The main ideas of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetic works changed constantly during her life,
due to significant events occuring
Spirituality was the main focus of Barrett’s writing from 1838 until 1844. Poetry became such a
large part of her life due to a spinal injury in 1821 which left her relying on opium for a long period of
time. As well as the ill-manners of her health, Barrett experienced the tragic death of her brother due to
drowning in the year of 1838. These significant events left Barrett in a state of emotional turmoil. She
found herself unable to live in the world of reality. For four years, she seperated herself from reality by
locking herself in a bedroom. During this time, the only persons she conversed with was her family and
one or two close friends.
It was during this period that poetry became such a signifacant part of Barrett’s life. She began
to write about Jesus, Angels, and other significant biblical characters. In the poem The Seraphim, two
angels stand outside the Garden of Eden. It is there they describe and praise God for his awesome
splendor and majesty.
“Of earth, the God-created and God praised
In hour of birth
Where everynight the moon in light
Doth lead waters silver faced?
Where every day the sun doth lay
A rapture to the heart of all
The leafy and reeded pastoral,
The Essay on Higher Power Gods God Life
In a vast world of different cultures and beliefs, we are united in one single goal. That goal is to strive for better life, good health, better jobs, a good spouse, good crops, a better car, etc. For this better life we look up to a higher power to help us to reach our needs. In the American Heritage dictionary the definition of spirituality is, " relating to or consisting of spirit, ...
As if the joyous shout which burst
From angel lips to see him first,
Had left a silent echo in his ray?” (The Seraphim, 1838)
The poem is a deep reflection of what Barrett feels inside at this time in her life. She is depressed,
lonely and full of agony because of all the aweful things which are happening, so she turns to spirituality.
She looks to God for renewal and strength, expressing his awesomeness in her poems, as she does
here when describing the Holy God. Another poem written during the time of despair is titled The Virgin
Mary to the Child Jesus. The poem is a stanza of the Virgin Mary speaking to her baby child, Jesus.
She is blessing him and praising him for greatness. She speaks of him as having a perfect name, as well
as celestial wings and head. She speaks of him as being so holy that she can hardly contain herself.
“Sleep, sleep my Holy One!
My flesh, my Lord! – what name? I do not know
A name that seemeth not too high or low,
too far from me or heaven;
My Jesus, that is best! That word be given
By the majestic angel whose command
was softly as a man’s beseeching said,
When I and all the earth appeared to stand.
In the great overflow
of light celestial from wings and head
Sleep, sleep my saving one!” (The Virgin Mary to the Child Jesus, 1838)
Within this poem, it is revealed once again that Elizabeth had a deep influence of spirituality at the time
in her life, specifically of Christianity which is shown here. Did God come to her when she was locked up
in her room? It seems as if she has an overflowing amount of words to speak of spirituality. It’s almost
as if she’s posessed by the spirit. As well as having vast knowledge of the Holy Bible at the time,
Browning also possesses knowledge of Greek religions and spiritual ideas. In the poem A Drama in
Exile, Browning writes pre-occupied by the idea of combining incidents from the Christian story into an
epic Greek tragedy. It is at this place in the poem where where Lucifer exists, and Adam and Eve have
just been shunned from the garden.
“Rejoice in the clefts of Gehenna,
My exiled, my host! Earth has exiles as hopeless as when a Heaven’s empire was lost
The Essay on Safest Poem Loved Sad Saddest
Saddest Poem Tow weeks ago one of my classmates has presented a poem from his culture, and I am sure that it's a Latin culture. The poem is called "Saddest Poem" written by Pablo Neruda who is as I understood one of the most famous Latinos poet. This poem was translated to English, even though it didn't lose its original structure. No one can argue about the main idea of this poem that it's a sad ...
Through the seams her shaken foundations,
Smoke up in great joy! With smoke to your fierce exultations deform and destroy!
Your lurid revenges,
And darken the face
Of white heaven and taunt them with changes
From glory and grace” (A Drama in Exile, 1843)
Here she combines the two spiritual ideas of Christianity and Greek theology. Ironically though, she
portrays Lucifer to be joyful that he finally conquered good. Could this be a result of Barrett’s frustration
with herself or with the world? It is certain that she is knowledgable and quite interested in Christianity,
but her true beliefs are questionable in this literary work. Despite Barrett’s different ideas regarding
religion and spirituality, it is definite that writing of spiritual types is what brought her through the difficult
time in her life.
Poetry written by Barrett during her middle-aged years consisted of works focused on the topic of
love. Due to her engagement to Robert Browning in 1844, and a marriage following a year later, many
fresh ideas arose on the topic of love and happinness. Love is obvious when one writes on the topic of
love, and Lady Geraldine’s Courtship proves just that. The piece recalls the fantasy story of a woman,
Lady Geraldine, and her courtship with a man she has an encounter with.
“She has voters in the Commons,
She has lovers in the palace
And, of all the fair court-ladies,
few have jewels half as fine.
Oft the prince named her beauty
‘Twixt the red wine and the chalice.
Oh, what was I to love her?
My beloved, my Geraldine?” (Lady Geraldine’s Courtship, 1844)
The fact that Barrett writes a tale of another woman in love, and the experiences she encounters, gives
the reader an idea of what Barrett’s feelings were at the time she was in love. The poem is filled with
romance, dreams and fantasies, many of which could have paralleled Barrett’s life also.
Printed in 1847, and simply entitled “Love,” Barrett expresses her deep thoughts on love in the
poem. She speaks of ‘soul’s choice and conscience,’ and ‘life in perfect whole’ as if it, or he, means the
The Essay on Summer Love Partner Stanza Poem
"Summer Love" is a poem written by Marilyn Chin about a girl's range of emotion as she experiences uncommitted relationships over her summer vacation. The girl starts out detached from any sort of serious feelings for her partner. As the poem progresses she expresses lust and gets physical with her partner which then causes her to be concerned over her brief, uncommitted encounters and the ...
world to her.
“But when a soul, by choice and conscience, doth
Throw out her full force on another soul,
The conscience and the concentration both
Make mere life, Love. For life in perfect whole
And aim consummated, is Love in sooth,
As Nature’s magnet-heat rounds pole with pole.” (Love, 1847)
Barrett speaks of love so deeply, it’s almost as if she is one with her writing. She talks so deeply of souls
in love, and a perfect life, it is obvious that she is in deep love with Robert Browning. It’s this deep
desire and passion that she has for him at this time in her life which inspires her to write the simple
poem, Love.
Perhaps Barrett’s most famous piece, Sonnets from the Portuguese, describes her doubts
regarding Robert’s love for her. He proffessed to love her so much, she could hardly grasp the idea, and
was in great disbelief.
“Say over again, and yet once over again,
That though dost love me. Though the word repeated
Should seem ‘a cuckoo-song,’ as though dost treat it,
Remember, never to the hill or plain,
Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain
Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.” (Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1850)
The poem’s title is often mistaken for a translation of Portuguese poems, which it is not. Robert’s pet
name for Barrett was ‘my little portuguese.’ The poem shows Barrett’s love for her husband Robert, but
also the doubt she experiences when she begs Robert to tell her of his love repeatidly. Sonnets from the
Portuguese is a key piece of literature at the special time of love in Barrett’s life. She has the ability to
express her feelings on paper with such talent and style.
The later part of Barrett’s life consisted of poems which reflected her passionate views on
political and social issues. The piece, The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point, expresses Barrett’s beliefs
opposing slavery.
“ I am black, I am black,
And yet God made me, they say
The Essay on Sydney Carton Lucie Love Life
In A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the concept of love is shown clearly through the character Lucie Manette. Her love is so great is able to change the character of those she reaches out to. One of the men Lucie touches is her father, Doctor Manette, whom Lucie brought out of a horrible state of mind. This state of mind Doctor Manette was in was due to his imprisonment for eighteen ...
But if he did so smiling back.” (The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point, 1850)
The poem is written from the point of view of a black person during the terrible days of slavery. Barrett
expresses her compassion for those who were treated so horribly by placing herself in the shoes of a
black person within the poetry.
Casa Guidi Windows displays Barrett’s opinions regarding Italian rights to independance from
the Austrians. She expresses her compassion for them by artistically expressing her political views.
“Dazed Naples, Hungary fainting ‘neath the thong,
And Austria wearing a smooth olive-leaf
On her brute forehead, while her hoofs outpress
The life from these Italian souls, in brief.
O Lord of Peace, who are Lord of Righteousness,
Constrain the anguished worlds from sin and grief,
Pierce them with conscience, purge them with redress,
And give us peace which is no counterfiet!” (Casa Guidi Windows, 1851)
Barrett, at this time in her life felt quite a strong pity towards the Italians. The later part of her life she
begins to develop such wisdom and knowledge about social and political issues, racism being one of
them, and is greatly admired by many for stepping out of her comfort zone.
A work which expresses Barrett’s social opinions even more bluntly is her piece titled Aurora
Leigh. The poem reveals the silent struggles women face due to the overpowering male dominance in
society. It is a story of a female writer struggling to become a successful poet in a hectic literary world.
“A harmless live, she called a virtuous life,
A quiet life, which was not life at all,
Between the vicar and the county squires,
The lord-lieutenant looking down sometimes
From the empyreal, the assure their soulsw
Against chance vulgarisms, and, in the abyss,
The apothecary looked on once a year,
To prove their soundness of humility.
The poor-club exercised her Christian gifts
Of knitting stockings, stitching petticoats,
Because we are of one flesh after all.” (Aurora Leigh, 1857)
Barrett wrote this poem to express her exact feelings towards the world, and the oppression of herself
The Essay on School: Meaning of Life and World
Imagine a world where everything you believe is true, is actually a TV Show. Now you’re in the world of Truman Burbank, an ‘average’ person whose entire life is broadcasted to the world. Christof the director of the Truman show states that “We accept the reality of the world in which we are presented. ” This is a key issue in “The Truman Show” but does it apply to our real lives? Do we question ...
and other women writers. During her lifetime, men were the dominant figures in society, and to become
a famous woman was quite the task. Barrett however, overcame this challenge and went on to be a
worldly known female poet for her talent in writing.
Though Barrett had many hardships throughout her childhood and adult years, literature seemed
to have brought her through it all. Dispite illness, death and depression, Barrett prevailed and learned to
express her many emotions through writing. Through her poetry she was able to share her feelings with
others, and help many people express their thoughts also. She will forever be remembered as the strong
woman with the exceptional ability to put emotions onto paper.