Robert Browning's first letter to Elizabeth Barrett and their meeting

Background. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era. Her 1844 volume Poems brought her great success and attracted the admiration of Robert Browning, an English poet known for dramatic monologues. Browning's reputation had recovered by the mid-1840s, and he began corresponding with Barrett, who lived as a semi-invalid in London.

Correspondence. Browning's admiration for Barrett's work inspired him to write to her. They began regularly corresponding, and a romance gradually developed. This correspondence is noted as one of the most famous courtships in literature. The letters were conducted secretly because Barrett knew her father would disapprove of the relationship.

Literary Influence. Browning had a great influence on Barrett's subsequent writing, as she did on his. Two of Barrett's most famous pieces, Sonnets from the Portuguese and Aurora Leigh, were written after she met Browning. The Sonnets from the Portuguese, written c. 1845–1846, were love sonnets that Browning proposed she claim were translated from Portuguese.