Robert:
Ba, my sweet, I must tell the readers that had I not met and loved you, my life would never have become complete, nor would I have reached some degree of success. You, my darling, beautiful girl, with the sweet face surrounded by the mass of curls, released someone in me I could never have been without you.
Elizabeth: Robert, my darling, hush. It was you who rescued me from my darkened room, raised me from my bed to go into the world. No, no, my darling love, it is I who worship you and hold fast to your eternal love.
Before you came into my life Robert my love, I had become an invalid, sentenced to a lifetime of darkness and lying pitifully on my bed. My father convinced me that I was ill. The Doctor agreed and I was not allowed to leave the confines of my room. It was there that I poured out my soul in verse. Sometimes I translated into Greek to stimulate my mind. I was bedridden; sure I would be leaving this earth in but a short time.
Robert:
My darling Ba, how I wish I had known you before I had squandered so many years in foolishness, living off of my father’s dole. I regret the time spent in idleness and folderol. My sweet, for years my writing was scorned by publishers. Potential readers claimed they could not discern my heartfelt poetry. Even my father despaired of my future. I am indebted that he continued to support me until my sweet love, I met you.
Elizabeth:
Robert, my dearest, we pursued our paths as the Divine conspired. Had we not lived as we did, our paths might never have crossed, and love so sublime would have been lost to the world. Hush now my darling, I have been asked to present my early life to the readers of this work.
For a time, I lived a life of grandeur. My father was extremely wealthy as a plantation owner in Jamaica. His utmost desire was to live in England, where I was the first of his family to be born in his motherland. Our home was one of elegance, run very smoothly by servants. Alas, my poor mother was not well for many years of my life. When she passed I tried to take on the duties of matron of the household. My utter dismay is that I never achieved that role. A lung condition sent me to my bed where I languished under the spell of morphine administered by a Doctor my father held in great esteem.
The servants were commanded to keep my room dark. I was dissuaded from any attempt to remove myself from my bed. It was the life of a prisoner. It was a life that led me to deep depression, released only when I could pursue my love of learning. I was still a child when I learned Hebrew. The classics entranced me and I was enthralled to be able to translate the works of the Greek masters.
My greatest defeat was in not convincing my father of the atrocities of slavery. His wealth was dependent on slaves working on the family plantations in Jamaica. Could he not see the wrong committed by enslaving another? Was it wrong for me to be secretly happy when the enslaved revolted and father was forced to sell his property at a loss? God bless those who worked for a pittance so my father could live with great ease. I rejoiced in their freedom.
Oh but dear reader, I dare not dwell upon the sadness of my life, only the joy. You, my darling Rob brought me my greatest joy, even more than my fame as a poet. Writing poetry was a result of my desire for love. I still remember, with a bit of trembling, when we eloped to wed. I returned to my father’s house, fearful he would banish me back to my room. A long terrifying week ensued before I steeled my way from the house, and we quickly embarked on our future, beginning in France.
I am saddened now to recall how short our life together was, only fifteen years. My sweet, they were the most blissful years one could ever dream of living. We had our son, Robert Wideman Browning, who brought us both delight. Tis true, I was desolate that my father refused to read my letters and returned them unopened. You held me when I wept. You dried my tears and assured me my father loved me. Thank you for that.
I loved our home in Florence. It gave me a sense of peace in spite of my constant turmoil over social issues like children working long hours and the oppression of women. Oh my dearest, I tried so hard to bring attention to the plight of those denied their rights as humans.
My concern for the rights of others diminished my popularity with those who preferred my romantic poetry. My darling, I felt inspired to help those who could not help themselves.
Were I to live in this age, I would continue my fight for the poor, the hungry, and the needy but only for those oppressed by others, not for those who have chosen the path of their own enslavement.
Please, my darling husband, take me from these dismal thoughts. Present your thoughts and the tale of your life before I became your wife.
Robert:
I wish not to dwell on my life before I met you my darling. It was not one of which I can take pride. In my youth, I was a rebel, a fighter, and a discontent. I was turned from school to tutor and from tutor to my mother whom I adored. She was frail, not well. Some have said my attraction to you in your ill condition was because you reminded me of my mother. It matters not my darling how you came into my life under any circumstance I would have loved you as no other.
My youth was spent in idleness due to a very generous father who knew early in my young manhood I was not destined to any suggestion of labor. It was expected that I would follow my father and grandfather into the banking business. I could not envision sitting behind a desk, wearing stogie clothes, and presenting a prim and proper attitude. No, I believed firmly in myself as a poet. Alas, publishers did not agree. Again my father enabled me to live my dream life. He bought copies of my works and gave them to family and friends who decried an understanding of them. I let that not dissuade me. I pursued my dream, my destiny.
How fortunate I was my dear to acquire your acquaintance through a mutual friend. He was one of the few visitors your father allowed into your room. He believed we would benefit in our work through each other. I adored your poetry, even though it made me realize how inept mine was. I was enthralled by your genius. Your mind pursued the classics and yet you could reach those not endowed with a great education, such as myself.
My darling I want to continue but my life was nothing until you became one with me and gave me the bounty of your love and your genius. I held you as you breathed your last breath and joined those who were waiting for you in the great beyond. I was naught to let you be taken from me and dreamed only when we would be together again.
Elizabeth:
As we are my darling Robert, as we will always be.
The End
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