Elizabeth Barrett Browning

1806

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; ; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 11 children, Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from the age of eleven.

Elizabeth's father chose to raise his family in England while his business enterprises remained in Jamaica; Elizabeth's mother, Graham Clarke, also owned several plantations in the British West Indies. ===Early life=== Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett was born on 6 March 1806, in Coxhoe Hall, between the villages of Coxhoe and Kelloe in County Durham, England.

1809

But unlike her siblings, she immersed herself in books as often as she could get away from the social rituals of her family. She was baptised in 1809 at Kelloe parish church, although she had already been baptised by a family friend in her first week of life. In 1809, the family moved to Hope End, a estate near the Malvern Hills in Ledbury, Herefordshire.

The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849.

1820

She claimed that at the age of six she was reading novels, at eight entranced by Pope's translations of Homer, studying Greek at ten, and at eleven writing her own Homeric epic, A Poem. In 1820 Mr Barrett privately published The Battle of Marathon, an epic-style poem, though all copies remained within the family.

1821

Biographers such as Alethea Hayter have suggested this may also have contributed to the wild vividness of her imagination and the poetry that it produced. By 1821 she had read Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and become a passionate supporter of Wollstonecraft's ideas.

1826

London: Chapman & Hall 1877: The Earlier Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1826–1833, ed.

1828

The child's intellectual fascination with the classics and metaphysics was reflected in a religious intensity which she later described as "not the deep persuasion of the mild Christian but the wild visions of an enthusiast." The Barretts attended services at the nearest Dissenting chapel, and Edward was active in Bible and missionary societies. Elizabeth's mother died in 1828, and is buried at St Michael's Church, Ledbury, next to her daughter Mary.

1831

In 1831 Elizabeth's grandmother, Elizabeth Moulton, died.

1833

Always secret in his financial dealings, he would not discuss his situation and the family was haunted by the idea that they might have to move to Jamaica. Between 1833 and 1835, she was living, with her family, at Belle Vue in Sidmouth.

Later, at Boyd's suggestion, she translated Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (published in 1833; retranslated in 1850).

1835

Always secret in his financial dealings, he would not discuss his situation and the family was haunted by the idea that they might have to move to Jamaica. Between 1833 and 1835, she was living, with her family, at Belle Vue in Sidmouth.

1837

Though this illness continued for the rest of her life, it is believed to be unrelated to the lung disease which she developed in 1837. She began to take opiates for the pain, laudanum (an opium concoction) followed by morphine, then commonly prescribed.

In 1838, some years after the sale of Hope End, the family settled at 50 Wimpole Street. During 1837–38 the poet was struck with illness again, with symptoms today suggesting tuberculous ulceration of the lungs.

1838

Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose.

In 1838, some years after the sale of Hope End, the family settled at 50 Wimpole Street. During 1837–38 the poet was struck with illness again, with symptoms today suggesting tuberculous ulceration of the lungs.

She corresponded with other writers, including Mary Russell Mitford, who would become a close friend and who would support Elizabeth's literary ambitions. In 1838 The Seraphim and Other Poems appeared, the first volume of Elizabeth's mature poetry to appear under her own name. Sonnets from the Portuguese was published in 1850.

1840

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.

In February 1840 her brother Samuel died of a fever in Jamaica.

1841

Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose.

The family returned to Wimpole Street in 1841. ===Success=== At Wimpole Street Barrett Browning spent most of her time in her upstairs room.

(Virginia Woolf later fictionalised the life of the dog, making him the protagonist of her 1933 novel A Biography). Between 1841 and 1844 Barrett Browning was prolific in poetry, translation and prose.

1842

The poem "The Cry of the Children", published in 1842 in Blackwoods, condemned child labour and helped bring about child-labour reforms by raising support for Lord Shaftesbury's Ten Hours Bill (1844).

At about the same time, she contributed critical prose pieces to Richard Henry Horne's A New Spirit of the Age. In 1844 she published the two-volume Poems, which included "A Drama of Exile", "A Vision of Poets", and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship" and two substantial critical essays for 1842 issues of The Athenaeum.

1844

Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose.

(Virginia Woolf later fictionalised the life of the dog, making him the protagonist of her 1933 novel A Biography). Between 1841 and 1844 Barrett Browning was prolific in poetry, translation and prose.

At about the same time, she contributed critical prose pieces to Richard Henry Horne's A New Spirit of the Age. In 1844 she published the two-volume Poems, which included "A Drama of Exile", "A Vision of Poets", and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship" and two substantial critical essays for 1842 issues of The Athenaeum.

Her prolific output made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate in 1850 on the death of Wordsworth. A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque now commemorates Elizabeth at 50 Wimpole Street. ===Robert Browning and Italy=== Her 1844 volume Poems made her one of the most popular writers in the country, and inspired Robert Browning to write to her.

Langley 1850: Poems ("New Edition", 2 vols.) Revision of 1844 edition adding Sonnets from the Portuguese and others.

1845

She is remembered for such poems as "How Do I Love Thee?" (Sonnet 43, 1845) and Aurora Leigh (1856). ==Life and career== ===Family background=== Some of Elizabeth Barrett's family had lived in Jamaica since 1655.

He wrote, "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett," praising their "fresh strange music, the affluent language, the exquisite pathos and true new brave thought." Kenyon arranged for Browning to meet Elizabeth on 20 May 1845, in her rooms, and so began one of the most famous courtships in literature.

Robert's Men and Women is also a product of that time. Some critics state that her activity was, in some ways, in decay before she met Browning: "Until her relationship with Robert Browning began in 1845, Barrett's willingness to engage in public discourse about social issues and about aesthetic issues in poetry, which had been so strong in her youth, gradually diminished, as did her physical health.

Poe had reviewed Barrett Browning's work in the January 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal, saying that "her poetic inspiration is the highest – we can conceive of nothing more august.

Her sense of Art is pure in itself." In return, she praised The Raven, and Poe dedicated his 1845 collection The Raven and Other Poems to her, referring to her as "the noblest of her sex". Barrett Browning's poetry greatly influenced Emily Dickinson, who admired her as a woman of achievement.

London:Smith, Elder,& Co. 1899: Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett 1845–1846, 2 vol., ed Robert W.

1846

In 1846, the couple moved to Italy, where she would live for the rest of her life.

After a private marriage at St Marylebone Parish Church, they honeymooned in Paris before moving to Italy, in September 1846, which became their home almost continuously until her death.

London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1929: Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Letters to Her Sister, 1846–1859, ed.

1849

Elizabeth grew stronger and in 1849, at the age of 43, between four miscarriages, she gave birth to a son, Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning, whom they called Pen.

In 1849 she met Margaret Fuller, and the female French novelist George Sand in 1852, whom she had long admired.

David Ogilvy, 1849–1861, ed.

1850

Her prolific output made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate in 1850 on the death of Wordsworth. A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque now commemorates Elizabeth at 50 Wimpole Street. ===Robert Browning and Italy=== Her 1844 volume Poems made her one of the most popular writers in the country, and inspired Robert Browning to write to her.

Later, at Boyd's suggestion, she translated Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound (published in 1833; retranslated in 1850).

She corresponded with other writers, including Mary Russell Mitford, who would become a close friend and who would support Elizabeth's literary ambitions. In 1838 The Seraphim and Other Poems appeared, the first volume of Elizabeth's mature poetry to appear under her own name. Sonnets from the Portuguese was published in 1850.

1852

In 1849 she met Margaret Fuller, and the female French novelist George Sand in 1852, whom she had long admired.

1855

She wrote to John Ruskin in 1855 "I belong to a family of West Indian slaveholders, and if I believed in curses, I should be afraid".

1856

However, "my little Portuguese" was a pet name that Browning had adopted for Elizabeth and this may have some connection. The verse-novel Aurora Leigh, her most ambitious and perhaps the most popular of her longer poems, appeared in 1856.

1859

Engrossed in Italian politics, she issued a small volume of political poems titled Poems before Congress (1860) "most of which were written to express her sympathy with the Italian cause after the outbreak of fighting in 1859".

1860

Her last work was A Musical Instrument, published posthumously. Barrett Browning's sister Henrietta died in November 1860.

The couple spent the winter of 1860–61 in Rome where Barrett Browning's health further deteriorated and they returned to Florence in early June 1861.

(Wedgestone, 1984–) (Complete letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, so far to 1860.) Lewis, Linda.

1861

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; ; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 11 children, Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from the age of eleven.

Elizabeth died in Florence in 1861.

The couple spent the winter of 1860–61 in Rome where Barrett Browning's health further deteriorated and they returned to Florence in early June 1861.

She died on 29 June 1861 in her husband's arms.

1896

It was completed in 1896.

1900

Her time at Hope End would inspire her in later life to write her most ambitious work, Aurora Leigh (1856), which went through more than 20 editions by 1900, but none between 1905 and 1978. She was educated at home and tutored by Daniel McSwiney with her oldest brother.

Crowell, 1900. Creston, Dormer.

1905

Her time at Hope End would inspire her in later life to write her most ambitious work, Aurora Leigh (1856), which went through more than 20 editions by 1900, but none between 1905 and 1978. She was educated at home and tutored by Daniel McSwiney with her oldest brother.

1929

London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1929. Everett, Glenn.

1931

Leighton cites the 1931 play by Rudolf Besier, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, as evidence that 20th-century literary criticism of Barrett Browning's work has suffered more as a result of her popularity than poetic ineptitude.

1933

(Virginia Woolf later fictionalised the life of the dog, making him the protagonist of her 1933 novel A Biography). Between 1841 and 1844 Barrett Browning was prolific in poetry, translation and prose.

1938

In 1938, it became a public library.

London: Macmillan, 1938. Markus, Julia.

1957

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. Thomas, Dwight and David K.

1965

London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1965. Kaplan, Cora.

1977

Massachusetts: Barre Publishing, 1977 Pollock, Mary Sanders.

1978

Her time at Hope End would inspire her in later life to write her most ambitious work, Aurora Leigh (1856), which went through more than 20 editions by 1900, but none between 1905 and 1978. She was educated at home and tutored by Daniel McSwiney with her oldest brother.

London: The Women's Press Limited, 1978. Kelley, Philip et al.

1980

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980. Marks, Jeannette.

1984

(Wedgestone, 1984–) (Complete letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, so far to 1860.) Lewis, Linda.

1989

Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1989. Taplin, Gardner B.

1992

New York City: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 160. Peterson, William S.

1995

Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1995. Donaldson, Sandra, et al., eds.

Ohio University Press, 1995. Meyers, Jeffrey.

2000

Armstrong Browning Library of Baylor University, Browning Society, Wedgestone Press in Winfield, Kan, 2000. Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

2001

New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001 Stephenson Glennis.

2002

The Victorian Web 2002. Forster, Margaret.

2003

England: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2003. Sova, Dawn B.

2004

New York: Random House, Vintage Classics, 2004. Hayter, Alethea.

2007

It has been Grade II-listed since 2007. ==Critical reception== Barrett Browning was widely popular in the United Kingdom and the United States during her lifetime.

2010

Leighton writes that because Elizabeth participates in the literary world, where voice and diction are dominated by perceived masculine superiority, she "is defined only in mysterious opposition to everything that distinguishes the male subject who writes..." A five-volume scholarly edition of her works was published in 2010, the first in over a century. ==Works (collections)== 1820: A Poem.

London: Pickering & Chatto, 2010. The Complete Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, eds.




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