Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnet 32

Theme:
In this sonnet the persona/poet reflects on her response to her lover/ Roberts proposal of
marriage. At first she feared that their relationship might not last because they had fallen in
love too quickly and because he might be disappointed when he realised her shortcomings.
However, she now recognises that she underestimated him and his ability to rise above her
limitations and love her truly as she loves him.
Analysis:
In the first quatrain the persona describes the morning after her lover/ Robert proposed (a
lasting troth - a pledge to love someone forever). In poetry, sunrise often symbolises a new
beginning or new hope, but in her case it brought doubt and she looked forward to night the
moon, which might suggest that she looked forward to more time having passed in their
relationship or just to the cooling of the early excitement. The sun is symbolically seen as the
universal FATHER whilst the moon is seen as the universal MOTHER. The sun is the centre
of knowledge, warmth, glory and splendour whilst the moon represents the rhythm of time as
it embodies the cycle. The phases of the moon symbolise immortality, eternity, enlightenment
or the dark side of nature. Therefore it is interesting she should observe his proposal to her
through the lens of these two natural phenomena. It could suggests that she reverts back to
her feminine self and reality in order to keep herself safe.
The metaphor to slacken all those bonds seems deliberately ambiguous. bond can mean
a strong relationship, but (especially associated with slacken and quickly tied) it can refer
to being tied up (bound). She seems uncertain whether a loving bond has been formed or she
has allowed herself to become a prisoner of her emotions. The bonds can also be seen as the
beginning of the musical metaphor if you are to interpret these as the string of the viol.
In lines 5 10 she explains the reasons for her doubt.
In line 4 she referred to the fact that the bond was quickly tied.
In line 5 she says that those who fall in love quickly can quickly come to loathe each other.
This is emphasised with the antithesis between Quick-loving at the start of the line and
quickly loathe at the end. The repetition of quickly within the span of two lines increases
the tempo and hence heightens her anxiety.
In line 6 and 7 she expresses her doubt that he could actually love someone like her. The
exclamatory suggests her amazement that his could happen.
In line 7 she begins an extended metaphor (sometimes called a conceit) which continues to
the end of the poem. She describes herself as an out of tune Worn viol. A viol was a C.16th.
musical instrument like a violin. This comparison suggests her low opinion of herself. It
suggests an instrument that is old-fashioned and in poor condition, which probably reflects
her consciousness of her age and poor health.
She argues that a good singer (Robert) would be angry (wroth) to hear himself
accompanied by such an instrument. She suggests that having picked it up without really
thinking (in haste) the singer would quickly discard it when he heard its first ill-sounding

note. She worries that the proposal has also been hasty and he may regret it when he
recognises what she is really like.
The volta or change of attitude comes in line 11(instead of the conventional line 9). She
declares that she was not wrong about her own faults but was wrong about him/Robert,
emphasised by placing thee in italics. Continuing the musical metaphor, she describes
him as a master who can make beautiful music even with a defaced (damaged) instrument.
She has assumed the passive position here/traditional Petrarchan image.
In the final line she states confidently that great souls can fall in love (doat) quickly. She
seems to use great souls to refer only to him/Robert, rather than both of them, because at
one stroke refers to one stroke of the bow on the viol his brief relationship with her.