♪It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood...♫

I don't really know why Mr. Rogers is on my mind today. Maybe because we are finally getting to sweater weather (though, I went out today in a short-sleeved shirt), and sweaters inevitably make me think of Mr. Rogers. We didn't have television at my house growing up (that's not to say we didn't have a TV, we just didn't watch television. We watched movies, though.), so when I went to Camp Grandma, I would watch Mr. Rogers and Lamb Chops. My favorite part was always when Mr. Rogers would pick out a sweater. I loved looking at all the colors in his closet! *Realizes that this is the world's most boring story and slowly peters off*

Poetry! I am in quite the mood today, in case you hadn't noticed already. However, I'm not really sure whose poetry to feature today. I have this piece by Pasternak that I want to use, but I am waiting for snow. Anyway, I haven't really posted many poems by female poets other than Dickinson (I don't really count myself!), so I thought something along that line would be appropriate. I don't honestly know that many different poems and their authors, but I enjoy finding out about them. I have always loved the poem "How Do I Love Thee?", and, consequently, it was written by a woman Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a brave, resourceful, and strong woman. She was the oldest of twelve children and the daughter of a Jamaican plantation owner. However, her father decided to raise his children in England, so that is where they lived. She was born in Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England, in 1806. She suffered greatly with a lung condition that came on in her youth and plagued her the rest of her life. Also, at age 15, she incurred a spinal injury. Despite all of this, she flourished in her studies. She taught herself Hebrew, so she could read the Old Testament, and later turned to Greek studies. She abhorred slavery and, naturally, had difficulties with her father's slave-run plantation and the fact that he sent her younger siblings off to Jamaica to help run things. In 1844, she came out with a collection of work simply titled Poems. This brought her to the attention of another poet Robert Browning. He wrote her a letter, which in turn became a series of correspondences numbering 574 in 20 months. Her father, who did not want any of his children to marry, bitterly opposed the romance. So, Elizabeth and Robert eloped and moved to Florence, Italy, in 1846. Her father never spoke to her again. Her later work focused greatly on political and social themes. She died in Florence on June 29, 1861.

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.