Elizabeth Barett Browning - Sonnet 29 ("I Think of Thee!") Flashcards
1
Q
What is the poem about?
A
- The narrator admits to her lover that she thinks about him when not with him, and that she’s worried her thoughts will obscure the reality of what he’s really like. * She reassures him that her thoughts don’t compare to reality and would rather just be with him instead of constantly thinking about him.
2
Q
Give a brief synopsis of the poem
A
- The speaker begins by stating how their thoughts wrap around their lover like vines around a tree
- Barrett Browning develops this metaphor further by describing the effect of the speaker’s thoughts
- Eventually the speaker comes to the conclusion that now they are physically close with their lover, they no longer feel these overwhelming thoughts.
3
Q
When was the poet alive?
A
1806-1861
4
Q
When was the poem written?
A
1845-1846
5
Q
Context regarding Elizabeth Barrett Browning
A
- Wrote this whilst courting Robert Browning so it is thought to be written about him.
- It was published in a collection of 44 sonnets called “Sonnets from the Portuguese” which are all thought to be written for him
- The poems were written during their courtship rather than after their marriage; she didn’t show him the poems until years after they married showing how they were written for Barrett Browning herself rather than for a public audience.
- By writing about such a high-profile individual in the 1800s publicly, it would have created a heightened sense of tension around the collection.
- Her father did not allow marriage so they met in secret, wrote hundreds of letters to each other and eventually eloped.
- When she married Robert, she was cut off from her family - she was six years Robert’s senior.
- Both herself and Robert experienced enough success to live comfortably during their lives. Barrett Browning was known to be socially conscious and vocal about the issues of child labour and slavery.
6
Q
Context regarding the Victorian era + women
A
- During the Victorian era, women were expected to not experience or express strong emotions so the end of the poem may be representative of her casting off these restraints and is generally representative of a rebellion from the gender expectations she was bound to.
- Barrett Browning was also known to be bedridden for large parts of her life- this could be why she is writing about thinking about people rather than being with them.
7
Q
“I think of thee! - my thoughts do twine and bud”
A
- Poem consists of an extended metaphor - he is a tree and her thoughts about him are a vine
- Her uses of an exclamation mark how’s depth of her feelings, and may also appear defensive - perhaps as a response to an accusative letter
- By directly addressing the poem at her lover, it is being set up as a personal poem initially, making it a more intimate love poem
- The poem starts with “I think of thee!”, this immediately draws the readers attention to her lover, and the fact that she is addressing him personally makes it seem much more personal.
8
Q
“About thee, as wild vines, about a tree,”
A
- Her growing thoughts are beginning to feed off of him and become detrimental
- “Tree” and “thee” sets up an internal rhyme which makes the relationship appear more harmonious - emphasises her lover’s character as a tree
- Natural imagery of the growing vines reflects the constant growth and development of her feelings for her lover, as well as their intense and invasive nature
9
Q
“Put out broad leaves, and soon there’s nought to see”
A
- She has though about him too much that she can no longer see him really, she can only se the image she has created of him
- “There’s nought to see” also implies that she is unable to think about anything other than him, also shows that the narrator’s thoughts threaten to prevent her from seeing him as he truly is.
- “broad leaves” - her love for him is extensive
10
Q
“Except the straggling green which hides the wood.”
A
- “hides the woods” implies that she is worried that their love for each other will conceal their true selves
- “the straggling green” - suggests that the vines are inferior to the tree - so her thoughts about him are inferior to the real thing
11
Q
“Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood”
A
- Use of pronoun “my” shows their dependency on each other - possessive, emphasises the narrator’s clinginess to her lover
- Palm tree is and odd choice of metaphor - exotic and biblical connotations - may be representative of either the novelty of timeless nature of their relationship, also makes the lover appear more exotic and valuable
12
Q
“I will not have my thoughts instead of thee”
“Who art dearer, better! Rather, instantly”
A
- Alliterative sibilance in “thoughts” and “thee” to create a negative tone towards the beginning of the poem
- The monosyllabism of line 6 makes the line read very quickly, almost as if shouting a command, which shows the intensity of her feelings.
- The exclamation reinforces this as well as representing the volta of the poem as the narrator comes to the solution to her dilemma.
13
Q
“Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should,”
“Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare,”
A
- Auditory imagery here, ‘rustle thy boughs’ has natural connotations, implying inevitability of their love for each other
- The alliteration between the starts of both lines draws attention to the imperatives, which emphasises the narrator’s desperation for her lover to act.
- ‘set thy trunk all bare’ - it displays the narrator’s desire to be with her love, however, it has a second meaning as an innuendo, where she wants to see his shaft in the more literal way, which would have been considered extremely bold in the Victorian era in which this was written, since women were expected to be more mature, and not talk about sex.
14
Q
“And let these bands a greenery which insphere thee”
A
- Her thoughts are presented to be suffocating
15
Q
“Drop heavily down, - burst, shattered, everywhere!”
A
- Use of triadic structure marks a turning point in the poem
- ‘heavily’ - by mentioning weight she emphasises how much she thinks about him, and that the thoughts are a heavy burden.
- ‘burst shattered everywhere’ - By using three different words to describe the way her lover’s presence replaces her thoughts the poet emphasises the narrator’s excitement and demonstrates her intense longing, the caesura contributes to further the dramatic effect.
16
Q
“Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee”
“And breathe within thy shadow a new air,”
A
- Plosive sound made by “Because” marks the conclusion of her argument, and she now wants to make him understand how much she enjoys being with him
17
Q
“I do not think of thee - I am too near thee.”
A
- She eventually breaks free of her obsessive thoughts and they are able to love each other
- The reversal of the first line emphasises the difference between simply thinking about her lover and actually being with him.
- ‘I am too near thee’ -
It demonstrates that she no longer has to think about him when she’s with him since he is better than anything she could ever imagine. - Rhyming ‘thee’ with itself three times at the end of the poem - poet rhymes lover with himself, clearly demonstrating her obsession with him
18
Q
Describe the significance of the title
A
- Use of exclamation mark shows excitement to think of her lover
- Title is eventually ended in the final line - “I do not think of thee…”
- Title echoes the opening line to emphasise how the poem is directed at a another person
19
Q
Describe the form of the poem.
A
- The poem is written as a Petrarchan sonnet, an octave followed by a sestet.
- The first 8 lines are meant to provide a problem and the next six to solve it.
- The poet instead comes to the solution at lin 7, having it come early reflects the narrator’s impatience to be with her lover.
