Poet to Poet: How the Brownings Fell in Love by Writing Letters
It all started with fan mail
“I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett …” — Robert Browning’s first letter to Elizabeth Barrett, 10 January 1845
Thirty-eight-year-old Elizabeth Barrett had long given up the hope that she would fall in love and marry when Robert Browning came into her life. Since the age of 15, she had suffered from a mysterious illness that, even today, scholars are at a loss to identify.
Barrett’s symptoms included headaches and spinal pain, for which her doctors prescribed laudanum. The condition, made worse by the damp English climate, continued to plague her throughout her life.
The eldest of 12 children born into a wealthy family, Barrett had come of age during the Regency period in England. Ordinarily, she would have had a “coming out” signaling her entry into society and eligibility as a bride. Her illness, however, convinced her parents that she should remain at home and a spinster. Her mother died when Elizabeth was in her early twenties.
Highly intelligent and well-educated, Barrett resigned herself to a life of study, contemplation, and writing. As it turned out, she was very good at it. She wrote poetry and prose, did translations, and advocated for the abolition of slavery…
