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A review by jcol
Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
4.0
"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.