Analysis of 3 of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Poems
Step 1- first impression
Step 2- contrasts
Step 3- purpose of the author in writing the poem
Step 4- line-by-line analysis of the literary devices used in the poem
Expository paragraph
Sonnet from the Portuguese V: I lift my heavy heart up solemnly by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I lift my heavy heart up solemnly,
As once Electra her sepulchral urn,
And, looking in thine eyes, I overturn
The ashes at thy feet. Behold and see
What a great heap of grief lay hid in me,
And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn –
Through the ashen greyness. If thy foot in scorn
Could tread them out to darkness utterly,
It might be well perhaps. But if instead
Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow
The grey dust up,... those laurels on thine head,
O My beloved, will not shield thee so,
That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred
The hair beneath. Stand further off then! Go.
Step 1
It seems like Elizabeth Browning is angry at someone who sounds to me like her ex. He breaks up with her and she is threatening him to go before she does something in a fit of rage, like burn him. Then she is so sorrowful, she feels worse than ashes trampled on the ground (Line 7-8).
Step 2 Some contrasts used by Browning are:
Line 6-7 “And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn Through the ashen greyness.” The sparkles are wild but dim at the same time, and the grey and the red are contrasting colors, the red standing out against the grey.
Line 13 “That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred” even though throughout the whole poem she refers to herself as ash.
Step 3 Elizabeth Browning’s purpose in writing this poem is to express her feelings, meaning her doubts, insecurities, and even hope, toward her relationship with this man. She has very conflicted feelings toward him, whether she hates him or loves him. She’s trying to work out her feelings towards him on paper.
Step 4
Line 1: I lift my heavy heart up solemnly, -metonymy. She is actually offering him her “heavy”
and
Step 2- contrasts
Step 3- purpose of the author in writing the poem
Step 4- line-by-line analysis of the literary devices used in the poem
Expository paragraph
Sonnet from the Portuguese V: I lift my heavy heart up solemnly by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I lift my heavy heart up solemnly,
As once Electra her sepulchral urn,
And, looking in thine eyes, I overturn
The ashes at thy feet. Behold and see
What a great heap of grief lay hid in me,
And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn –
Through the ashen greyness. If thy foot in scorn
Could tread them out to darkness utterly,
It might be well perhaps. But if instead
Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow
The grey dust up,... those laurels on thine head,
O My beloved, will not shield thee so,
That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred
The hair beneath. Stand further off then! Go.
Step 1
It seems like Elizabeth Browning is angry at someone who sounds to me like her ex. He breaks up with her and she is threatening him to go before she does something in a fit of rage, like burn him. Then she is so sorrowful, she feels worse than ashes trampled on the ground (Line 7-8).
Step 2 Some contrasts used by Browning are:
Line 6-7 “And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn Through the ashen greyness.” The sparkles are wild but dim at the same time, and the grey and the red are contrasting colors, the red standing out against the grey.
Line 13 “That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred” even though throughout the whole poem she refers to herself as ash.
Step 3 Elizabeth Browning’s purpose in writing this poem is to express her feelings, meaning her doubts, insecurities, and even hope, toward her relationship with this man. She has very conflicted feelings toward him, whether she hates him or loves him. She’s trying to work out her feelings towards him on paper.
Step 4
Line 1: I lift my heavy heart up solemnly, -metonymy. She is actually offering him her “heavy”
and