"The Look" and "The Meaning of the Look" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

Artwork by Eero Jarnefelt

The Look

The Saviour looked on Peter. Ay, no word,

No gesture of reproach; the Heavens serene

Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean

Their thunders that way: the forsaken Lord

Looked only, on the traitor. None record

What that look was, none guess; for those who have seen

Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen,

Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword,

Have missed Jehovah at the judgment call.

And Peter, from the height of blasphemy --

'I never knew this man' -- did quail and fall

As knowing straight THAT God; and turned free

And went out speechless from the face of all,

And filled the silence, weeping bitterly.

The Meaning of the Look

I think that look of Christ might seem to say --

'Thou Peter! art thou then a common stone

Which I at last must break my heart upon,

For all God's charge to his high angels may

Guard my foot better? Did I yesterday

Wash thy feet, my beloved, that they should run

Quick to deny me 'neath the morning sun?

And do thy kisses, like the rest, betray?

The cock crows coldly. -- Go, and manifest

A late contrition, but no bootless fear!

For when thy final need is dreariest,

Thou shalt not be denied, as I am here;

My voice to God and angels shall attest,

Because I KNOW this man, let him be clear.'

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from POEMS, 1844~

BIO: Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806 and died June 29, 1861. During the Victorian age, she was considered England's Greatest Living Poet. This was a rare honor for a woman as women did not have the rights and privileges that they enjoy today. By her teen years, Barrett had been self-taught in Greek and Latin, with an adequate knowledge of Greek and Roman literature. Many of her poems refer to heroes and philosophers from Greek and Roman culture. She suffered a spinal injury and became an invalid. Later on, she developed lung problems which may have been due to tuberculosis. She was confined to the house, where she read books and wrote poetry. She would later admit that "books and dreams were what I lived in and domestic life only seemed to buzz gently around, like bees about the grass." She was living with her family at 50 Wimpole Street, London, when the poet Robert Browning discovered her book, Poems, published in 1844. He wrote to her in January of 1845, saying, "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett." Their love affair progressed against the wishes of her father, and they were secretly married on September 12, 1846. 

During their courtship, Barrett wrote her most beautiful collection of poems, thanking her husband for loving her in spite of her disability and age (she was six years older than her husband.) She finally showed them to him several years later. He persuaded her to include them in her upcoming collection of poetry, Poems, which was published in 1850. These love poems are now known as Sonnets from the Portuguese and include her most famous poem, "How do I Love Thee?"