Elizabeth Barret Browning and Robert Browning were both English poets. The story of how they met, fell in love, and married is one of the most famous love stories in history. This love story is famous for its purity, its poetry, and its passion. But most of all, it is famous because their romance took place primarily by mail. For the two years before they married, they wrote to each other almost every day. Elizabeth Barrett lived a quiet life in the house of her father. She rarely left the house because she was very weak and sick with a lung disease. From a childhood she spent her time reading, studying Greek, and writing poetry. Her poems were published and became popular both in England and in America. Elizabeth's father, Mr. Barrett, supported his daughter's writing. However, he was very strict and also eccentric - he refused to let any of his three daughters marry. He wanted them all to stay with him. When Elizabeth was 37, she still lived with her father and her two unmarried sisters. She had never married or even been in love. She lived in a dream world. She knew Robert Browning only by name.