d. Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth’s most controversial work, is filled with connotations of her own life and struggle as a woman in her day and age. It is a poem that many regard as semi-autobiographical. The similarities of a struggling young female poet and the limits that society bound to her, are endless with those in Elizabeth’s life. Aurora Leigh won critical acclaim and at the same time drew attacks for its sympathetic treatment of a woman as an independent artist and unmarried mother. Poems Before Congress published in 1860 marked the end of Elizabeth’s career. Poems Before Congress, was concerned with political reform in Italy. It was not received well and her health began to decline. Elizabeth died in Robert’s arms in Florence on June 29, 1861. She was buried in the Protestant cemetery. Last Poems, was published posthumous in 1862 by Robert, this included “De Profundis”. ...
