Elizabeth Barrett Browning would be 220 today
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I went through a sonnet phase during the poetry writing aspect of my childhood which was the result of various reading assignments over the years. Though I wrote a few to correct meter and rhyme scheme they were somehow less than that which I may have liked.
The work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning addressed social issues like child labor and slavery during her lifetime and she was celebrated among both her peers and the public a large. She influenced poets who came later such as Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) was a celebrated English Victorian poet known for her mastery of sonnets, particularly Sonnets from the Portuguese, and her verse novel Aurora Leigh. She was a prominent, highly respected literary figure in Britain and the U.S. who addressed social issues like child labor and slavery.
She was staunchly abolitionist and wrote profusely on social injustices. I even feel that she influenced me to believe slavery was wrong from an early age.
She wrote a piece included in her celebrated "Sonnets from the Portuguese" called "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways". It was written for her husband, poet Robert Browning. I was far less of a fan of his during my poetry heyday.
She was born in Durham, England, on March 6, 1806. She was a child with prodigious reading skills who delved into both Milton and Shakespeare before age 10.
She suffered from chronic, debilitating illness from age 15, which led to a secluded life until she eloped with Robert Browning in 1846. She passed away in Florence, Italy, on June 29, 1861, likely due to heart failure following a, respiratory illness.
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How do I love thee