Love in the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Essay Example

? The Theme of Love in the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning often expressed her love for her husband, Robert Browning in her poetry (Gadd 1996, p. 51). In Browning’s Sonnets From the Portuguese, Sonnet 43, expressed the intensity of Browning’s love for Browning during their courtship. The opening line of the sonnet immediately informs the reader that it speaks of a special love. The poem opens with the line “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” (Browning 2008, Sonnet 43, L.1, p. 100 ). The intensity of Barrett’s love for her future husband is expressed in answer to the question posed in the opening line: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight(Browning 2008, Sonnet 43, Ls.2-3). Sonnet 43 goes on to express Barrett’s love for her husband to-be as free (L.7), pure (L.8) and “with passion” (L. 9). The love is described as rising to the level of something spiritual as Barrett relates to the love in terms of her “childhood faith” (L. 10) and “with my lost saints” (L. 12). Barrett goes so far as to state that the love, if permitted by God would be eternal. She ends the poem with: -and if God chose, I shall but love thee better after death (Browning 2008, Sonnet 43, Ls 14-15). Sonnet 14, another of Browning’s love poems in Sonnets from the Portuguese is likewise heavily themed by love. Only this poem draws attention to the way that Browning wanted her husband-to-be to love her. Her idea of true love is therefore reflected in her desire for unconditional love, the prerequisite for true love. Browning instructs her husband-to-be: 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, -for a trick of thought (Browning 2008, Sonnet 14, Ls 1-2). These lines express a fear that if love is conditional, love is pure and subject to change. For instance, if her husband to-be merely loved her for a physical trait, such as a smile, the manner in which that smile moved her future husband could change over time and so would his love for her. Barrett is more explicit in this idea as she proceeds with Sonnet 14. She expressly writes: For thee thins in themselves, Beloved, may Be changed, or change for thee, - an love, so wrought, May be unwrought so…(Browning 2008, Sonnet 14, Ls7-9). Browning also expressed a subtle fear that her future husband’s love may be based on pity. She was at the time of writing bedridden and described as an invalid (Mermin 1989, p. xi). Browning therefore instructs her future husband: …Neither love me for Thine own pity’s wiping my cheeks dry, -- A creature might forget to weep, who bore Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! (Browning 2008, Sonnet 14, Ls. 10-13). Barrett was therefore mindful of the fact that pity itself, if it endured long enough could become meaningless and once the pity became meaningless, so with the love that accompanied it. It is therefore clear that Browning intended that her love for Robert Browning be returned with the same intensity that it was given. Nevertheless the love is complete in Sonnet 22 where Browning then turns her attention to the perfect union. Browning speaks of the union as follows: When our two souls stand up erect and strong, Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and nigher Until the lengthening wings break into fire (Browning 2008, Ls 1-3). Browning appears to addressing the physical union of two lovers. In other words, Browning is likely addressing and describing the physical intimacy that unites two lovers. The use of the words “two souls” clearly conveys that the physical union only completes the meeting of two hearts and an intense love. Browning however, wonders if the love she shared with her future husband could be best expressed on earth than in heaven: Can the earth do to us, that we should not long Be here contented? Think. In mounting The angels would press on us and To drop some golden orb of perfect Into our deep, dear silence. Lest us stay rather on earth, Beloved – (Browning 2008, Sonnet 22, Ls 5-9). As Glancy (2002) interprets these lines from Sonnet 22, Browning preferred to think of her relationship with Robert Browning in terms of its place in a “busy world” (p. 137). For Browning the busy world was a place where they could isolate themselves and become enshrined in their mutual love for each other (Glancy 2002, p. 137). The love Browning describes, although heavenly in its depiction had an earthly and therefore physical quality to it. Although she clearly imagined that she would love Robert Browning beyond the grave, she preferred the love in its physical and corporal phase. Although the three love poems described above, reflect an intense love, they also demonstrate, that Browning was far from dreamy about love. She was realistic about love despite descriptions of that love as pure, passionate and spiritual as reflected in Sonnet 43. Glancy (2002) puts these love poems in their proper perspective. For Glancy (2002) Browning offers descriptions not merely of mutual love and courtship, but descriptions of the various emotions that accompany love and courtship. She not only describes her growing love for her future husband, but her own inert fear that “his love for her” could be transitory (Glancy 2002, p. 137). Even so, the poems collectively describe her own love and joy in the relationship she shared with Robert Browning. Bibliography Browning, E. B. Sonnets from the Portugeuse. Wildside Press, 2008. Gadd, T. Classical Poetry. S &S Learning Material, 1996. Glancy, R. Thematic Guide to Poetry. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Mermin, D. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: The Origins of a New Poetry. University of Chicago Press, 1989. Read More