Elizabeth Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) an English poet of the Romantic Movement

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era; she was born on 6 March 1806 in Durham, England. Her parents were Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett and Mary Graham Clarke; Elizabeth was the eldest of the twelve children (eight boys and four girls). Elizabeth grew up on her family's estate in Herefordshire, Elizabeth had a large room to herself, with stained glass in the window, and she loved the garden where she tended white roses in a special arbour by the south wall, her time at Hope End (Hereforshire) would inspire her in later life to write Aurora Leigh. She was educated at home and attended lessons with her brother's tutor. This gave her a good education for a girl of that time; she studied Greek; she read passages from Paradise lost and Shakespearean plays, among other works, before the age of ten and she wrote poetry. From 1821 she was in delicate health, living for prolonged periods as a near invalid. She moved with her family to London in 1835. By the time she met Robert Browning and the courtship and marriage between Robert Browning and Elizabeth were carried out secretly, despite her father's interdiction, she married Browning in 1846. Six years his elder and an invalid, she could not believe that the vigorous and worldly Robert Browning really loved her as much as he professed to. After a private marriage at St. Marylebone Parish church, Browning imitated his hero Shelley by spiriting his beloved off to Italy in August 1846, which became her home almost continuously until her death. In 1849, at the age of 43, she gave birth to a son Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning, whom they called Pen. Their son later married but had no legitimate children, so there are apparently no direct descendents of the two famous poets. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.

Works •1820: The Battle of Marathon: A Poem. Privately printed •1826: A Essay On Mind, with Other Poems. London: James Duncan •1833: Prometheus Bound, Translated from the Greek of Aeschylus,and Miscellaneous Poems. London: A.J. Valpy •1838: The Seraphim, and Other Poems. London: Saunders and Otley •1844: Poems (UK) / A Drama of Exile, and other Poems (US). London: Edward Moxon. New York: Henry G. Langley •1850: Poems ("New Edition," 2 vols.) Revision of 1844 edition adding Sonnets from the Portuguese and others. London: Chapman & Hall •1851: Casa Guidi Windows. London: Chapman & Hall •1853: Poems (3d ed.). London: Chapman & Hall •1854: Two Poems: "A Plea for the Ragged Schools of London" and "The Twins". London: Bradbury & Evans •1856: Poems (4th ed.). London: Chapman & Hall •1857: Aurora Leigh. London: Chapman and Hall •1860: Poems Before Congress. London: Chapman & Hall •1862: Last Poems. London: Chapman & Hall Sources: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth-Barrett-Browning Mcsweeney, Kerry. "Aurora Leigh" Elizabeth Barrett Browning. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.