Victorian Poetry Study Activity: The Barrett Brownings

Victorian poetry regularly makes the top ten poems in public surveys, and much of our conception of what makes ‘good’ poetry was shaped by poets like Tennyson, Browning, Rossetti, and Arnold. This period formed the emotional and social attitudes which linger today – even in post-modern texts which claim to have moved beyond them. While the Romantics were read by the literati, the Victorian poets in this unit formed the core of public poetry consumption. An understanding of this period is essential for students who will read Edwardian and Modernist literature in later terms, by showing them what these writers and artists reacted against.

This activity comprises

1. two poems by Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning with questions which require students to make a close analysis and interpretation
2. suggestions for extension reading to extend their knowledge of the poets
3. a creative writing task which helps them to engage laterally and personally with the ideas in the poetry.