henry Horne's A New Spirit of the Age. In 1844 she published two volumes of Poems, which included "A Drama of Exile", "Vision of Poets", and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship". Richard Hengist Horne (born Richard Henry Horne) (January 1, 1803 – March 13, 1884), English poet and critic. ...

In 1845 she met her future husband, Robert Browning, who had written to her after the publication of her Poems. Their courtship and marriage, owing to her delicate health and the extraordinary objections made by Mr. Barrett to the marriage of any of his children, were carried out secretly. After a private marriage at St Marylebone Parish Church, she accompanied her husband to the Italian Peninsula, which became her home almost continuously until her death. Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889) was a British poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. ... // St Marylebone Parish Church is a church in London, from which Marylebone gets its name. ... Satellite view of the Peninsula in spring The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Italian: Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the greatest peninsulas of Europe, spanning 1,000 km from the Alps in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. ...

The union proved a happy one. In her new circumstances Elizabeth's strength greatly increased. At the age of 43 she gave birth to a son, Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning, called "Pen". The Brownings settled in Florence, and there she wrote Casa Guidi Windows (1851) under the inspiration of the Tuscan struggle for liberty, with which she and her husband were in sympathy. In Florence she became close friend of British-born poets Isabella Blagden and Theodosia Trollope Garrow. This article is about the city in Italy. ...

The verse-novel Aurora Leigh, her most ambitious, and perhaps the most popular of her longer poems, appeared in 1856. It is the story of a woman writer making her way in life, balancing work and love. Aurora Leigh (1856) is a lengthy poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the name of its eponymous heroine. ...

Among Browning's best known lyrics is Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850) - the 'Portuguese' being her husband's petname for dark-haired Elizabeth. The title also refers to the series of sonnets of the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luis de Camões; in all these poems she used rhyme schemes typical of the Portuguese sonnets. In 1860 she issued a small volume of political poems titled Poems before Congress. Her health underwent a change for the worse; she gradually lost strength, and died on June 29, 1861. She is buried in the English Cemetery, Florence. Sonnets from the Portuguese, written ca. ... Luís de Camões Monument to Luís de Camões, Lisbon Luís Vaz de Camões (sometimes rendered in English as Camoens) (1524 – June 10, 1580) is generally considered Portugals greatest poet. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The English Cemetery is in Piazzale Donatello, Florence, Italy. ...

Mrs. Browning was a woman of singular nobility and charm. Mary Russell Mitford described her as a young woman: "A slight, delicate figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on each side of a most expressive face; large, tender eyes, richly fringed by dark eyelashes, and a smile like a sunbeam." Anne Thackeray Ritchie described her as: "Very small and brown" with big, exotic eyes and an overgenerous mouth. Mary Russell Mitford Mary Russell Mitford (December 16, 1787 - January 10, 1855), was an English novelist and dramatist. ...

Literary significance

Barrett Browning is generally considered one of the great English poets. Her works address a wide range of issues and ideas; she was learned and thoughtful, influencing many of her contemporaries, including Robert Browning. Her own sufferings, combined with her moral and intellectual strength, made her the champion of the suffering and oppressed. Her gift was essentially lyrical, though much of her work was not so in form. Her weak points are the lack of compression, an occasional somewhat obtrusive mannerism, and experimentation both in metre and rhyme. Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889) was a British poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. ...

Her most famous work is Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of love sonnets. By far the most famous poem from this collection, with one of the most famous opening lines in the English language, is number 43: Sonnets from the Portuguese, written ca. ...

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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 everyday'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.

But while her Petrarchan Sonnets from the Portuguese are exquisite, she was also a prophetic, indeed epic, poet, writing Casa Guidi Windows in support of Italy's Risorgimento, a reflection of Byron's advocacy of Greece's liberation from Turkey. Her verse-novel, Aurora Leigh, in nine books is set in Florence, England and Paris, using in it her knowledge from childhood of the Bible in Hebrew, Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Apuleius, Dante, Langland, Madame de Stael, and George Sand. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (530x679, 66 KB) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, based on http://www. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (530x679, 66 KB) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, based on http://www. ... Italian unification, also known as Risorgimento (resurrection), was a historical process by which the Kingdom of Sardinia (ruled by the Savoy dynasty with Turin as its capital) gradually conquered the Italian peninsula, including the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Duchy of Modena, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy... Aurora Leigh (1856) is a lengthy poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the name of its eponymous heroine. ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... Lucius Apuleius (c. ... DANTE is also a digital audio network. ... Langlands Dreamer: from an illuminated initial in a Piers Plowman manuscript held at Corpus Christi College, Oxford William Langland is the reputed author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman. ... Madame de Staël Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (April 22, 1766-July 14, 1817) was a French author who determined literary tastes of Europe at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. ... George Sand sewing, portrait by Eugène Delacroix (1838). ...

The government of Italy and the Commune of Florence celebrated her poetry with commemorative plaques on Casa Guidi, where the Brownings had lived during their 15 year marriage. Lord Leighton designed her tomb in the English Cemetery, its sculpting in Carrara marble being carried out, not faithfully, by Francesco Giovannozzo. In 2006 the Comune of Florence laid a laurel wreath on this tomb to mark 200 years since her birth. Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (December 31, 1830 - January 25, 1896) was an English painter and sculptor. ...

In popular culture

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning's father is mentioned in Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie as "Mr. Barrett of Wimpole Street".
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning was mentioned in an episode of Life with Derek when Casey and Kendra were working on a poetry project together.
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning was also the name of Diane's cat who passed away in an episode of Cheers.
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning was mentioned in an episode of Three's Company in which Janet is seduced by a jock who attended high school with her.
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning was metioned in an episode of Gilmore Girls.
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning was also mentioned several times in 10 Things I Hate About You.
• In Jasper Fforde's novel The Eyre Affair, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning is one of the authors whose name is popular for legal name changes; Thursday befriends a Liz Barrett-Browning at the hotel in Swindon.
• In the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Roger Rabbit writes a letter to his wife that says, "How do I love thee, let me count the ways: 1,2,3,4..."
• In the 1970 Arthur Hiller movie, "Love Story[1]," which starred Ryan O'Neal as Oliver Barrett and Ali McGraw as Jennifer Cavalleri, the character of Jennifer recites Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 43rd Portuguese Sonnet as her wedding vows when she marries Oliver.
• In 1981, The Cambridge Footlights Revue did a scene with Stephen Fry as Robert Browning and Emma Thompson as Elizabeth Barrett.

Sleeping Murder is a novel by Agatha Christie. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... Life with Derek is a Canadian sitcom that is currently being aired on the Family Channel in Canada (English), on VRAK.TV in Quebec (French), in Germany, Israel, France, Disney Channel in the United States, Mexico, Italy, Portugal, and South America, and Nickelodeon in Australia and Asia. ... Casey MacDonald is a fictional character from the Canadian TV series Life with Derek. ... Diane Chambers was a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Shelley Long (1982–1987, 1993). ... This article is about the TV series. ... Threes Company is an American sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1984 on ABC. It is a remake of the British sitcom Man About the House. ... Janet Wood Janet Wood was a fictional character on the television sitcom Threes Company. ... Gilmore Girls is a long-running, Emmy Award winning, and Golden Globe nominated American television drama/comedy created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. ... 10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy film. ... Jasper Fforde (born in London on 11 January 1961) is an English novelist. ... The Eyre Affair, published in 2001, is the first novel published by Jasper Fforde. ... Thursday Next is the protagonist in the series of novels by Jasper Fforde. ... , For other places with the same name, see Swindon (disambiguation). ... Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 film produced by Amblin Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company (released on its Touchstone Pictures banner), which blends traditional animation and live action. ...

Further reading

Avery, Simon, and Rebecca Stott. "Elizabeth Barrett Browning." (Longmans, 2005) (Critical study of the poet's life and works.)

Barrett, R.A. "The Barretts of Jamaica: The Family of Elizabeth Barrett Browning." (Wedgestone, 2000). (Account of the lives of the descendants of Hercie Barrett, from 1655; with extensive genealogy.)

Donaldson, Sandra. "Critical Essays on Elizabeth Barrett Browning." (G.K. Hall, 1999)

_____. "Elizabeth Barrett Browning: An Annotated Bibliography of the Commentary and Criticism from 1826 to 1990." (G.K. Hall, 1993).

Karlin, Daniel. The courtship of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. (Oxford, 1985) (Critical biography focused on the courtship correspondence.)

Kelley, Philip et al. (Eds.) The Brownings' correspondence. 15 vols. to date. (Wedgestone, 1984-) (Complete letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, so far to 1849.)

Garrett, Martin (Ed.) Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning: Interviews and Recollections (Basingstoke and London, 2000). (Accounts of both poets by themselves and others.)

Woolf, Virginia. Flush: A Biography (Biographical novella written from the perspective of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog, principally of curiosity value.) For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ... Flush is a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Brownings dog written by Virginia Woolf and published in 1933. ...

Forster, Margaret. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. (1988)

External links

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Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Browning, Elizabeth Barrett.

• Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning at PoetryFoundation.org
• The Brownings: A Research Guide (Baylor University)
• The Barretts of Wimpole Street at the Internet Movie Database
• Project Gutenberg e-text of Sonnets from the Portuguese
• Works by Elizabeth Barrett Browning at Project Gutenberg
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning Website
• Reely's Poetry Pages Hear Sonnets 43 and 33