Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a series of love poems to Robert Browning, which I consider to be her best work. These sonnets were collectively called the Sonnets from the Portuguese. It seems quite clear to the reader that these sonnets were not intended to be published, for they captured Elizabeth's uncensored, undying love written solely for the eyes of Robert.

Sonnet 21 of these love writings conveys Elizabeth's pure love in a very emotional, yet somewhat depressing way. The poem begins with Elizabeth begging to Robert:

"Say over again, and yet once over again,

That thou dost love me"(530).

Through the entire sonnet, Elizabeth continues to plead with Robert, that he may confess his love to her over and over again. She seeks to attain the reassurance that his love for her is as great as her love for him. She writes that his words of reassurance should seem like a "cuckoo-song," just as her pleading for them sounds throughout the poem. He continues to disregard her plea, but she continues to prompt him:

"Remember, never to the hill or plain,

Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain

Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed" (530).

She is communicating that although such a "cuckoo-song" will sometimes seem insistent and unimportant, the spring will never go anywhere without the sound of her "cuckoo-strain," and therefore, the validation of his love should be no less consistent. Elizabeth reveals her apprehension of Robert's feelings the the following lines:

"Beloved, I, amid the darkness greeted 

By doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt's pain

Cry, "Speak once more---thou lovest!"(530-531).

Elizabeth writes of her doubt concerning Robert's love for her. She begs for reassurance - to know that she has no reason to doubt him, no reason to feel in the dark in their relationship, and no reason to continue crying out for more affirmation. She needs more than his words to attain this; although he confesses his love again and again, these words alone do not restore her confidence in him for she still experiences "doubt's pain." She begins to question whether he may ever be able to declare his love enough times to ease her pain. She equilibrates this notion with the stars and of flowers stating:

"Who can fear 

Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,

Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?"(631).

There can never be too many of a good thing. Just as there cannot be too many flowers or stars, Robert cannot proclaim his love too many times to Elizabeth. She finally declares, with the repetition for which she personally desires, "Say thou dost love me, love me, love me..."(631). Elizabeth deeply wishes only to be coveted like she covets Robert, and only to receive the affirmation of this in the same way which she is passionately affirming her love to him. The final statement defines her true feeling:

"Dear,

To love me also in silence with thy soul" (631).

This line of the sonnet seems to slip out the end of the writing, as if it is meant to be read in a whisper, a secret confession to which Elizabeth herself does not yet want to fully commit to. It is as if while writing this poem, she came to this disheartening conclusion as she poured her doubts onto paper. Elizabeth now knows that Robert can proclaim his love an infinite number of times, but she will not feel it, because he does not yet truly mean it. Until Robert feels his love in "silence" without the interference of her pleading, will Elizabeth be able to feel this love, become confident in it, and do away with her constant pain of doubting her relationship.