The first time that the sun rose on thine oath
To love me, I looked forward to the moon
To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon
And quickly tied to make a lasting troth.
Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe;
And, looking on myself, I seemed not one
For such man’s love!—more like an out-of-tune
Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth
To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste,
Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note.
I did not wrong myself so, but I placed
A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float
’Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced,—
And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1850, XXXII
Maintaining and sharing one’s personal truths, addressing honestly, baldly and without guise, one’s individual failings, quirks and strengths, are the fundamental aspects of Authenticity. Sincerely confronting aspects of your identity and allowing these aspects to be viewed by others can become experiences of personal growth and acceptance (Brooks, 2001, Pg. 9) Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese are exceptional confessions of not only her love, but her feelings of inadequacy, of inferiority to others, and her strident fear of being in love. Browning explored and confronted her understandings of her identity through the written word, and in doing so, shared with the world a true depiction of the trials of falling in love.
