Mod. A – Elizabeth Barrett Browning Poem Questions

Resource Description

EBB – Poem Questions

Sonnet 1

Who is speaking in this poem? To whom?
The female persona is from the Victorian Era is speaking to time/fate. She seemingly represents Victorian females, but on closer inspection she is a person who subverts the traditional conventions of women in her era. As opposed to a lot of her poems, she is not speaking to her beloved, or her object of love. The speaker of the poem is a female persona who is seemingly an iconic Victorian convention women; fearful, fragile and repressed by a patriarchal society. However, upon closer inspection the persona is defying the social expectations of her gender by resisting and opposing her destiny through an address to fate.

The poem begins with an allusion. Explain.
The allusion begins with a reference to 3rd century Greek poet Theocritus. Theocritus symbolises courtly love and the cyclical nature of life as part of the pastoral poetry tradition. She uses intertextuality of some sort. This is a representation of the idyllic and conventional notions of life and love and the passive role of females within this social paradigm, which are later, challenged in the conclusion of the sonnet.

What do you think would constitute ‘sweet years’?
The “Sweet years” could represent childhood and the innocence and naivety, which are fleeting and are part of our mortal existence, which later becomes the source of mourning.

What is the initial effect on the persona of her recollection?
This initial effect on the persona is despair at the realisation of her immortality and predetermined destiny of the convention of role of females in this era.

Explain the unexpected discovery the persona makes at the end of the poem? How would this be significant for the persona?
She discovers the unexpected nature of love that gives her hope. Love comes in the form restoration, she able to acquire salvation through her revelation of love. It is a significant antithesis of direct speech that leads to the persona’s concluding revelation highlighting the change in outlook from octave to sestet. There is a purpose of her life that gives her a sense of relevance. For the persona, it is significant as a source of restoration and a beacon of hope, purity and salvation from her despair. It is love not death.