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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
"Of writing many books there is no end;
And I who have written much in prose and verse
For others' uses, will write now for mine-
Will write my story for my better self
As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is."
Although fairly difficult to read and understand for a non-native speaker of English as myself, Aurora Leigh is an interesting poem on many levels. Firstly, it adapts the form of the long poem - usually reserved for epic or works that strove to imitate the classics - to the topic of contemporary (for the 1850s at least) life, which was at the time a groundbreaking concept. Secondly, it features as its main character Aurora, a strong and independent woman, who fights for her right to write and be considered a peer to the other male poets.
The first two books start somewhat slow, but the pace quickens as the story goes on, becoming more and more interesting for the modern reader. The abundance of explanatory notes in this particular edition (cured by Kerry McSweeney) aids further in understanding all the texts and phenomena that Elizabeth Barrett Browning cited throughout the whole poem.
And I who have written much in prose and verse
For others' uses, will write now for mine-
Will write my story for my better self
As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is."
Although fairly difficult to read and understand for a non-native speaker of English as myself, Aurora Leigh is an interesting poem on many levels. Firstly, it adapts the form of the long poem - usually reserved for epic or works that strove to imitate the classics - to the topic of contemporary (for the 1850s at least) life, which was at the time a groundbreaking concept. Secondly, it features as its main character Aurora, a strong and independent woman, who fights for her right to write and be considered a peer to the other male poets.
The first two books start somewhat slow, but the pace quickens as the story goes on, becoming more and more interesting for the modern reader. The abundance of explanatory notes in this particular edition (cured by Kerry McSweeney) aids further in understanding all the texts and phenomena that Elizabeth Barrett Browning cited throughout the whole poem.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
4.5/5
This was at times wonderful and compelling and a page-turner, and also at other times extremely slow and tedious and unexciting. EBB has some wonderful poetic moments; so many quotes and passages of blank verse that I would happily learn by heart and have stored in me forever. I particularly loved Book Five where Aurora is philosophising about writing and art and the role of the poet and the woman poet. Also the way she illustrates the beauty of Italy and compares it to England is always exquisite.
Sometimes I struggled to follow the plot (and there is actually quite a lot of plot, and dialogue, and this didn’t interest me as much as the philosophising) because I would read ‘Aurora Leigh’ closely the way I always read poetry, soaking up the language and the sounds. But this is not just poetry, it’s a verse novel, and there is plot to follow. I loved Marian Erle, but didn’t care much for Romney Leigh and how all relationships seem to circle around him. Then again, this is subverted quite interestingly towards the end – but no more, no spoilers!
Still, what EBB did with the form is so impressive. From her letters (included in this Norton Critical Edition) I could tell that she had come up with the concept of the form of ‘Aurora Leigh’ before its plot. She uses the epic poem form but makes the story modern, female and domestic, not a grand masculine battle narrative. This is satisfyingly relevant to the “philosophising”, as I now call it, of Aurora about poetry in Book Five, as she argues that the poet's ‘sole work is to represent the age,/Their age, not Charlemagne’s, – this live, throbbing age,/That brawls, cheats, maddens, calculates, aspires,/And spends more passion, more heroic heat,/Betwixt the mirrors of its drawing rooms,/Than Roland with his knights at Roncesvalles.’ Apparently this is an attack at Tennyson...
The inner life of women is properly explored, in all its elevated moments (Aurora Leigh as an artist and spiritual being) but also the gritty domesticity and disturbing abuse experienced by lower class women (Marian Erle, whose name is an indicative pun: marry an earl). Arguably EBB is condescending and privileged in that regard. Virginia Woolf has an interesting take on this in ‘Flush’, which is a comic retelling of EBB losing her dog (Flush) to Victorian dog-nappers in the slums of London, demanding a ransom for the pets of ladies.
I also really enjoyed the metaphysical aspect of ‘Aurora Leigh’: the eponymous protagonist is the narrator of the novel, and starts with much self-awareness (‘I, writing thus…’) in a wonderful empowering way, but ALSO the fictional Aurora Leigh is a poet who writes an autobiographical verse novel about herself called “Aurora Leigh”. Confusing, yes. And kind of funny that EBB gives the fictional Aurora a popular readership and fans whose letters she responds to, almost as if manifesting her own success with this book!
This was at times wonderful and compelling and a page-turner, and also at other times extremely slow and tedious and unexciting. EBB has some wonderful poetic moments; so many quotes and passages of blank verse that I would happily learn by heart and have stored in me forever. I particularly loved Book Five where Aurora is philosophising about writing and art and the role of the poet and the woman poet. Also the way she illustrates the beauty of Italy and compares it to England is always exquisite.
Sometimes I struggled to follow the plot (and there is actually quite a lot of plot, and dialogue, and this didn’t interest me as much as the philosophising) because I would read ‘Aurora Leigh’ closely the way I always read poetry, soaking up the language and the sounds. But this is not just poetry, it’s a verse novel, and there is plot to follow. I loved Marian Erle, but didn’t care much for Romney Leigh and how all relationships seem to circle around him. Then again, this is subverted quite interestingly towards the end – but no more, no spoilers!
Still, what EBB did with the form is so impressive. From her letters (included in this Norton Critical Edition) I could tell that she had come up with the concept of the form of ‘Aurora Leigh’ before its plot. She uses the epic poem form but makes the story modern, female and domestic, not a grand masculine battle narrative. This is satisfyingly relevant to the “philosophising”, as I now call it, of Aurora about poetry in Book Five, as she argues that the poet's ‘sole work is to represent the age,/Their age, not Charlemagne’s, – this live, throbbing age,/That brawls, cheats, maddens, calculates, aspires,/And spends more passion, more heroic heat,/Betwixt the mirrors of its drawing rooms,/Than Roland with his knights at Roncesvalles.’ Apparently this is an attack at Tennyson...
The inner life of women is properly explored, in all its elevated moments (Aurora Leigh as an artist and spiritual being) but also the gritty domesticity and disturbing abuse experienced by lower class women (Marian Erle, whose name is an indicative pun: marry an earl). Arguably EBB is condescending and privileged in that regard. Virginia Woolf has an interesting take on this in ‘Flush’, which is a comic retelling of EBB losing her dog (Flush) to Victorian dog-nappers in the slums of London, demanding a ransom for the pets of ladies.
I also really enjoyed the metaphysical aspect of ‘Aurora Leigh’: the eponymous protagonist is the narrator of the novel, and starts with much self-awareness (‘I, writing thus…’) in a wonderful empowering way, but ALSO the fictional Aurora Leigh is a poet who writes an autobiographical verse novel about herself called “Aurora Leigh”. Confusing, yes. And kind of funny that EBB gives the fictional Aurora a popular readership and fans whose letters she responds to, almost as if manifesting her own success with this book!
Did not manage to finish before moving onto next book on course. Was okay for poetry.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the beautiful imagery of nature that Browning wrote to help carry along the story.
a MONSTER to get through. i hated it. but the ending made me realize why i needed to read this. poetry matters, man. im very mind blown rn and will def read this again later on. left the page with a sense of conviction.
also, very quotable! there’s a twitter bio or yearbook quote for u in there somewhere.
also, very quotable! there’s a twitter bio or yearbook quote for u in there somewhere.
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2019/10/30/i-too-have-my-vocation/
I first found out about Aurora Leigh in a search for epic poetry by women. Although I'm not ultimately comfortable, now that I've finished it, with calling it an epic, I daresay it's nevertheless a masterful novel in (blank) verse, featuring among its prominent themes the struggle for social equality, feminism, and the empyrean aspirations of the artist. Barrett Browning has here expertly dovetailed the plot mechanics of a novelist with the spirited musings of a poet. Yes, it's at times difficult to understand, but that's not least due to the characters themselves being given to circumlocution and indirection, which is really a key part of the book's mode. She neither gives us what we expect nor shocks in order to be shocking; her twists are both surprising and natural. If this is what Victorian novels are generally like, sign me up for the course!
I enjoyed this, for the most part. However, the iambic pentameter made it hard to understand it all on the first go. Overall, I would say I would like it more if I didn't have to read this for a class.