The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-10-10
Into mail such as this! and we sit on for


Dead! One of them shot'y the sea in the
And one of them shot in the Fast by the
Both, both my boys. II, in keeping The
feast,
You want 4 great song for your Italy free,
Let none look at na"t
The following is u sketch OF the
writer of the above beautiful poem,
which we extract from the Eclectic
Nctgdzine for August:
An eminent author has called Mrs.
Browning the female Shakespeare Of
England. Female poets hold more
distinguished place in English htera-
ture at this day, and their works fill a
larger space in our libraries, than in
any previous period in literary histo-
ry. And among these, Mrs. Brown
ing has no superior, and few. ii any,
equals Her name and fame, her
character and works, will live and be
held in cherished remembrance by
all admirers of fine writing for ages
to come.
Elizabeth Barrett was born in Lon
don in 1909, of a family i'll affiuent
circumstances. Educated with great
care, she gave early proofs of genius.
At the age of ten, she began to write
both poetry and prose. At the age
of fifteen, her powers as writer
were we'll known. We have no room
in this brief sketch to enumerate her
works, which enlisted SO much inte-
rest in her rising fame. In 1898, a
blood-vessel burst in her lungs, which
did not heal for a year. This reduced
her strength to great weakness, and
she was removed to Torquay. Dur
ing her residence there, while slowly
regaining her health, most painful
event occurred. One fine summer
morning, her favorite brother, with
two other fine young men, his friends,
embarked on board small sailing
vessel for a trip of a few hours.
They undertook the management OF
the boat alone, sending back the boat
man. In n few minutes after their
embarkation, and in sight of their
very windows, just as they were cross
ing the bar, the boat went down, and
all on board perished Even the
bodies were never found. This tra-
gedy nearly killed Elizabeth Barrett.
She was utterly prostrated by the
horror and the grief of the sad event
1t was not till the next year that she
could be removed in an easy carriage
twenty miles n DAY, to her afflicted
family in London. She told friend
that, during the whole winter the
sound Of the waves rang in her ears
like the means of one dying. We
record this sad narrative just here
because its influence seems to have
tinged her productions to the close Of
her life. A deep current of religion
sometimes it might be regarded as
religious acknowledgements most
Of her poetry. This, in the opinion
of many of her readers, adds rich
charm to her thoughts. For many
years in London, she confined herself
to one large and commodious, but
darkened, chamber, admitting only
her own affectionate family and few
devoted friends, reading almost every
book worth reading, in almost every
language, and giving herself heart
and soul to that poetry OF which she
seemed born to be the priestess.
Miss Barrett became the wife OF
Robert Browning in the autumn OF
1S46. Strange to say, the invalid
was suddenly restored tc the world as
if by magic. She left her sick cham
Der and walked abroad with her hus-
band. The newly-married pair went
to Pisa and Florence, where they
chiefly resided since, and where Mrs.
Browning composed her last poems,
'Aurora Leigh, 'Poems before Con
gress'' and others. In 1851, Miss
Milford says: ''This summer, / have
had the exquisite pleasure of seeing
Mrs. Browning once more in London,
with lovely boy at her knee, almost
as we'll as ever, and telling tales of
Italian rambles, of losing herself in
chestnut forests, and scrambling on
mule-back up the sources Of extinct
volcanoes. May Heaven continue to
her such health and happinessv'
''Mrs. Browning lived in one house
in Florence for fourteen years, and
went out of it to her grave"
"Mrs. Browning died at Florence,
June 30, 1861, half an hour after day
break. And MI. Tilton, in his beau
tiful memorial volume, adds: GA life
of suffering ended in peace. \ frail
body, bearing the burden of too great
a brain, broke at last under the
weight. After six days illne IS, the
shadows of the night fell upon her
eyes for the last time, and half an
hour after day-break she beheld the