Title: Famous Last Words | Academy of American Poets
Headings: Famous Last Words
Famous Last Words
Content: Barrett Browning was dramatically affected by the news, which led her into bouts of depression. She gradually became weaker until she died on June 29, 1861, in Browning’s arms. In an account of his wife’s death, Browning wrote that she died “smilingly, happily, and with a face like a girl’s. … Her last word was— … ‘Beautiful.’” Barrett Browning’s actual cause of death is still unclear, but scholars have speculated that her history of pulmonary problems, combined with opiates she was taking at the time, may have contributed to her death. Robert Browning: “ How gratifying!” Just before his death, Robert Browning was preparing for the publication of his newest collection, Asolando, and was enjoying some time in Venice, giving readings of his new poems and attending social events with friends. In late November 1889, he caught a cold while on a walk but refused to stay home from his social engagements and refused to see a doctor (“They are all fools,” he claimed). Eventually Browning’s conditioned worsened to such an extent that a doctor was brought in, who diagnosed the poet with bronchitis and “syncope of the heart,” or an irregular heartbeat.