1/1911 - 12/1911a - The Lowell

THE LOWELL
loved to be alone with nature, was now deprived of this. In spite of it all,
she did not become discouraged or ill-tempered, but became more hopeful
and optimistic than ever. With the greatest patience she bravely bore up
through all her suffering and, as the gold is refined and separated from the
dross by the purging fires, so her character was purified and made brighter
than ever before. Deprived of one of the chief joys of her life, she devoted herself
with double energy to her books and, from this time on, wrote her greatest
works. Her father, who always encouraged her efforts, acting as critic, and
for some time as her public also, first succeeded in placing her works before the
world. In 1826. the "Essay on Mind," with fourteen "occasional" pieces, was
brought out. Seven years later was produced her translation of "Prometheus'"
of Aeschylus and several minor pieces. It was not until the production of "The
Seraphim and Other Poems," however, that we see a glimpse of the genius that
afterwards produced the tender and beautiful "Sonnets from the Portuguese''
and that romance of the common-place, "'Aurora Leigh."
In 1848 among a collection of poems dedicated to her father, published in
two volumes,- there appeared the "Drama of Exile," "The Dead Pan," "The
Vision of Poets," and "Lady GeraldincV Courtship." the last of which attracted
the attention of Robert Browning, an even more famous artist than herself.
This was the beginning of a friendship which shortly led to their marriage.
They immediately left for Italy, where Mrs. Browning spent the greater
part of the rest of her life. While in Florence, she and her husband occupied
the famous Casa Guidi, on the outer wall of which is a tablet to her memory,
inserted there by her Italian admirers. While she spent much of her
time in Italy she nevertheless made frequent trips to Paris and to her old home
in England. It was in England that she finished her largest work, "Aurora
Leigh." dedicating it to her cousin and friend, John Kenyon. with whom she
was staying.
Although Robert Browning and his wife were producing works simultaneously,
it was a rule, seldom broken by him and but once by her, not to show
to one another what they had written. The one occasion on which Mrs. Browning
broke this rule was when, shortly after their marriage, she presented her
husband with that unique collection of poems called "Sonnets from the Portuguese."
Robert Browning declared them to be "the finest sonnets written in any
language since Shakespeare." and although not originally written for publication,
he at last persuaded her to permit it.
At the age of fifty-five, after one of the attacks of bronchitis to which she
was subject, Elizabeth Barrett Browning passed away in the Casa Guidi. Florence,
in the year 1861.
The fortitude and splendid optimism displayed throughout her whole life
may be fittingly compared with that shown by Robert Louis Stevenson. Her
works glow with the strength and beauty of her character, the ideals which
she cherished, her sympathy with humanity, her high moral purpose and
above all her deeply religious instincts,—her firm and unwavering faith in God.
We have here, truly, a brilliant example cf the developing influence of adversity
upon a character essentially noble.
Let usapprecia
and her works. Tl
understood from the