1. How do you think Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s The Cry of the Children affected her readers? Which parts of the poem were most moving? Why?
2. Read and discuss two of EBB’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. Be sure to list the numbers of the sonnets you choose!
What do you notice about the sonnets you chose?
How do these sonnets compare to other sonnets we’ve read this semester?
Why do you think EBB’s poems were so well loved in her time (and continue to be read today)?
3. What might be the purpose of a poem like Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess”?
4. What poetic techniques does RB use to craft the character of his speaker in “My Last Duchess”?
