BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT (1806 61). An English poet. She was the eldest daugh ter of Edward Moulton, or Moulton-Barrett, as lie afterwards wrote his name, and Mary Graham, and was born at Coxhoe Ilall, five miles from the city of Durham, March 6, 1806. In 1809 the family settled in Herefordshire, among the Mal vern Hills. Elizabeth early displayed great precocity, eagerly read books beyond the com prehension of most children, and when about eleven years old, composed an 'epic poem,' "The Battle of Marathon," an echo of Pope's Iliad.
Taking up the study of the classics in the orig inal. she read widely in Greek literature, nor was she less acquainted with that of her own country. In 1826 she published anonymously An Essay on Mind and Other Poems, giving evidence of un usual powers. In 1832 the family removed to Sidmouth, and three rears later to London, where Miss Barrett established her reputation by The Seraphim and Other Poems (183S). The burst ing of a blood-vessel in the lungs, added to the shock eaused by the death. in 1840, of a favorite brother, endangered her life, and for seven years she was confined to her room; but even here she resumed her labors, and in 1844 published Poems, including "The Cry of the Children." and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship." in which she praised Robert Browning's verse. On May 20, IS45. she first met that distinguished poet, and on Sep tember 12. 1846, they were married against her father's wishes. Proceeding to Italy, they made Florence their home, and there in 1849 a son was born. Robert Wiedemann Barrett, now known as an artist and a poet. In IMO appeared a collected edition of :NIT:. Browning's poems, with revisions and omissions, containing also a new translation of the Prometheus Bound, and in 1856 Aurora Leigh, a. romance, partly auto
biographical, in blank verse. Casa Guidi Win dows ( 1851 ) and Poems Before Congress (1860), were inspired by her ardent sympathy with the movement to free Italy. By this time ber health had begun to fail, and on June 29, 186l, she passed peacefully away. In 1802 AD. Browning published a volume of verses by his wife, Last Poems; in 1863 her Greek Christian Poets and the English Poets, essays and translations orig inally written for the Athenaeum, and in 1866 Selections From the Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (24 series, 1880). The married life of these brilliant poets was singularly happy, and their mutual influence is clearly seen in their verse. Browning was slight in figure. had brilliant eyes. and an expressive face. was deeply spiritual. as all her writings show. fascinating in conversation, and erudite without being pe dantic. Composing with great ease, she often employed false metres and fell into affecta tions. but it was well said of her that her diction was "at, times sublime. and always musical and beautiful." The Sonnets From the Portuguese, so called, written after her engagement to .11r. Browning (privately printed in 1847 and in cluded in the volume of 1S50), are unrivaled. of their kind, in the English language. Consult: Ingram. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Boston, ISSS) ; Bayne. Two Great Englishwomen. (Lon don. 1881) : Letters of E. B. Browning. edited by Kenyon (London and New York, 1897) ; Letters of R. Browning and E. Barrett (London and New York, 1899) ; and Letters to R. H. Horne, edited by Stoddard (New York, 1577).