Next time, herself!—not the trouble behind her
Left in the curtain, the couch's perfume!
As she brushed it, the cornice-wreath blossomed anew,—
Yon looking-glass gleamed at the wave of her feather.
Yet the day wears,
And door succeeds door;
I try the fresh fortune—
Range the wide house from the wing to the centre.
Still the same chance! she goes out as I enter.
Spend my whole day in the quest,—who cares?
But 'tis twilight, you see,—with such suites to explore,
Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune!
~ Robert Browning
Together, the English poets Robert Browning and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, comprise one of the world’s most famous literary couples. Robert is best known for his plays and his poem's dramatic monologues. However, his school years as a child were somewhat of a struggle. After he gave up on a couple of private schools, Robert was privately tutored, using the more than 6,000 books in his father’s library to teach him fluency in French, Latin, Italian and Greek.
Likewise, Robert lasted only a year at university. It was when he began travelling outside of England that he was truly inspired and became particularly fascinated with Italy. And it is said that he described Italy as his university. It was there that he lived with Elizabeth, who was six years older than him, after their secret marriage. She was forced to elope with Robert because her tyrannical father refused to allow any of his children to marry. Her risk caused her to be disinherited.
The two film adaptations of Robert's and Elizabeth's lives.
As opposed to Robert, Elizabeth was very popular at the prime of her career. In fact, she was up against Tennyson in the running to become Poet Laureate after William Wordsworth’s death in 1850. It was only after Elizabeth died (when Robert was in his late 50’s) and he had returned to London and entered its literary circle, that his works became critical successes - particularly his long blank-verse poem, The Ring and the Book. It has more than 20 thousand lines and is a major factor in his establishment as one of the greatest Victorian poets.
A play was created about the lives of Robert and Elizabeth called The Barretts of Wimpole Street, which made them both popular in the United States and was twice adapted into film, as seen in the photo above.
