"How Do I Love Thee?" by Nancy Moser

Though my appreciation of poetry is nowhere near the level of the true lover of the form, when I initially heard the story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, her poetry suddenly sprang to life.  Here was a woman who, as an invalid, living under the heavy hand of her father, made the entrance of Robert Browning, as a lover of her words, (followed by the subsequent lover of her self) resonate with true romance all relationships between men and women should carry. 

Unfortunately, such stories are never the type most men will ever entertain. 

They should though.  They should pick up the pages of this book and discover a woman’s thoughts and feelings lying bare for them to see – those very men who have come to an understanding that a woman can never be understood.  The trauma going on in her mind, trying to balance the growing affection for Robert Browning with the fear she has of her father creates a dynamic not common to the male psyche.  In addition, the historical context of a woman, of two centuries past, held in virtual bondage to her father’s will, symbolically locked away in an upstairs room, is ripe for a ‘rescue-the-damsel-in-distress’ scenario all men inherently wish to answer – and to which Robert Browning heroically does.”