In Sonnet 13 of the Portuguese Sonnets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning skillfully manipulates the sonnet form to construct what is essentially a love poem, albeit one 'unusual' that paradoxically avoids the rote sentimentality associated with these works and emphasizes separation rather than happy union. The poem's variations in syntactic structure, rhyme scheme, and diction all help to develop the theme of detachment and impossibility that permeates the first two quatrains. Although laden with allusions to suffering not as an archetypal symptom of Petrarchan romance but as something that disables courtly rites and delays the confession of love, the poem does not present an entirely hopeless and futile situation. for the two lovers. After the turning point that occurs in its final seset, Sonnet 13 ultimately ends on a note of possibility and thought-provoking self-introspection: while the sonnet revolves around the complicated relationship between Browning and her future husband, it is the poet herself who emerges in the finale. lines of the poem, aware of her roles as bell ringer, invalid and woman in love. Browning's exercise in poetic variation and virtuosity can therefore be seen as an apt reflection of both the paradox and the power that arises from the intertwining of these different identities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The first quatrain of Sonnet 13 consists of a single question, spread across four lines. Browning's use of enjambment here creates a persistent effect of prolongation and technical difficulty, revealing the very arduous task she describes: that of having to "hold the torch, while the winds are violent." The conventional tropes of love poetry are thus twisted for use in a different context: it is not love itself that is compared to fire or storm, but the demanding articulation of it. Her suitor demands that Browning find "words enough" to "transform into speech" a declaration of love by which she can illuminate their relationship, to which she responds in the second quatrain that she cannot. Previously, the feeling of prolonged suffering and incapacity was developed through the use of enjambment; now, the problems encountered by the speaker are carried forward into the second quatrain (or the second half of the octave in the Italian sonnet) in the form of rhyme. The rhyme scheme created by the association of “speech” and “each” remains in place with the continued phonetic presence of the words “teach” and “reach”. Browning's response to his lover in the poem's second quatrain is not one of loving acquiescence but of refusal and resistance. There is a bold statement of rejection: “I drop it at your feet,” which finds its parallel in the variations that Browning introduces in poetic form. The suitor originally demands from Browning his poetry (as a substitute or rather extension of love); here, Browning paradoxically declares herself an accomplished poet, even while denying her ability to “bring you proof / In words, of the love hidden within me beyond reach.” Unlike the fluid and continuous flow of the first quatrain, the second quatrain more explicitly and structurally reflects the obstacles encountered by the poet: the caesuras are staged throughout the point of the first line of the quatrain as well as through strokes of union and a comma in the third and fourth lines. His resistance is also illustrated by the fact that “off” and “proof” do not quite rhyme, and their forced association is one..