ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING’S BEGINNINGS: 1812 – 1814

Abstract

In this paper I explore Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s first ever 10 poems, composed [c. 1812–1814]. These initial poetic attempts suggest the emergence of the young writer’s cultural awareness of time and space in relation to her growing sense of duty. I stress the importance of the element of boundary as part of the poetess’ self-conscious narrative representation of selfhood as a communal phenomenon, of which the rest of the poems she wrote in 1814 inform, as they also provide keys to deciphering the poetess’ mature ontological orientation.