I thought once how Theocritus had sung
Of the sweet years, the dear and wished-for years,
Who each one in a gracious hand appears
To bear a gift for mortals, old or young:
And, as I mused it in his antique tongue,
I saw, in gradual vision through my tears,
The sweet, sad years, the melancholy years,
Those of my own life, who by turns had flung
A shadow across me. Straightway I was ’ware,
So weeping, how a mystic Shape did move
Behind me, and drew me backward by the hair;
And a voice said in mastery, while I strove,—
“Guess now who holds thee!”—“Death,” I said, But, there,
The silver answer rang, “Not Death, but Love.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Notes on "I thought once how Theocritus had sung"
This is poem number I (1) of Sonnets from the
Portuguese, written by Elizabeth Barrett for Robert Browning in the 1840s, during their courtship. When they decided to
publish these poems, the Brownings tried to pretend that these sonnets had been translated from the Portuguese. A major
issue in their courtship was the age difference, as she was 6 years older than he, as well as ill. The subject of this
poem shows her doubts and amazement that Browning could really love her and also hints at the transformation that took
place in her, as she was soon to emerge from her hopeless invalid state and become a young mother.
Theocritus was a Greek poet who lived about 300-250
B.C.E. He invented pastoral poetry- the "idylls," wrote some epics and some homosexual poetry
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) is now best remembered for her
"Sonnets from the Portuguese," a cycle of sonnets written during her courtship with Robert Browning.
In fact however, she was an accomplished poet before she met Browning.
Most of her poems were not about romantic love.
They were topical poems about political issues such as child labor, slavery and the Italian national cause.
Elizabeth Barrett was a "hopeless" invalid and recluse, six years older than Robert Browning. They were happily married and had a son.
The fame of the poets, and the fairy-tale story of the girl who was thought to be doomed to be an old maid,
rescued from a loveless existence and brought back to life and
the world by a gallant suitor, kindled the imagination of the public.
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