Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850) is a collection of sonnets by
English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Written between 1845 and
1846, Sonnets from the Portuguese is a series of love poems written
by Browning to her husband, the prominent Victorian poet Robert
Browning. Although Elizabeth was initially unsure of the poems,
Robert encouraged their publication, suggesting she title them to
make readers believe they were translations and not personal
declarations of love between the couple. Using the sonnet, Browning
adopted a traditional form made famous by Shakespeare while staking
a claim for herself as one of nineteenth century England's premier
poets. Filled with references to the Greek pastoral poet Theocritus
and the tragic figure Electra, as well as invocations to God,
Sonnets from the Portuguese immerses itself in biblical and
classical tradition while remaining deeply personal and
authentically romantic. Sonnet "XV" addresses the inherent tragedy
of love, the depth of sadness with which a lover beholds another
with "Too calm and sad a face," overwhelmed with the knowledge that
with love comes "the end of love, / Hearing oblivion beyond
memory." In sonnet "XXVIII," Browning reflects on the distance
between lovers kept apart: all she has of him are her letters, "all
dead paper, mute and white!" And yet, "they seem alive and
quivering" in her "tremulous hands," a living reminder of the man
she longs to be with. "XLIII," the most famous sonnet of the
collection, begins "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," and
records the poet's confession of a love more powerful than "the
passion put to use / In [her] old griefs..." Not only has her lover
brought her such joy, he has also given her a love she "seemed to
lose / With [her] lost saints," a love strong enough to transcend
religious faith entirely, a love that is destined to last, and to
be even "better after death." With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Elizabeth
Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese is a classic of
English literature reimagined for modern readers.
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