Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Coxhoe Hall, Durham on March 6, 1806 and was privately educated growing up. She was an English poet during the romatic movement and published her first piece, An Essay on Mind and Other Poems, in 1826 anonymously. She did not publish another piece until 1833, when she translated Prometheus Bound, which was written by the Greek dramatist Aeschylus.
In 1838, she wrote The Seraphim and Other Poems where she expressed Christian sentiments in the form of classical Greek tragedy. Currently after that, she became an invalid as a result of a childhood spinal injury and lung ailment, which was worsened by the English climate. Her writing decreased somewhat, but she still managed to produce a volume of her poems in 1844, which included some works such as: "The Cry of the Children" and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship".
Sometime after that, she was contacted by Robert Browning, another English poet, who praised her greatly for her work. A romance between the two ensued but was vehemently rejected by Elizabeth's father. Their courtship, even though shunned, became immortalized in 1930 by Rudolf Besier, when he wrote the play, The Barretts of Wimpole Street.
Even though her father protested the love match, the couple eloped to Florence, Italy in 1846 and married. Soon after their move, Elizabeth was able to regain her health and have a son.
Her next publication was not seen until 1850 and called Sonnets from the Portuguese, which was dedicated to her husband, Robert. It wasn't known until later that she had written the poems in secret before their marriage. Critics acclaimed the Sonnets as the most widely known collections of love lyrics in English and as Elizabeth's best work.
Later on, the struggle for unification of Italy spurned her to write a collection of poems called, Casa Guidi Windows and Poems Before Congress. The first was published during the years of 1848 through 1851 and made their palace home famous. The second wasn't seen until 1860.
Her longest and most promising work came along in 1856. It was written in blank verse an considered a didactic, romantic poem. It's name was Aurora. It was five years after this that Elizabeth died, leaving behind her husband and their only child. Robert moved back to London shortly after her passing and remained there until 1878, then he once again went back to Italy to live out the rest of his life closer to their son.
The poem I chose to transcribe How Do I Love Thee? is what I believe to be Elizabeth's representation of her love for her husband. It gives you the feeling of actually knowing the couple and Mrs. Browning is showing, in just a few short lines, the dictation of exactly what love means. If you would like to find other websites for Mrs. Browning, please go to the following page {Links}.
Information was obtained for this biography from Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Volume 4, copyright c MCMLXXI, MCMLXXV, MCMLXXIX, MCMLXXXIII by Funk & Wagnalls, Inc.