The Free Press
NewslettersSign InSubscribe

Share this post

The Free Press
The Free Press
Things Worth Remembering: An Ode to Forbidden Passion
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Things Worth Remembering: An Ode to Forbidden Passion
The cast of the Brownings’ clasped hands.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s love poem is famous. But her own love story is just as legendary.
By Douglas Murray
07.02.23 — Culture and Ideas
122
453

Share this post

The Free Press
The Free Press
Things Worth Remembering: An Ode to Forbidden Passion
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Welcome back to Douglas Murray’s Sunday column, Things Worth Remembering, where he presents passages from great poets he has committed to memory—and explains why you should, too. To listen to Douglas read Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43, also known as “How Do I Love Thee,” click below:

1×
0:00
-2:37
Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.

Perhaps we might have one more poem of unadulterated love before moving on to other matters? Inevitably, it comes from another Romantic. Others have written love poetry before and since, but the Romantics produced most of what we still consider the language of love. It is a language that throws off the courtly traditions of earlier centuries, and seems to abandon itself in a way that still feels modern.

Earlier I mentioned the quasi-religion that Keats, Shelley, Byron, and others created. The places they lived and died in—especially Italy—soon became places of pilgrimage for English-speaking fans. 

Among the figures who did the most to solidify this image of the Romantic poet was Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

Born in 1806, Elizabeth Barrett suffered various childhood ailments that meant she had to take the opium tincture laudanum, a common enough prescription for the time, but one that likely gave her a certain romantic miasma—whether she wanted it or not.

Her 1844 volume of poems attracted the attention of the poet Robert Browning, who wrote to her, and so one of the great literary relationships was formed. 

Their courtship was carried out in secret, given Elizabeth’s fear of her father’s disapproval. Once the news of their marriage came out, she was indeed disinherited. 

Maintaining The Free Press is Expensive!
To support independent journalism, and unlock all of our investigative stories and provocative commentary about the world as it actually is, subscribe below.
Already have an account?
Sign In
Douglas Murray
Douglas Murray is the best-selling author of seven books, and is a regular contributor at the New York Post, National Review, and other publications. His work as a reporter has taken him to Iraq, North Korea, northern Nigeria, and Ukraine. Born in London, he now lives in New York.
Tags:
Culture
Comments
Join the conversation
Share your thoughts and connect with other readers by becoming a paid subscriber!
Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

No posts

For Free People.
LatestSearchAboutCareersShopPodcastsVideoEvents
©2025 The Free Press. All Rights Reserved.Powered by Substack.
Privacy∙Terms∙Collection notice

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More