“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you,” wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning in a poignant description of being with the beloved. One of the most well-known poets of the Romantic Movement, March 6 marks the birth anniversary of the Victorian literary figure.
Barrett Browning was home schooled and read parts of Paradise Lost and some Shakespearean plays at a young age. Although she suffered from a lung problem and a spinal injury, her learning of English and Classical literature never stopped.
The eldest of 12 siblings, she was nicknamed ‘Ba’ by her parents and had already written an epic poem by the age of twelve. It is often thought that Barrett Browning was prescribed morphine due to a lung ailment throughout her life, which in turn led her to use vivid imagery in her works.
The renowned poet, who had a major influence on the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson taught herself Hebrew in her teens in order to read the Old Testament.
Even though the poet’s father had a plantation in Jamaica, Elizabeth was against the practice of slavery and campaigned for its abolition. Her work helped bring about a reform in the child labour legislation.
Her poetic output, which rivalled that of Lord Tennyson also attracted the admiration of writer Robert Browning. Their courtship was done in secret and they even got married without the knowledge of Barrett Browning’s father due to fear of disinheritance. Following the wedding, she was indeed disinherited by her father.
Sonnets from the Portuguese, written for Robert Browning in secret before marriage are considered to be among the best specimens of romantic poetry.
The poet who predominantly wrote on religion, nature and social injustice has penned them in verses that have stood the test of time.
Here are some of her most famous quotes:
•Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell.
•No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books.
•With stammering lips and insufficient sound I strive and struggle to deliver right the music of my nature.
•I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.
•If thou must love me, let it be for naught, Except for love’s sake only.
•I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.
•You’re something between a dream and a miracle.
