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Year 10
AQA

Understanding the poem ‘Sonnet 29’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I can explain how Barrett Browning presents passion within a relationship.

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Year 10
AQA

Understanding the poem ‘Sonnet 29’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I can explain how Barrett Browning presents passion within a relationship.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Barrett Browning conveys her overwhelming wish to be reunited with her love.
  2. Barrett Browning describes a relationship which although emotionally close, is physically distant.
  3. Barrett Browning describes how her thoughts of her lover sometimes obscure and corrupt her reality.
  4. The poem is partially autobiographical, written during her courtship with Robert Browning, who later became her husband.
  5. Barrett Browning's life experiences suggest she had positive views about the power of love.

Keywords

  • Overwhelming - causing a strong emotional or physical response.

  • Sacrifice - giving up something valuable for a higher purpose, often involving personal loss or hardship.

  • Obscure - lacks clarity, not easily understood; kept from sight, concealed.

  • Corrupt - dishonest behaviour, typically for personal gain or to influence others.

  • Courtship - the process of getting to know a romantic partner before establishing a romantic relationship.

Common misconception

In this poem, the speaker mourns for their lover after they have died.

This could be a valid interpretation but there is no evidence to suggest the lover is definitely dead. In fact, the volta in L.9 has the speaker demand he return which implies that there is a chance they could be reunited with one another.

You can ask students to read examples of the letters between Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband. They give a powerful sense of the relationship.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to the poem 'Sonnet 29 - 'I think of thee!' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This can be found in the AQA Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sexual content

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Barrett Browning wrote 'Sonnet 29' during the Victorian era. This society was known for being...
Correct answer: patriarchal
patronising
patented
Petrarchan
petulant
Q2.
What does the word symbolism mean?
giving human characteristics to inanimate objects
comparing two things using 'like' or 'as'
putting two contrasting ideas next to or near to each to emphasise one or both
Correct answer: using concrete objects or actions to represent abstract ideas
when two more consecutive lines of poetry begin with the same word(s)
Q3.
Sonnets are poems usually written about...
death
childhood
family
society
Correct answer: love
Q4.
Which of these is an example of an imperative sentence?
Can you please be quiet?
It would be amazing if you could be a little quieter.
Correct answer: Stop talking!
If you wouldn't mind, I'd like silence now.
When will you ever stop talking?
Q5.
Which of these is an example of tentative language?
Correct answer: perhaps
certainly
obviously
must
does
Q6.
The word 'thee' means...
I
we
Correct answer: you
yours
they

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'Sonnet 29 - I think of thee!' was taken from a collection of poems entitled...
'Sonnets from The French'
'Sonnets from The Spanish'
'Sonnets from The German'
Correct answer: 'Sonnets from The Portuguese'
'Sonnets from The Polish'
Q2.
What does the word 'obscure' mean?
obvious; easily understood by all
difficult to understand because it has been translated from another language
Correct answer: lacks clarity, not easily understood; kept from sight, concealed
has a hidden meaning underneath
has multiple meanings or interpretations
Q3.
Following Barrett Browning's courtship with poet Robert Browning, the couple married and eloped to Italy. What were the consequences of this for Barrett Browning?
The sun made her ill and unhappy.
She and Browning divorced shortly after.
She was forced to return after her father died.
The language barrier made it difficult for her to write poetry.
Correct answer: She was disowned by her father.
Q4.
Below are three lines from 'Sonnet 29 - I think of thee!'. One is from the beginning, one from the middle and one from the end. Starting with first, put them into chronological order.
1 - "I think of thee! - my thoughts do twine and bud"
2 - "Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should"
3 - "I do not think of thee - I am too near thee."
Q5.
Which of these quotations from 'Sonnet 29' imply that the speaker's fantasy thought of her love spiral out of control while he is away?
"I will not have my thoughts instead of thee"
"O, my palm-tree, be it understood"
Correct answer: "my thoughts do twine and bud"
"soon there's nought to see"
"these bands of greenery which insphere thee"
Q6.
Which of these quotations from 'Sonnet 29' present a positive, uplifting view of love?
"Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare"
Correct answer: "in this deep joy to see and hear thee"
'Put out broad leaves, and soon there's nought to see"
"Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should"
"I do not think of thee - I am too near thee."