Alicia, I agree with the tenor of your remarks on EBB, but I do think that her most famous anthologized poem, "How do I love thee," is indeed one of the best and most moving sonnets ever penned by man or woman. I think it may have been done in by its fame, in fact. I knew of this poem even before I started reading poetry, and as a youngster I tended to dismiss it is effusive and sappy dribble, but lately I've found that the fame that rendered it cliche had in fact deceived me into overlooking its profundity and depth. Anyway, I'm probably preaching to the choir.
I certainly put EBB at least on the same level of her husband, and quite possibly higher ("My Last Duchess" is great, but I'm hard pressed to come up with anything else he wrote that truly moves me). Also, I'm grateful to EBB for serving as an inspiration to Emily Dickinson, whom I tend to think of as underrated even as she is widely revered.
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