In Sonnet 13 of the Sonnets from the Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning cleverly manipulates the sonnet form to construct what is essentially a love poem, albeit an unusual one that paradoxically he avoids the mechanical sentimentality associated with these works and emphasizes separation rather than blissful union. The poem's variations in syntactic structure, rhyme scheme, and diction all help to develop the theme of detachment and impossibility that pervades the first two quatrains. Although laden with allusions to suffering not as an archetypal symptom of Petrarchan romance but as something that disables courtship rites and delays the admission of love, the poem does not present an entirely hopeless and futile situation for the two lovers. Following the turning point that occurred in the final sestina, Sonnet 13 finally ends on a note of possibility and empowering 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 sonnetist, invalid and woman in love. Browning's exercise in poetic variation and virtuosity, then, can 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first quatrain of Sonnet 13 consists of a single question, contained within four lines. Browning's use of enjambment here creates the persistent effect of prolongation and technical difficulty, indicative of the very arduous task he describes: that of having to "keep the torch out, while the winds are strong". Conventional clichés of love poetry are thus distorted for use in a different context: it is not love itself that is compared to fire or stormy weather, but to its demanding articulation. Her suitor asks Browning to find "words enough" to "shape in speech" a declaration of love by which he can illuminate their relationship, to which she responds in the second quatrain that she cannot. Previously, the feeling of prolonged suffering and disability was developed through the use of enjambement; now, the problems faced by the speaker are reported in the second quatrain (or, the second half of the octave in the Italian sonnet) in rhyme form. The rhyme scheme created by pairing “speech” and “each” remains in place with the continued phonetic presence in the words “teach” and “reach.” Browning's response to his lover in the second quatrain of the poem is not one of loving acquiescence but of refusal and resistance. There is a bold statement of refusal: "I'll let it fall at your feet," which has a parallel in the variations Browning introduces in poetic form. The suitor initially asks Browning for his poetry (as a stand-in or rather, extension of love); here, Browning paradoxically declares herself a consummate poet even in denying her ability to "bring you the proof / In words, of the love hidden in me, out of reach." In contrast to the fluid and continuous flow of the first quatrain, the second quatrain reflects in a more explicit and structured way the obstacles faced by the poet: the caesuras are enacted through the period in the first line of the quatrain as well as through dashes and a. comma in the third and fourth lines. His resistance is also exemplified by the fact that "off" and "proof" don't quite rhyme, and their forced pairing with each other in the rhyme scheme evokes Browning's refusal to exactly match the expectations created by both his..