Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
A Riveting and brilliant work of biography. The story of two great English poets, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, whose work was immediately recognized and adored by their contemporaries, whose courtship ranks with the great love stories of all time -- and in whose marriage romance was not merely sustained but intensified.

We enter their story through the sealed Victorian world of the Barretts of Wimpole Street: Elizabeth, at thirty-nine, a poet of international fame, a child prodigy who had grown to be a middle-aged spinster, a woman for whom romantic love seemed not to be possible, confined by illness, morphine, and the tyranny of her father, scion of rich Jamaican slaveholders, rum and sugar traders.

It is to this fortress that Robert Browning, already an admired young poet and playwright, already a devotee of Elizabeth's, lays siege. ("I love your verses," he had written Elizabeth in his first letter to her, long before they met. "I love your verses with all my heart -- and I love you too.") And miraculously Elizabeth let life in.

Julia Markus chronicles their extraordinary courtship, their marriage in secret (Browning to Elizabeth: "How you have dared and done all this ... for my only sake?"), and their radiant honeymoon in Italy.

Markus shows us how the political events of the times inspired the great dramatic monologues of Robert's middle years and how Italy's stormy reunification inspired Elizabeth's later work.

We come to see Elizabeth as an artist with a fierce and final confidence in poetry and its effect on the poets' lives. We see husband and wife celebrate the birth of their son, Robert Wiedemann "Pen" Barrett Browning (Browning to her sisters: "I sate by [Elizabeth] as much as I was allowed, and I shall never forget what I saw, tho' I cannot speak about it").

We see them among their artist/writer friends: in London with Tennyson, Thackeray, Rossetti, and others; in Rome with William Story, the American lawyer, poet, sculptor; with Harriet Hosmer, the stonecutter, who was one of the models for Aurora Leigh; with Charlotte Cushman, the American actress, who held readings of Elizabeth's novel in verse. We see Elizabeth in Paris meeting her heroine George Sand, whose society of socialists and theatrical types Robert described as "ragged Red."

We come to understand Elizabeth's dependence on the ever-present drug in her life ("I should not be alive except by help of my morphine") and her constant battle with depression. And we see Elizabeth, encouraged by a woman with whom she was infatuated, move from interest to obsession with spiritualism, a cause that became the only source of serious dissension between the Brownings.

We follow the course of their rich marriage, from the beginning when each saw the other as a brilliant poet, a compassionate and strangely similar heart, through the years in which they discovered each other's differences, each remaining a complex and thrilling human being to the other.

To tell their story, Markus for the first time makes use of much of Elizabeth's unpublished correspondence, amid a wealth of other documents. She delves fully into the Brownings' Creole background and shows how it affected their lives and their work (Elizabeth was the first of the Jamaican Barretts to be born in England in many generations).

Brilliantly interweaving the Brownings' own words with her authentic and perceptive narrative, Julia Markus brings these two great poets -- their marriage, their work, their times -- alive as never before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Dares and Does draw you in
A wonderful biography of a marriage between two genius poets, Dared and Done drew me in with such force and speed that I was almost glad of being ill myself so as to have an excuse to stay in bed and finish it. Markus has managed to convey her own excitement at relating such an intriguing story and did what a good author should do - made me want to delve into these poets' lives and their poetry even more.

Some of the speculation I did not agree with such as EBB's father not wanting his children to marry because of possible African blood. The birth of Pen Browning should have eradicated that concern. We may never understand the strange, cruel elder Barrett and fortunately, Dared and Done doesn't hinge on the theory. I did want to know more about the conniving Sophia Eckley - her cause of death for example, since she played such a huge role in the Browning marriage. I was also curious about EBB's illness - oddly, we never do get a diagnosis - only her maintenance cure of morphine and ether.

Remarkably,EBB had the greater reputation as a poet during the Barrett-Browning marriage with Robert Browning for many years being considered the lesser poet. That can make for trouble in the most loving of marriages and re-witnessing the devotion these two gifted poets demonstrated repeatedly is both exceptional and inspiring.

A Romantic Story
The romantic story of 2 poets who fell in love at mid-life, married, escaped to Italy, and lived happily for 15 years until Elizabeth's death. The author discusses the lives of the poets amongst their friends, acquaintances, other writers, & artists in Italy where living was less expensive and the climate more favorable. There are many cute stories about their son Pen and how the couple disagreed over various aspects of his unbringing. Also touched upon are the previous generations of both the Barretts and the Brownings and their history in Jamaica. Besides learning about the the Brownings, this book gives you a good feel of what life was like in the middle 19th century. Lots of B&W illustrations throughout the book.

A very nice bio into the life and poetry of immortal lovers
The Brownings hold a special place in my world, especially EBB. "Sonnets From The Portuguese" speaks with the eloquence, dignity and passion of the human ideal behind the flaws and veils of life and lovers (both RB and EBB's poetry are available on disc). Especially the last ten sonnets. EBB wrote not only about love and lovers, but about the human condition. She lived an insulated life yet was by nature a worldly and sophisticated soul. RB struggled with his inability to support his family, living off of EBB's inheritance annuity. Through this biography I was better able to appreciate his humaness and struggle, though I am still inclined toward EBB and her poetry. They were the sum of many contradictions, the big one being that they were so English (formal and proper) yet Bohemian in their liberal thinking. Both lovers and artists in the same household, in the same relationship, in the same struggle to survive and create (they do remind me of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's struggle and life together). While the book probably told the whole story, at least as much as a biographer can research and reveal, I still felt something lacking. I wanted the story to go on a little longer, a little deeper. I knew quite a bit about EBB before I began the book, I learned much more about her heritage and conflicts by reading this biography. My appreciation is much greater. It's a shame that we Moderns let so much of our heritage lay dormat (literaturewise) in the vaults of the "old days". To sip and savour the lives and poetry of the past is something we should cherish and celebrate. This book points in that direction. I strongly recommend this to all lovers of RB & EBB and poetry.

Dared...and well done
I picked up this book out of a desire to learn more about the lives and love of the Brownings.I had merely intended to skan through the pages, expecting yet another boring biography, but I was surprised.

Ms. Markushad done a wonderful job in making the characters come to life for me, andshe had achieved this without adding a trace of fiction. Her extensiveresearch blended in so well with her writing that I had no troublefollowing along.In fact, I found it so interesting that I ended upreading the entire book, from beginning to end.

I can only hope that theromance of Robert and Elizabeth will forever live through this brilliantbiography!

This book was informative as well as easy to read.
One of the reasons I ordered this book was that I had only seen the film version of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and I had never read any biography of Elizabeth or Robert Browning.I found the book to be informative and readable.It didn't get bogged down with the psychologicalissues, although there certainly were many involved.The book wasn't stiffand formal, one of the problems I have had with many other biographies. Ms. Markus did an excellent job in following the Brownings through theirmarried life and showing the love and respect they had for each other.Iwould recommend this book to anyone who loves biographies and who alsoloves to reach back into the Victorian Era. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

One great and memorable poem justifies a life - work
Reading through this volume I find it difficult to become deeply engaged. Something in the archaic, quaint language of much of the poetry deters.
Yet there is a poem, the poem of all the anthologies that is a great and memorable one, one that justifies a life- work.
" How do I love thee , Let me count the ways" is one of the most beautiful and inspiring love- poems ever written.

Some of the best love poetry ever written
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry, especially the "Sonnets from the Portuguese," is beautiful, intelligent, and honest love poetry. Anyone who has experienced the doubts, fears, and transformation of love will recognize the truth of the poet's struggle to trust and to love. ... Read more

Book Description
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning captures the remarkable love story of the renowned poets behind these famous words, from their dramatic elopement in 1846 to Elizabeth's tragic death in 1861.Their romance began with a letter from Robert admiring Elizabeth's highly acclaimed book,Poems. When her father disapproved, they married in secret and boldly moved to Florence, Italy. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning describes how their love and lives flourished there, producing one son, writing some of their most renowned works, and maintaining friendships with some of the most prominent literati of their time, including John Ruskin, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and William Makepeace Thackeray. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description
Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are without parallel in the nineteenth century: celebrated poets, they became equally famous for their marriage. Still popular more than a century after their deaths, their poetry vividly reflects the unique nature of their relationship.

This collection presents the Brownings’ work in the context of their lives: the early years and their initial friendship, their courtship and marriage, the fifteen happy years they spent living in Italy until Elizabeth’s death. Whether in short poems such as Elizabeth’s “Hector in the Garden” and Robert’s “Natural Magic,” or in extracts from longer works such as Aurora Leigh and Pauline, the great themes they shared are all represented: love, marriage, illicit passion, England and Italy, childhood, religion, poetry, and nature. Elizabeth’s famous Sonnets from the Portuguese, based on their love affair, is included in its entirety.

The poems are augmented with a generous selection of the marvelous letters the Brownings wrote to each other. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A nice idea
This anthology is based on a nice idea. Instead of representing each of the Browning's separately it presents them together. Their life story and poetry are bound up with each other. And this volume shows to a degree their development together. ... Read more

Book Description
In 1846 Elizabeth Barrett rose from an invalid's bed to elope to Italy with Robert Browning.The secret courtship of the two poets--their long correspondence and their meetings in the shadow of Elizabeth's despotic and jealous father--has become one of the most famous and best-documented
Victorian romances.
The powerful myth of chivalrous rescue and miraculous recovery is the subject of Daniel Karlin's exciting and imaginative book. He gives a fresh account of the events of the courtship, based on a much closer study of the love letters than has been attempted before; and he shows how significant
these letters are for an interpretation of the work of both poets. ... Read more

Book Description
Several thousand letters to and from Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning have survived, together with other information on the composition and context of works from Barrett's "lines on virtue" written at the age of eight in 1814 to Browning's Asolando (1889). This Chronology seeks to guide readers through this mass of material in three main sections: youth, contrasting early backgrounds and careers, and growing interest in each other's work to 1845; followed by courtship, marriage, Italy, and work including Aurora Leigh and Men and Women (1845-61); and concluding with Browning's later life of relentless socializing and prolific writing from his return to London to his death in Venice in 1889. This book provides not only precise dating but also in-depth information on such topics as the Brownings' extensive reading in English, French and classical literature, their friendships, and their sometimes conflicting political beliefs. ... Read more