Paper 1

Grayson Pipher

Professor Hague

English 370/475

November 1, 2013

Sonnets from the Portuguese 

Elizabeth Barret Browning (EBB) wrote "Sonnets from the Portuguese," between the years of 1845-46 during her nineteen-month courtship with Robert Browning (RB). It wasn't until after they were married and their son was born that EBB revealed the sonnets to her husband. Although EBB had never intended to publish the sonnets, RB would not allow them to be lost. Both EBB and RB desired a certain amount of privacy, so they, "devised the enigmatic title to shield the personal elements of the sonnets by implying that they are translations," (Stone, 205). The title was a reference to the RB pet-name for EBB, "My Little Portuguese." EBB's "Sonnets of the Portuguese," became famous throughout the world and have been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Hungarian, and Polish. I have chosen to analyze four of the forty-four sonnets: V, XIV, XXIII, XLIII. Sonnets are a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter and usually fallow a particular rhyme scheme specific for that sonnet (or series of sonnets). The rhyme scheme for the four poems I have chosen is ABBA ABBA CDCDCD. Although it is not indicated specifically in the sonnets, once the background information on the collection became known, so did the identity of the speaker. The speaker in the sonnets is EBB herself. There is no apparent setting for the four sonnets I have chosen. The plot of sonnets is significant because they represent the transition between EBB refusal of RB's love, her gradual acceptance of it, and her eventual whole-hearted embrace for both his love for her as well as her love for him. Unlike other Victorian sonnets which provide a male speaker pining over the unrequited love of a beautiful woman, EBB's sonnets give a unique insight to a woman's passion and desire. Also unlike other sonnets, EBB"s poetry does not describe love as, "Frustrated desire imprisons the lover and makes him ill, instead portraying love as a force that liberates, restores health, and renews life," (Stone, 206). 

The first two lines of Sonnet 5, "I lift my heavy heart up solemnly/ As once Electra her sepulchral urn," paints a picture of the speaker's deep sorrow. The reference to Electra and her urn containing the supposed ashes of her brother Orestes is used to portray EBB’s grief over the death of her beloved brother. These first two lines set the mood for the rest of the poem as the speaker mentions, "a great heap of grief," (5) that is inside her and the, "red wild sparkles dimly burn/ Through the ashen greyness," (5-6). EBB uses this metaphor to suggest that underneath the pile of ashen grief is a burning, lonely rage that threatens to flare up and consume her and anyone who might stand too close. EBB is somewhat hopeful when she says, "If thy foot in scorn/ Could tread them out to darkness utterly/ It might be well perhaps," (9-8). If her lover could suppress the hurt inside her, she might have the chance to heal; however, the next lines suggest that she is not particularly optimistic about this outcome. She says: 

...But if instead 

Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow

The grey dust up,.. those laurels on this head,

 O my beloved, will not shield thee so,

That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred

The hair beneath.  (9-14)

In part, EBB's depression was due to her feelings of imminent old age and the fact that she felt like her writing career was coming to an end. Her young lover, on the other hand, was just beginning coming into his prime (although we know that EBB became more famous than her husband before and after their deaths). She uses the reference to "laurels" as representative of his young success. If RB were to linger near her, not even his success as a young poet could "shield" him from the fire that burns within her.  The sonnet is concluded with the speaker pleading with her lover to, "Stand further off then! go" (14). The exclamation mark implies EBB's urgency for the man who loves her to leave before it is too late. 

The second sonnet I have chosen at is Sonnet 14. The opening lines states plainly, “If thou must love me, let it be for nought/ Except for love’s sake only,” (1-2) The speaker has moved from outright refusal of the man’s love to a reluctant acceptance of it, albeit on her terms. EBB had written to RB that the first time she was able to admit to herself that he really cared for her was when he had told her he loved her because he loved her and for no other reason (Stone, 214). This is described in more detail in lines two, three and four when the speaker commands her lover not to love her for her “smile” her “look” or her “way of “speaking gently” or the easy way their thoughts “fall in well” together. The speaker argues that “these things themselves… may be changed” and a love “wrought” from them can be “unwrought” just as easily. In line nine, she begs her sweetheart not to love her only because he pities her for her infirmities, saying, “Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry” (10) (Stone, 14). Lines eleven and twelve express the speakers fear that if he were to love her because he felt pity on her, he might grow tired of trying to comfort her and she would lose his love after all. Instead, she again pleads with him in the final two lines to “love (her) for love’s sake” because it is the only form of love that lasts.  

Sonnet 23 spans enough of EBB and RB's courtship that she no longer refuses his love completely but still questions it thoroughly. The sonnet is a response to a letter from RB and is opened with the questions, "Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead/ Would'st thou miss any life in losing mine?" She asks if his sun would "more coldly shine" because of her death and she "marveled" when the letter from RB said it would (Stone, 220). She has finally allowed herself to accept his love and says, "I am thine," (6). She is shocked by her lovers deep feelings for her, so much so her "hands tremble," (8). Before this passionate love bestowed on her by RB, she only dreamt of death; however, now her soul "resumes life's lower range," (9). His love has given her the will to live again. By line ten, she is no longer talking to her lover, but to love itself. She pleads, "Then, love me, Love! look on me.. breathe on me!" (10). She is asking for Love to touch her as it has touched him and allow her to return his feelings. She recognized that "brighter ladies" are able to sacrifice land and station for love and that she will also make a sacrifice. She will "yield the grave" for her lover and trade her, "near sweet view of Heaven, for earth with thee!" (14). Again, the exclamation here is showing her urgency, not to pushing him away, but to live a life with him on earth instead succumbing to death. 

Sonnet 43 is one of the most famous of "Sonnets from the Portuguese" and shows the deep, undying love of EBB for RB. The famous line, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," is one that will be used by lovers for many years to come. Although this is the second to last sonnet in the series, it is used to conclude and summarize the rest of the poems altogether. She relates her love for RB to Christ's love in Ephesians 3.17-19 by saying, "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height," (2). The third and fourth lines, "My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/ For the ends of Being and ideal Grace," are an ultimate declaration of the speakers eternal love. She is declaring that, even after death when her soul is "feeling out of sight," she will still deeply love her sweetheart in Heaven. As lines three and four describe a love that can encompass something as large as both Earth and Heaven, lines five and six describe this love as a "level of everyday's most quiet need," (5-6). The love between EBB and RB is so vast it could span Earth and Heaven and at the same time be so intimate it is as necessary as eating and drinking. The beginning of lines seven and eight are fairly straightforward, "I love thee freely" and "I love thee purely," meaning she gives all her love willingly and exclusively to him. The second half of these two lines, "as men strive for Right" and "as they turn from Praise," can be joined together much like the first halves of the two lines. Men (human beings) choose to live an ethic and morally sound life where purity is achieved by being modest and "turning from Praise." This metaphor describes how EBB's love for RB is one she chooses, not because of the praise she might receive, but because it is what is good and "right". Lines nine and ten, “I love thee with the passion put to use/ In my old greifs…” (9-10) refer to EBB’s passionate depression before and shortly after she met RB; however, now that their love has reached euphoria, that passion is used for love rather than for her intense sadness. Line ten continues with the speaker admitting to loving her sweetheart with a “childhood’s faith.” Children love and believe with no restriction and it is not until children become adults that they become cynical and pessimistic. The speaker’s love and faith in her sweetheart has no restriction, like that of a child. The seventh way the speaker describes her feelings is, “with a love I seemed to lose/ With my lost saints,” (12). Again, there is a religious reference here. However, it doesn’t seem to mean literal saints, but rather the person or people that the speaker once looked up to but has lost faith in. All the love she once felt for those “heroes” is now channeled towards her lover. The eighth and final way the speaker describes her love is describes in the last three lines. She says, “I love thee with the breath/ Smiles and tears of all my life!—and, if God choose/ I shall but love thee better after death.” As we live our lives, we usually experience “highs” and “lows”. During the “highs” we smile and during the “lows” we weep and all the time in between we are always breathing. That is the last way the speaker loves; during the good times, during the bad times, and all the times in between. This love will not only last every moment during their lifetime, but also after death. 

EBB’s “Sonnets from the Portuguese” is a unique set of poems compared to the typical sonnets of the time. Sonnets can be described as, “One of the most popular and significant poetic forms of the Victorian period,” (Billington). Victorian sonnets usually featured a male speaker pining over the unrequited love of a beautiful woman. This love is usually characterized as an “imprisonment” or “ill fated”. The love described in many sonnets of this era (most often written by men) is one that takes hold of a man’s soul and consumes him with “frustrated desire” and it is never returned by the desired woman. This is what sets EBB’s sonnets apart from the others. “Sonnets from the Portuguese” features a female speaker who feels unworthy of the man who loves her. This fact goes against the norm in three ways. First, the speaker is woman. Second, the speaker does not immediately love the person she is speaking to. Third, the speaker is loved by the person she is speaking to. As the poems progress, the speaker gradually realizes that her lover’s feelings are true and that she is able to return them with intensity matching his own. Instead of love imprisoning the speaker, it rescues her from her own self-loathing and allows her to embrace life instead of dreaming of death. The four poems I chose to analyze show EBB progression from refusal, to acceptance, and all the way through to complete liberation. 

  I chose to analyze these four poems from “Sonnets from the Portuguese” because they provide a rare and private insight to EBB’s innermost thoughts and feelings. Although it is not rare for poets to write about themselves and their feelings, EBB’s sonnets were never meant for the public eye. She poured her heart and soul into each and every one of the poems, not to please an audience, but because she was dealing with so many unfamiliar emotions and she had no other way to release them. Poetry is the only means of escape from the unknown and she uses it to vent her her very intense feelings. The series was not even known to RB until after their marriage and EBB never intended to publish them and she did not write them to persuade him to love her or even not to love her. They were not meant to describe to some personal friend of EBB’s to describe her feelings. Like many artists, EBB used poetry as a means of escape from her own confusion and she did it beautifully. Even after the couple decided to publish the series they made a considerable effort to conceal the true meaning behind it. To me, this makes “Sonnets from the Portuguese” the one of the truest and most believable confessions of the feeling of a real human being. 

Work Cited

Billington, Josie. "Sonnet." Oxford Bibliographies: Your BEst Research Starts Here. N.p.. Web. 2 Nov 2013. <http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document /obo-9780199799558 /obo-9780199799558-0118.xml>.

Stone, Marjorie, and Beverly Taylor. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Selected Poems. Broadview Editions, Print.