A Love Story For All Time

In 1845, Robert Browning was an unknown poet and playwright when he first read Elizabeth Barrett’s volume of poetry titled Poems. He was 32 years old. At 39, Elizabeth Barrett was a well-known poet and an invalid.
 
Browning was so moved by her poetry that he wrote to her, “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett…” The two then commenced writing more than 600 letters to each other over the next 20 months.

From the time she was a teenager, Elizabeth had suffered from a painful condition that caused uncontrollable spasms of pain and breathing difficulties. She had been a shut-in and a spinster for years. Elizabeth’s father was a very controlling, wealthy man who had forbidden all of his 12 children from ever marrying.

Browning began to court Barrett, but at first she did not take him seriously, thinking that no one would be genuinely interested in her romantically. Browning was ardent in his desire for Barrett. However, Barrett refused to see Browning for several months. Elizabeth found it hard to trust Browning’s intentions because she had been isolated for so long and she questioned the treatment of women inside the institution of marriage. Despite these almost overwhelming obstacles, Browning continued to court her with passion.

Finally, with the encouragement of Browning, Elizabeth left the room where she had spent the previous six years of her life. She began to go outside and live an active life again and she cut back on the morphine and opium the doctors had prescribed for her painful condition.

In 1846, Barrett married Browning in a secret ceremony (to hide the fact that she was defying her father). When her father found out, he disinherited Elizabeth. The couple left for Italy in the week after their marriage. They spent the next 15 years together productively writing. Their courtship inspired some of the most beautiful and romantic poetry ever written.

The most famous line of her poetry was from her courtship period with Browning published in her Sonnets From the Portuguese, it reads, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Elizabeth died in her husband’s arms in 1861.