Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnet 28

Theme:
This poem is relatively straight-forward. In it Barrett Browning describes the powerful effect
on her of Roberts love letters.
Analysis:
In lines 1 2 the poem begins dramatically with two exclamations.
My letters refers to the letters written by Robert, but My shows that they are very
important to her and she now considers them hers.
She establishes the contrast between the physically unimpressive paper, which is dead,
mute and white, and the contents which seem alive and quivering.
In line 3 tremulous (trembling) hand shows their effect on her.
From lines 5 12 she refers to what Robert wrote (including quotes) and the effect on her.
The dashes and ellipses suggest that she is re-reading bits of each letter which she particularly
remembers. The selection shows the development of their relationship.
The letters began with an expression of friendship and the desire to meet, but even this had a
powerful effect, revealed in the exclamation Yet I wept for it!
When he expressed love, the effect was even greater.
Sank suggests she collapsed into a chair, overcome with emotion.
Quailed (became afraid) / As if Gods future thundered* on my past is a little obscure, but
seems to suggest that she felt as if God was offering her a totally different future from her
previous unhappy life if she was brave enough to accept it. It may also suggest that she now
regarded her previous suffering as Gods test of her faith, which has been rewarded. This
would be compatible with C.19th. Christian ideas.
(*Gods future thundered is a metaphor).
In the last two lines she addresses Robert directly. Thy words have ill-availed (have failed)
suggests that to reveal the contents of this letter would be to ignore his request that she keep
them secret. The exclamation, If I dared repeat at last! - suggests that what he wrote was
extremely important, and the dash leaves the reader wondering what this was.