Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the most famous English poet of her day — more famous than her husband Robert Browning, whom she married in secret at 40 after he wrote to her as a fan of her work.

Sonnets from the Portuguese, written during their courtship, contains Sonnet 43 — "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" — the single most quoted love poem in English, read at weddings continuously for over 170 years.