The couple moved to Florence, Italy, where they settled into the happy life of two writers who still had enough independent means to live well enough to have the freedom to devote themselves to their work. Elizabeth’s father, devoted insofar as he encouraged and supported her education and literary talent, was eccentrically opposed to Elizabeth’s marriage, indeed, to marriage of any of his children. Elizabeth began to write a series of sonnets, among the most famous in English literary history, celebrating her love for Robert. In May of 1845, they met and fell in love. Her work drew the attention of another poet, Robert Browning, who eventually wrangled an invitation to visit. By the time she was in her late 30s, Elizabeth was among the best-known and most highly respected poets in the country.

Elizabeth continued to write, and the high quality of her poetry brought her critical recognition and some financial success. The family retained enough means to settle in a fine home on Wimpole Street in London. In the early 1830s, her father suffered a financial setback, in part because of new laws ending slavery. She spent most of her time indoors, reading and writing. When she was a young teenager, she began to suffer intense headaches and spinal discomfort from a cause never really diagnosed. Before she was a teenager, Elizabeth was writing poetry. She craved knowledge, reading voraciously and, with her brothers, attending lessons with well-qualified tutors. Throughout most of her childhood and young adulthood, Elizabeth lived with her family-she was the oldest of twelve children-on a magnificent estate near Ledbury, Herefordshire, in the southwest central part of England. Her father was wealthy, the owner of sugar plantations and other businesses in Jamaica. Poetry 18 “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnet)Įlizabeth Barrett Browning was born March 6, 1806. Feature Unit: The Sonnets of William Shakespeare (1564–1616).Feature Poet: Emily Dickinson (1830–1886).Feature Unit: The Poetry of World War I.Feature Unit: The Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance.25. An Anthology of Poems for Further Study

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