Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett was born on March 6, 1806 and was the oldest of twelve children. Elizabeth was very smart, read Shakespeare by the age of ten, and wrote her first epic poem by age twelve. Unfortunately, she had many health problems, so she wasn’t able to be physically active, but she continued growing intellectually, studied Hebrew and Greek, and was a passionate Christian. In 1826, she published An Essay on Mind and Other Poems anonymously, and in 1833 she published Prometheus Bound. Sadly, her mother died in 1828. Elizabeth’s writing gained popularity in the 1830s, and in 1838 she published The Seraphim and Other Poems. Because of her bad health, she spent a year by the sea with her brother Edward. He drowned that year, causing Elizabeth’s health to worsen further, and she returned home where she was bedridden for the next 5 years. She didn’t stop writing though, and in 1844 she published Poems. Another poet, Robert Browning, was impressed by Elizabeth’s Poems, and she had complimented his work in one of her poems, so he wrote her a letter. In the next 20 months, Elizabeth and Robert exchanged 574 letters as they fell in love, which Elizabeth’s father hated. He didn’t want any of his kids to get married, but in 1846 Elizabeth and Robert eloped to Florence, Italy. Elizabeth’s health improved and she had a son. In 1850, her Sonnets from the Portuguese was published, which is widely considered her best work. After that, most of Elizabeth’s work had strong political and social messages, including Casa Guidi Windows, Aurora Leigh, and Poems Before Congress. On June 29, 1861, Elizabeth Barrett Browning passed away.
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, England. His mother died when he was 8 years old, and while he was attending Hawkshead Grammar School, his father died. Wordsworth then attended St. John’s College in Cambridge. He went on a walking tour of Europe which brought him in contact with the French Revolution and profoundly influenced his poetry and politics. Because of this experience, he moved to France, and in 1793, he published his first poetry. While in France, he had a daughter out of wedlock, but then he left France before she was born. In 1795, he met the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and together they published Lyrical Ballads in 1798. In 1802, William Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, and together they had five children. Two of their children, Catherine and John, died in 1812, then their daughter Dora died in 1847. Wordsworth was very sad after her death, and he didn’t write any more poems. On April 23, 1850, William Wordsworth died, and his wife Mary published The Prelude, his most famous work, in July.
William Blake
On November 28, 1757, William Blake was born to James and Catherine Blake in London. From a young age, William believed that he saw visions; his parents discouraged him from lying but did recognize his difference and so didn’t send him to a school. William learned to read and write at home, and when he was 10, he expressed his desire to become a painter, so his parents sent him to art school. At age 12, William began writing poetry, and he was apprenticed with an engraver when he turned 14 because art school was very expensive. After 7 years with the engraver, William studied a little bit at the Royal Academy, and then he married Catherine Boucher in 1782. She was illiterate, so he taught her to read and write. Robert, William’s younger brother, passed away in 1787; William said that he saw Robert’s spirit ascend through the ceiling as he died, and for the rest of his life, William claimed that Robert’s spirit visited him. In 1783, William published his first printed work, Poetical Sketches, and in 1789 he published Songs of Innocence, which is his most popular collection. This was followed by Songs of Experience in 1794, the same year that he published The Book of Urizen. He also published The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which he worked on from 1790 to 1793, satirizing the church’s and state’s oppressive authority. After 1800, William Blake wrote great visionary epics such as Milton, Jerusalem, and Vala or the Four Zoas. Some people admired William’s poetry and art, even calling him “a man of genius,” while others thought he was insane and described his art as “hideous.” William spent the end of his life in poverty but happiness, and he died in 1827.
Comentários