THE POETICAL WORKS
OF
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
IN SIX VOLUMES
LONDON
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1890
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING'S
POETICAL WORKS
VOL. I.
Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett.at the age of nine.
Engraved by G. Cooke from a Drawing by Charles Hayter.
London: Published by Smith, Elder & Co. 15. Waterloo Place.
PREFATORY NOTE.
In a recent "Memoir of Elizabeth Barrett Browning,"by John H. Ingram, it is observed that "such essays onher personal history as have appeared, either in Englandor elsewhere, are replete with mistakes or misstatements."For these he proposes to substitute "a correct if shortmemoir:" but, kindly and appreciative as may be Mr.Ingram's performance, there occur not a few passages init equally "mistaken and misstated."
1. "Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of EdwardMoulton Barrett, was born in London on the 4th ofMarch, 1809." Elizabeth was born, March 6, 1806, atCoxhoe Hall, county of Durham, the residence of herfather.[A] "Before she was eleven she composed an epicon 'Marathon.'" She was then fourteen.
2. "It is said that Mr. Barrett was a man of intellectand culture, and therefore able to direct his daughter'seducation, but be that so or not, he obtained for herthe tutorial assistance of the well-known Greek scholarHugh Stuart Boyd ... who was also a writer of fluentverse: and his influence and instruction doubtless confirmedMiss Barrett in her poetical aspirations." Mr.Boyd, early deprived of sight from over-study, residedat Malvern, and cared for little else than Greek literature,especially that of the "Fathers." He was about or overfifty, stooped a good deal, and was nearly bald. Hisdaily habit was to sit for hours before a table, treatingit as a piano with his fingers, and reciting Greek—hismemory for which was such that, on a folio column ofhis favourite St. Gregory being read to him, he wouldrepeat it without missing a syllable. Elizabeth, thenresiding in Herefordshire, visited him frequently, partlyfrom her own love of Greek, and partly from a desirefor the congenial society of one to whom her attendancemight be helpful. There was nothing in the least"tutorial" in this relation—merely the natural feeling ofa girl for a blind and disabled scholar in whose pursuitsshe took interest. Her knowledge of Greek was originallydue to a preference for sharing with her brotherEdward in the instruction of his Scottish tutor Mr.M'Swiney rather than in that of her own governessMrs. Orme: and at such lessons she constantly assisteduntil her brother's departure for the Charter House—wherehe had Thackeray for a schoolfellow. In pointof fact, she was self-taught in almost every respect.[Pg vii]Mr. Boyd was no writer of "fluent verse," though hepublished an unimportant volume, and the literarysympathies of the friends were exclusively bestowed onGreek.
3. "Edward, the eldest of the family," was Elizabeth'syounger by nearly two years. He and his companionsperished, not "just off Teignmouth," but in B