Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 11 Oct 2018, 06:58

Elizabeth Barrett Browning


Papa, you changed after Mama died,
forbidding your daughters from marrying.

I accepted that decision
but then Robert’s letters arrived,
like birds through an open window.
After meeting him more letters
quickly flocked in,
one saying
he loved me. Impetuous,
absurd
, I insisted. Never mention love
again
. Inevitably, like the moon
"love" kept popping up.

Papa would never agree to my marrying.
To broach the point would have meant
all doors locked from outsiders,
even letters turned away.

What else could Robert and I do
but elope?
Crossing the Channel
was nothing compared to the distance
that opened between me and you, Papa.

Yet here I am, disinherited, an island
you have purged from your map.
Oh, Papa, for too long
I was an invalid whose friends
existed on paper.

Thank god, Robert's love has stayed
as steadfast as the seasons,
my heart no longer merely
a postal destination.

Kenneth2816
Posts: 1619
Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 09:17

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#2 Post by Kenneth2816 » 11 Oct 2018, 09:54

Excellent
I've read the letters.

"an island you purged from your map"

IndianaDP
Posts: 181
Joined: 24 Mar 2018, 16:53

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#3 Post by IndianaDP » 11 Oct 2018, 18:46

In the end love wins, especially like-

I was an invalid whose friends
existed on paper.

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Billy
Posts: 1384
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 10:56

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#4 Post by Billy » 11 Oct 2018, 21:12

really great: “like birds through an open window”

great poem
i might end it this way:


Yet here I am, disinherited, an island
you have purged from your map.
Oh, Papa, for too long
I was an invalid whose friends
existed on paper.
My heart’s no longer merely
a postal destination.

but maybe not.

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#5 Post by BobBradshaw » 12 Oct 2018, 21:09

Ken, Dale, Billy -- thank you

Kenneth2816
Posts: 1619
Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 09:17

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#6 Post by Kenneth2816 » 13 Oct 2018, 23:06

This is my pick for IBPC. See my comments on the other forum as well

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#7 Post by BobBradshaw » 14 Oct 2018, 03:08

I appreciate it, Ken, but I plan to submit this poem to a publication

Kenneth2816
Posts: 1619
Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 09:17

Re: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

#8 Post by Kenneth2816 » 14 Oct 2018, 03:34

Good

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