In "Sonnets from the Portuguese," Barrett Browning shares a part of her heart and in doing so, proves her great ability as a poet. Barrett Browning intended for these letters to be seen by Robert Browning only, but her vulnerability in this poem makes them all the more meaningful.
In sonnet 21, Barrett Browning admits that she is unsure of Robert Browning's love for her and thus wants him to tell her over and over again that his love is true: "Say over again, and yet once over again,/ That thou dost love me" (1-2). The opening two lines of this sonnet show that Barrett Browning is having doubts about her relationship with Robert Browning. While he might have told her in times past that he does love her, she needs reassurance. I think most people can probably relate to how she is feeling. There are times when we all try to protect our hearts by making sure that we are not more committed to a person than they are to us; we want to know that the love is mutual. This is a natural feeling that she describes and it makes her seem very real. She continues to describe the reassurance that she desires even "...though the word repeated/ Should seem 'a cuckoo-song' as thou dost treat it,/ Remember, never...without her cuckoo-strain/ Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed" (2-6). In this part of her letter, Barrett Browning compares her need to the call of the Cuckoo bird. While a cuckoo's song is often repetitious, she needs Browning to tell her of his love once more. As the spring comes with the call of the cuckoo, so she needs him to tell her he loves her once more so that the relationship will flourish.
Barrett Browning continues to express her feelings of angst and stronger feelings of doubt: "Beloved, I, amid the darkness greeted/ By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain/ Cry, 'Speak once more--thou lovest!" (7-9). Barrett Browning is obviously consumed with the fear that Robert Browning may not love her as she wishes he would. She longs desperately for him to tell her over and over that his heart belongs to her. She seems to believe that no matter how many times he tells her that he loves her, it can never be too often: "...Who can fear/ Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,/ Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?" (9-11). She compares the number of times Robert Browning admits his love for her to the stars in the sky and the flowers on earth. It is clear that there are an infinite number of both stars and flowers, and so he cannot tell her enough that he loves her.
As the sonnet nears the end, she tells Robert Browning once more, "Say thou dost love me, love me, love me..." (12). She repeats the word "love" three times to over-emphasize the importance of him openly sharing his feelings for her. Though the reader is unaware of what Robert Browning writes to Barrett Browning, this part of "Sonnets from the Portuguese" leads one to believe that he might have been discrete about his love for her in past letters. He possibly mentioned that he cared for her, or even loved her in the past, but he clearly did not go overboard telling her many times that she was the love of his life. From my own experience, men are less likely to openly admit their feelings for a woman than a woman is to admit her feelings to a man. This, of course, is not always the case, but it appears that Barrett Browning may be struggling with doubt because she knows how she feels. Up until this point in the sonnet, it seems she is unsure of how Robert Browning is feeling for her.
Upon reading the last two lines of the sonnet, new light is shed on Barrett Browning's desire to know that Robert Browning loves her. Perhaps he told her before that he loves her, but she reminds him of that age old saying that "actions speak louder than words." She tells him, "Dear,/ To love me also in silence with thy soul" (13-14). While the first twelve lines of the poem seem to convey that Barrett Browning wants Robert Browning to merely tell her he loves her, at this point it seems that the relationship is actually moving toward a deeper level. They are at the point the relationship now where she needs not only to hear him say that he loves her, but feel his love for her. Maybe in the previous lines of this poem, Barrett Browning has been asking him to "say" he lover her from his soul. To me, this means she needs to see that he loves her through his actions in addition to being told by word. Again, I think most people through the ages can relate to this idea or concept surrounding true love. My boyfriend tells me that he loves me all the time and that does mean a lot; however, when I come home from being out of town and our entire apartment is clean and neat, he is showing me how much he cares. Keeping our home tidy is highly important to me (though not so important to him); therefore, when he cleans up before I return home, he actually shows his love and makes me by doing something nice for me. I think Barrett Browning wants Robert Browning to show his love to her as well.
Again, I really enjoyed this particular sonnet from "Sonnets from the Portuguese" because I felt a strong connection to Barrett Browning in relation to her feelings concerning love and relationships.
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3 comments:
Karen,
You offer a very detailed and astute explication of this particular love sonnet here, and provide numerous insights into Barrett Browning's poem from her collection. I like the way you also connect this poem to your own experiences in your relationship with your boyfriend--I think blogs are by their more personal and less formal than some other types of academic writing, and so that sort of information seems particularly appropriate. I haven't noticed you doing much of that sort of personal application of the poems before, but I hope you will feel free to do more of it you feel it is appropriate.
Sonnet 21, is my favorite sonnet from the "Sonnets of the Portuguese" and once again you did a fantastic job of explaining it. Someone reading my comments might not be surprised that I had commented on your blog because I have experessed my gratitude several times for this lovely sonnet. As my grandmother would have said, "You have hit the nail right on its head" when you had stated that Elizabeth Browning needs to see that Robert loves her through his actions in addition to being told by word. It is the little things that we do, as men, really shows our love for our wives, such as fixing dinner when she has to work late, cleaning the dishes when she has cooked the meal, fixing her bath after she has put our children to bed and many other small things. We might not be perfect but at least we are trying in our various ways to show that we love her.
Thanks for sharing your story, and even when words cannot be uttered I hope you will have that assurance that love is returned to you because it is being done in the soul.
When I read the first few lines of Sonnet 21, I did not get the impression of a need for reassurance. Instead, I was struck with a sense of self-indulgence.
I am not completely aware of the exact circumstances of the two lovers' romance, but I can easily assume that emotions were continually shifting and transforming, even after each sonnet was written.
It's strange to analyze a love poem that was never really intended to be examined! It's funny how things turn out!
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