Baylor Celebrates Valentine's Day with Timeless Love Poem

February 11, 2011

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Baylor University's Armstrong Browning Library (ABL) will celebrate Valentine's Day a little early this year. Their annual Valentine's Day Extravaganza will take place at 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, in the McLean Foyer of Meditation inside the library on the Baylor campus.

ABL will celebrate the holiday by inviting couples (or individuals) for an afternoon of "Broadway Love Songs" with musician Dave Tanner and a gourmet dessert reception.

The library is home to the romantic writings shared between Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, including the famous handwritten manuscript of their love poem "How Do I Love Thee?" Many artifacts relating to English poets can be found at the library, which houses the world's largest collection of memorabilia associated with the Brownings.

Rita S. Patteson, assistant professor and librarian/curator of manuscripts, said the "How Do I Love Thee?" sonnet celebrates "the power and magic of love. It has become a symbol of ideal romance."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who died at the age of 55 in 1861, wrote the poem for her husband, Robert Browning, who was 77 when he died in 1889. The two were married for only 15 years when Elizabeth died in Robert's arms at their home in Florence, Italy. Their union was considered to be one of the greatest literary romances ever known.
Tickets are $50 per couple and $30 per individual, and can be purchased online at www.baylor.edu/browninglibrary.

For more information, call Christi Klempnauer, assistant to the director, at (254) 710-4968.

Armstrong Browning Library is at 710 Speight Ave.

by Susie Typher, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805