4.1.1
Summary & Structure
Summary of Sonnet 29
Summary of Sonnet 29
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 29 is is an extended metaphor following the narrator’s feeling of distance from her lover.
Summary
Summary
- The poem is an extended metaphor following the narrator’s feeling of distance from her lover.
- She tells her lover she thinks of him all the time, so much so that her thoughts have become like vines that act to obscure (hide) him from her.
- But over the course of the poem, she comes to realise that her conception of him in her mind can never match up to his physical presence in her life.
- She concludes that she no longer needs to think of her lover, as she is near him and that is enough.
Context
Context
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Sonnet 29 as part of a collection of 44 sonnets called Sonnets from the Portuguese, published in 1850.
- These were written while she was being courted by Robert Browning.
- Their marriage would lead to Barrett Browning being disinherited by her father.
Analysis of Sonnet 29
Analysis of Sonnet 29
- In this poem, we see a direct contrast to the kind of relationship we see in her husband’s poem Porphyria’s Lover.
- In Porphyria's Lover, we have one narrative voice, caught up in their thoughts.
- But in Barrett Browning’s poem, the narrator acknowledges her lover as a person that exists outside of her mind.
- This poem is an exploration of a relationship that finds balance and allows for compromise and equality.
- Barrett Browning’s version of love in this poem is nourishing, in contrast to Browning’s deadly love.
Structure and Form of Sonnet 29
Structure and Form of Sonnet 29
The sonnet form of Sonnet 29 influences the poem in the following ways:
Sonnet form
Sonnet form
- A sonnet has 14 lines with a regular rhyme scheme. It is made up of two quatrains (two parts of four lines) and a sestet (one part of six lines).
- A sonnet is usually about love – sonnets are especially concerned with love that is in some way unattainable.
- We can see in some ways how Barrett Browning has subverted (undermined) this norm, as she is separated from her own lover by her own thoughts.
Structure (pre-turning point)
Structure (pre-turning point)
- In the first quatrain, we see Browning introducing her dilemma. Her thoughts have wrapped up and obscured her lover.
- In the second quatrain, we see a shift in her perspective. She is beginning to realise that she should not place her thoughts of her lover over his physical presence:
- 'Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood / I will not have my thoughts instead of thee.'
Volta (turning point) and final sestet
Volta (turning point) and final sestet
- The volta (turn of thought) of the poem appears at the beginning of the final sestet of the poem.
- The narrator instead decides that she wants her lover to 'renew' his physical presence in her life.
- This final sestet is characterised by explosive and urgent language – reflecting the change in her state of mind.
1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)
2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley
3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis
5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)
6.1Letters from Yorkshire Analysis
7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)
8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)
8.1Walking Away Analysis
9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)
10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)
10.1Follower Analysis
11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963
11.1'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis
12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)
12.1Before You Were Mine Analysis
13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)
14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)
14.1Singh Song! Analysis
15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse
15.1Climbing My Grandfather Analysis
16Grade 9 - Comparisons
16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
Jump to other topics
1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)
2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley
3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis
5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)
6.1Letters from Yorkshire Analysis
7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)
8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)
8.1Walking Away Analysis
9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)
10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)
10.1Follower Analysis
11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963
11.1'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis
12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)
12.1Before You Were Mine Analysis
13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)
14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)
14.1Singh Song! Analysis
15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse
15.1Climbing My Grandfather Analysis
16Grade 9 - Comparisons
16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
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