Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Emily Dickinson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived surprisingly similar lives. Both were female poets who had very religious, powerful fathers. They both lived in seclusion in their rooms, and both wrote many letters from their seclusion. They were both skeptical of church but definitely believed in some higher being. To Dickinson, Browning was the ultimate female poet. Indeed, she used Browning as a standard by which to evaluate other poets. Dickinson had three pictures of Browning, one of which she hung over her bed. Furthermore, she wore her hair and dress like Browning.
After Browning's death, Dickinson wrote three eulogies for her, making Browning the only contemporary poet for whom Dickinson wrote eulogies. Though Dickinson was so enamored with the work of Browning, she was not strongly influenced by her style or form; rather, Browning influenced Dickinson by showing her that it was possible for a female to become a wonderful and important poet.