Elizabeth Barrett Browning |
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Born in 1806 in County Durham to wealthy parents (who were married in Gosforth, St. Nicholas parish, Newcastle upon Tyne), Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the eldest of 11 children. Said to have had a precocious talent as a child, she had written her first poem by the age of 6. She was also an avid reader, reading Virgil (in Latin), Shakespeare and Milton in her teens.
Her health was never strong throughout her lifetime and she almost became housebound in the family home in Wimpole Street, London, although still writing and having her poems published. In 1845, the poet Robert Browning, an admirer of her work, managed to be introduced to her in Wimpole Street. They married secretly in 1846, her father having forbidden the match, and went to live in Italy. She produced two of her most famous pieces after having met Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese and Aurora Leigh and some critics say he had a profound influence on her and her work. She died in 1861 and is buried in the English Cemetery in Florence, Italy. |
