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| 1/10/1845 |
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Browning, Barrett, Love
On this day in 1845 Robert Browning wrote his first letter to Elizabeth Barrett, so inciting one of the most legendary of literary love stories. The letter belongs to the 'fan mail' category -- the praise of a thirty-two-year-old up-and-comer for one just six years older and already internationally famous -- but it was more than just poet-to-poet: "...I do, as I say, love these books with all my heart -- and I love you too." |
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| 6/26/1284 |
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Pied Pipers
On this day in 1284 the Pied Piper lured the children away from Hamelin, to something better or worse, depending on which legend, poem, play, film, song, scholar or physician you consult -- the documents ranging in date and format from a stained glass window made shortly after the event to Jethro Tull's Too Old to Rock 'n Roll, Too Young to Die album. |
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| 9/12/1846 |
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The Brownings: "Dared and Done" read it now!
On this day in 1846, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning married secretly. Until she received a fan letter from Browning, Barrett showed every sign of complying with her father's ban on marriage. Twenty months later -- 575 letters from Browning, and almost daily visits -- Barrett would shed her "graveclothes" and walk out of the bedroom she hadn't left for six years except when carried. |
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| 12/12/1889 |
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Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett and After
Popularity came late to Robert Browning, but in his last years he could walk the streets of London without hearing the gossip that he had married Elizabeth Barrett for her fame or money, and see shop windows full of posters bearing some of his cheeriest lines: "God's in his heaven -- All's right with the world!" and "O to be in England/Now that April's there" and "A man's reach should exceed his grasp/Or what's a heaven for?" |
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Academy of American Poets
Browning biography, poetry, bibliography, and links. Selected poems include "My Last Duchess," "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," "Rabbi Ben Ezra," and "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister."
"After reading Elizabeth Barrett's Poems (1844) and corresponding with her for a few months, Browning met her in 1845. They were married in 1846, against the wishes of Barrett's father. The couple moved to Pisa and then Florence, where they continued to write. They had a son, Robert 'Pen' Browning, in 1849, the same year his Collected Poems was published. Elizabeth inspired Robert's collection of poems Men and Women (1855), which he dedicated to her. Now regarded as one of Browning's best works, the book was received with little notice at the time; its author was then primarily known as Elizabeth Barrett's husband." |  | Online Book Page
Find electronic texts of A Blot in the 'Scutcheon, Christmas Eve, Dramatic Lyrics, Dramatic Romances, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and The Ring and the Book. Browning translations of Agamemnon by Aeschylus is also available. | | The Pied Piper Homepage
Explores the historical background of the legend, and offers links to electronic texts, literary criticism and analysis, and information about derivative works including poems, literature, music, and film (e.g., Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter).
"There has been much discussion of the historical origins of the story. Was the Piper a ratcatcher cheated of his just remuneration? Was he a recruiting agent for a military campaign? Was he the instigator of an emigration to Rumania, the German colonies in the Baltic region or the Holy Land? That no one has as yet found conclusive evidence for any of these contentions may well point to the secret of the legend's appeal to both the popular and the poetic imagination; through the centuries the legend has shown itself open to reinterpretation without losing its identity as a nexus of associations based on a common theme. The story links myth and history, the supernatural and the world of daily experience." | | The Pied Piper of Hamelin
A wonderful 1888 edition of Browning's poem, richly illustrated by Kate Greenaway. | | The Victorian Web
Collection of essays that describe society, religion and politics in nineteenth century England, and their impact on Browning's life and works. Also features several biographies, and literary criticism and analysis of major themes, characterization, use of imagery and symbolism, and concordances with other authors (including Thomas Carlyle, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Alfred Lord Tennyson). A useful resource for students and teachers. | |
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The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
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