14. EBB to Henrietta Moulton-Barrett

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 1, 12.

[Hope End]

An Epistle to Henrietta—14th May 1814

Thy gentle smile displays thy virtues sweet,

Altho’ dear Addles [1] far to [sic] much you eat,

But now you have a horrid cold,

And in a ugly night cap you are rolled,

Which spoils the nat’ral beauty of your face,

Where dimples play in every cunning place;

I wish you would so nicely run,

And then we would have merry fun,

But o’er the fire you poking sit,

As if for nothing you were fit.

Our little lamb is very well,

Oh come into our pretty cell!

Indeed I hope you’ll soon get better,

And I am dearest Henrietta,

Your very dear Elizabeth Barrett,

Compared to you, a chatting parot [sic].

Publication: HUP, I, 42–43 (from copy in Mary Moulton-Barrett’s hand, Huntington Library).

Source: EBB’s fair copy in “Poems by EBB,” Berg Collection.

1. The term “addled,” which describes a spoiled egg, can also mean “confused” (OED). Apparently Henrietta sometimes became confused, and one of her family names was “Hen,” and hens lay eggs. Through this somewhat addled chain of thought, she acquired the nickname “Addles.”

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