#Elizabeth barrett

[eternal--returned]

Cynthia Grow ֍ Love Letters - Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett, Sept 1846 (2024)

[yourbespokeartisanalapocalypse]

I've just acquired a copy of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's verse novel Aurora Leigh which I am very excited to start reading but can I just take a moment to draw attention to this arresting cover image.

It's a photograph of the French dancer Cléo de Mérode taken by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, a German-Jewish photographer who took some truly exquisite images. It's also highly anachronistic since neither model or photographer were even born when Aurora Leigh was published in 1856 (naughty Oxford University Press!) but every time I see it lying around the house I'm drawn to it. So a good cover in that sense I think!

Some more photographs by Reutlinger:

French Soprano Aino Ackté

French actress Geneviève Lantelme

Poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand (the guy who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac)

[petaltexturedskies]

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

[hairtusk]

Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, by Harriet Hosmer (1853)

[seraphinesaintclair]

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “The Autumn”

[dairyofateenagepoet]

[umi-no-onnanoko]

[piningintrovert]

Prapai and Sky exchanging their vows (feat. a quote by the 19th century English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning) — WEDDING PLAN (2023), dir. Ne Neti Suwanjinda  

[eternal--returned]

Cynthia Grow ֍ Love Letters - Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett, 10 Jan 1845 (2024)

[yourbespokeartisanalapocalypse]

Sonnet 1 from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese.

[petaltexturedskies]

Witch, scholar, poet, dreamer, and the rest

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

[dabiconcordia]

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 candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the 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 By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

[orth82]

"I love thee.. with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life," Crowley said softly, earnestly.  "And, if She choose," here he paused to take his angel's face in his hands and place the most tender kiss upon his mouth.  

"I shall but love thee better after death," Aziraphale whispered along with his lover, their lips (sore and bruised from days and nights of constant kissing) gently brushing against each other despite the pain.

As a final punctuation mark, he pressed his forehead to the angel's and held it there a moment before taking Aziraphale's soft hand and kissing the back of it. 

"Modern literature, Crowley?" Aziraphale remarked with a little sniff and a confounded shake of his head, clearly moved.  "You never cease to amaze me, my dear boy." 

~Every Day's Most Quiet Need [Mature]

🖤 Podfic version 🤍

🪽 Complete gallery on my free Patreon 🪽

[thelastofthebookworms]

@all-you-had-to-do-was-neigh

Others parts in my 'narrative poems' tag.

The second poll is almost ready but I take suggestions for the third !

Other poems in my 'poetry' tags (Frost, Angelou, British Romanticism so far, French poetry next).

Good luck making a pick. There are quite a few of my favorites here.

Aurora Leigh

The Ballad of the Harp Weaver

The Highwayman

Metamorphoses

Goblin Market

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Iliad

Beowulf

The Epic of Gilgamesh

[logophilist1982]

Choose a poet

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

Today's Supreme Court hearing in United States v. Skrmetti was historic, featuring Chase Strangio as the first openly transgender attorney to present arguments before the Court. Strangio's advocacy was both impactful and insightful, addressing justices who hold the future of equal protection for transgender individuals in their hands. The case challenges Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth, and also will determine if transgender people can be legally discriminated against. Reactions to the oral arguments have been mixed, with some expressing pessimism about the prospects for transgender rights. However, a notable moment occurred when Justice Amy Coney Barrett appeared surprised to learn about the historical de jure discrimination against transgender individuals through anti-crossdressing laws, suggesting she could be a potential wild card in the eventual ruling.

The topic first arose when Justice Barrett posed a question to Solicitor General Prelogar regarding historical de jure discrimination against transgender people. Barrett asked, “You point out in your brief that in the last three years there have been these laws, but before that, we might have had private societal discrimination. However, I don’t know of any instances—am I missing something? Is there a history that I’m unaware of where we have de jure discrimination?” Several minutes later, Justice Samuel Alito questioned Chase Strangio, expressing skepticism that transgender people could be granted quasi-suspect classification—a legal designation that would subject laws affecting them to heightened scrutiny—due to what he saw as a lack of historical legal discrimination, to which Strangio replied that such historical discrimination existed legally in two places: the military and in anti-crossdressing laws.

The latter appeared to take Justice Barrett by surprise, something that she would return to a few times during her oral arguments. In a follow-up line of questioning towards Strangio, Barrett admitted that she never knew about the long history of cross-dressing laws, indicating that she may be convinced by Strangio that de jure legal discrimination was indeed part of transgender legal history. “Mr. Strangio, I wanted to give you a chance to clarify. I’m not sure if you named all the laws when we were discussing de jure discrimination earlier. You mentioned bans on cross-dressing and bans on military service. I had thought of the military service ban, but I wasn’t aware of statutes prohibiting cross-dressing. Can you think of any others?” She asked, her tone indicating surprise.

[...]

Cross-dressing laws have long been used to target the transgender community. The first such laws appeared in 1843, prohibiting individuals from “wearing the apparel of the other sex.” These laws became tools of enforcement during police raids in the 1960s, particularly around the time of the Stonewall riots. Responding to Justice Barrett’s questioning on social media, the ACLU’s Gillian Branstetter highlighted a 1964 case challenging a cross-dressing law, quoting a newspaper report on the defense: "The defense submitted by the ACLU contends that it is unconstitutional to arrest as a vagrant a transvestite who has done nothing more than wear the clothing of the opposite sex."

Attorneys working on other LGBTQ+-related cases have privately shared intrigue over Justice Barrett’s questioning, with one expressing “surprising hope” about her potential stance on the case. During other portions of the hearing, Chase Strangio appealed to Barrett’s previous rulings on COVID-related cases, where she acknowledged that medical care could intersect with equal protection issues, particularly in the context of religious services. Barrett also gave Strangio an opportunity to discuss the political powerlessness of transgender people amid recent waves of anti-trans legislation—a point Justice Sotomayor later underscored in questioning Tennessee’s attorney. Sotomayor remarked, “When you are less than 1% of the population, it’s very hard to see how the democratic process is going to protect you.” Collectively, her discussion could make her a potential swing vote in the case.

It is also important to note that Justice Barrett has recently sided with liberals in choosing not to hear major cases on LGBTQ+ rights. Justice Barrett refused to reinstate Florida’s drag ban in November of 2023. She also refused to hear an appeal on Washington’s conversion therapy ban, allowing it to stand and joining Roberts and Gorsuch along with the liberals in that decision.

During oral arguments at SCOTUS in the Skrmetti case, Justice Amy Coney Barrett admitted that she was surprised by the history of “three article rules” used to target crossdressers and trans people. Could this be a faint glimmer of hope that Coney Barrett could be on the side of protecting gender-affirming care?