"How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways."

Unlike some others who shall remain nameless, I have never felt that Valentine’s Day is a “Hallmark holiday.”  It’s been around for ages, yes, centuries before manufactured greeting cards.  Some attribute the beginning to the Catholic Church celebrations of various martyred saints named Valentinus and others to bawdy Chaucer of the 14th century with his Valentine poem Parlement of Fowles.  Whatever its origin, lovers sharing flowers, candy, and cards was prevalent in the 15th century, and I hope these traditions never end.

My husband has learned that no matter how he feels about the holiday, it is in his best interest to actively participate.  This year he gave me an oversized mushy (his words) card which he claimed represented his sentiments and also served lobster for dinner.  He was not forgotten either and received a home-made valentine and dark chocolate vanilla creams.  He shared, so I’d say our romantic life is on pretty sure footing.  But our love story pales in comparison to that of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. 

How Do I Love Thee?  Let me count the ways.  Are there any more romantic words than these that Elizabeth wrote to Robert, the man who would become her husband?  Poor Elizabeth.  During her teens she began suffering from a lung condition that required lifetime treatment with morphine and also injured her spine.  By the time she was in her late 30’s, she was an invalid and recluse living in her father’s house.  But she published a book entitled Poems that changed her life, for that is when Robert sent her a letter of admiration.  They fell in love over the next twenty months, exchanging almost 600 letters.  Elizabeth’s father forbade her to marry, but Robert and she did so in secret and went off to Pisa and later Florence.  Her father retaliated by disinheriting her, and they never spoke again.  However, this story had a happy ending.  The climate agreed with her, and Elizabeth’s health improved and even allowed her to bear a son.

This Valentine’s day we can become voyeurs to their expressions of love.  Wellesley and Baylor cooperated to release their letters (exactly as written, fading ink and all) on-line at wellesley.edu/browning.  Perhaps by reading them, we can learn to express our love to our special other in new and enduring ways…but let's not forget the chocolate and flowers!