sonnet 29- Elizabeth Barret Browning

Browning herself

Barrett Browning was in ill health for much of her life.

She had an overbearing father who refused permission for any of his daughters to marry.

She was a very successful and famous poet
in her lifetime.

Elizabeth and another poet, Robert Browning
(Porphyria's Lover) began writing letters to each other in secret and eventually married.

She was disinherited by her father

• A deeply Christian woman.

context

During their engagement, Elizabeth wrote 44 sonnets to Robert Browning, her husband to be. Robert was so impressed with the sonnets that he pushed Elizabeth to publish them.

However, the sonnets were deeply personal and Elizabeth would only agree to publish them anonymously; she didn't want anyone to know that they were written by her.

women were dependant of men in society, shows that she was identified by a man

Theme

Love, lust, nature imagery, wanting, separation, Secret Love Desire , Longing, Nature, Joy, Passion

sonnet form

-Petrarchan sonnet, often used as a poetic form for love poetry.

-However, this highly controlled form is manipulated to demonstrate the poet's excitement and impatience, and old form of sonnet to show how timeless her love is

-Whereas the Volta usually appears between the octave and the sestet, Barrett Browning introduces the turn earlier in line 7.
-This emphasises her inability to control her thoughts and desire to be with her love.

• ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme.

structure

-enjambment shows he urgency and quick nature of her thoughts
-repetition to show compulsive and obsessive thoughts
-imperatives used to command
-"octave": that the thoughts are overwhelming
-"sestet" : stopping the intense thoughts

what do the extended metaphors (conceit) of "tree" and "vine" show

-tree- he is a solid foundation the vine needs to live, stable and strong,

-wild vines- love and passion could be seen as all-encompassing, possibly possessive and obsessive. "wild" shows how uncontrollable her thoughts are, very sexual as they intertwine(sex) and the flower imagery represent female genitalia "bud"

-it is a symbiotic relationship and they become intertwine but the vines benefit more, which connotes EB may feel like a burden

- uses euphemism to discuss things that would not be appropriate for a Victorian lady to discuss and that have sexual undertones 'set thy trunk all bare'.

- the use of nature shows how she cannot openly express her feelings, its shows the love is growing and is alive

'put out broad leaves,and soon there's nought to see

Her thoughts are suffocating and smothering, so that she loses sight of her 'image' of him.

-she slips out of iambic pentameter to show how unloving her smothering is as well as to show how the intensity of how emotions is causing her to lose control of her mind, and he form

-this connotes the distance between them as her father forced her to be away from RB, which shows how distances leads to longing

-its shocking to the reader as she is was very religious, this shows the extent of her thoughts as she is very lustful

‘my palm tree’

Victorians loved palm trees, which
reminded them of far off lands and adventure.

It also has exotic connotations.

She could believe that her lover can transport her from her unhappy, solitary life with her family, to a fulfilled future.

OR shows how adventurous and almost dangerous the relationship is, reflects how exotic it is to her

Possessive pronoun in ‘my palm tree’

dependency on each other

'I will not have my thoughts instead of thee'.

-If she becomes happy with just thinking of her love, there is a chance she may not
see him for some time.

-she is aware that it is not the true image of him

-she doesn't want the image she has formed of him

-There is a sense of urgency that means she wants him close, not in her thoughts.

• The speaker makes it clear that thoughts of the beloved are not enough; they long for the actual presence.

‘Rather’

'Rather' in line 7 signifies the "volta" or turn in the poem.

-It changes the focus from how overpowering her thoughts are of him, to a demand that he make himself physically present

'..Instantly renew thy presence'

'burst, shattered everywhere'

-Verbs and metaphor suggests an inability to contain herself. The intensity of her feelings are overwhelming her
-has a very sexual undertone of moaning, and orgasmic pleasure
- shows uncontrollable lust
-onomatopoeia shows the desire manifesting physically
- AI: could mean, come near me and let my thoughts supressed

"Thee"

-"Thee" shows the infatuation and inability to think of anything else.

-at the time of writing they had just stepped out from the romantic style of writing so "thee" instead of "you" showed her romantic feelings
- also reflects how she is going against the times

alternative interpretation (AI)

1)the nature imagery is more biblical
Jesus was the vine , who wrapped him self around us, the branches, and this a sacred connection, the vines"Jesus" gave life, so the thoughts give life//but she doesn't want that he thought to give life she wants to shake of the superficial life and let the trunk be set bare

2)the tree just shows stability, nothing sexual due to the harsh Victorian society

3) thee is a biblical word, shows RB as god like

Extended Metaphor

‘my thoughts do twine and bud / About thee, as wild vines, about a tree’

Barret Browning uses an extended metaphor of trees and vines → he is the tree and her thoughts around him are the vines

Antithesis

‘i think of thee'

‘i do not think of thee- i am too near thee’

She is contradicting herself, as she no longer needs to think of him, because she has him.

The desire for her lover is no longer all consuming because she has him