Sunday, September 12, 2010

There's No Escaping Love

Love follows us everywhere. At school, at home, in the movies, on television, in a book-it's all over the place. The question is: Can two people really love one another deeply and unequivocably? The answer: Yes, and two poets, Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, prove that in their poetry. Alfred Tennyson, quite possibly one of the most romantic people ever, fell in love with a woman named Emily Sellwood. It was love at first sight. He knew he wanted to wed Emily. Due to his financial crisis, he was unable to marry her in 1838. For over 20 years, he never laid eyes on another woman, and she never laid eyes on another man. Finally in 1850, three years after his success with the book length poem, The Princess, he was able to wed Emily. The poem, The Bugle Song, was written to tell Tennyson's story of his love for Emily. The use of such strong and vivid words like "shimmer" and "echoes" show that Tennyson's feelings for Emily were constantly present and echoed through the night for all to hear and see. How romantic :) Robert Browning, even more romantic than Tennyson, corresponded with a woman, Elizabeth Barrett, by letter before marrying her in September of 1846. They fell in love with each other via letters. Now wouldn't you like to get a HANDWRITTEN letter from the person you love? It would melt every woman's heart. Anyway, though, Browning's poem, How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, demonstrates how much love there was in his life. The narrator's love for his horse and what's around him just shows the amount of love Browning had for Elizabeth. I mean, how can someone write about something so moving and lovely and not indeed have love in his life? Obviously, Browning was head over heals for her. Poetry-a way in which poets express their love for others. Tennyson and Browning do just that. It's beautiful, it's touching, it's moving. Who wouldn't want someone like Tennyson or Browning in their life? Love, well, it's everywhere, and when someone writes about it, we all fall madly in love with the poem. Honestly, though, how can you not? Until we meet again, xoxo Brunette

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