Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Thus begins Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet "XLIII," the penultimate poem in her collection Sonnets from the Portuguese. Written for her husband Robert Browning, these sonnets are not only some of the most formally precise poems in the English language, but among the most astonishingly beautiful love poems ever written.

The book "" Aurora Leigh "" has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1863.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1863.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1866.

Aurora Leigh (1856) is an epic poem by English Romantic poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Described by Browning as “a novel in verse,” Aurora Leigh is primarily the story of its titular heroine, an intelligent woman and ambitious poet whose talent is matched only by her skill for self-doubt. Although it is narrated in the first person, the poem also concerns itself with the character Marian Erle, a woman rescued from a life on the streets by Aurora’s cousin Romney, who loves both women in complex and varying ways. Recognized as one of the most important poems of the nineteenth century, Aurora Leigh is notable for its use of the epic form—traditionally masculine, and concerned with subjects such as war, history, and the gods—in order to tell a story centered on talented and uniquely independent women. Born in Florence to a Tuscan mother and English father, and encouraged from a young age to study the classics and learn Latin and Greek, Aurora Leigh develops not only the desire to become a famous poet, but the talent and intelligence to achieve her dream. What she has in ambition and skill, however, she lacks in confidence, and, after moving to England as a teenager, Aurora struggles to make a name for herself in the competitive literary environment of London. While in England, she meets her cousin Romney Leigh, a dedicated and idealistic social worker who dreams of using his inheritance and family estate—Leigh Hall—to alleviate the suffering of the lower classes. Aurora Leigh is a dramatic tale of romance involving Marian Erle, Lady Waldemar—a beautiful aristocrat—and Aurora herself. As each of these women navigates their relationship with Romney, and as Romney tries and fails to bring meaningful aid to the poor, Aurora finds that her art means nothing if she cannot learn to love herself as much as she loves others. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.