Hemans as Properzia

While reading Prosperzia Rossi I got the sense that Hemans deeply related with the title character and imbued her with her own intense emotions.  Hemans was abandoned by her husband and surely shared a sense of loneliness with Prosperzia as well as a strong artistic talent.  When describing her gift, Prosperzia explains, “It comes, – the power / Within me born, flows back; my fruitless dower / That could not win me love.  Yet once again / I greet it proudly, with its rushing train / Of glorious images: - they throng – they press – A sudden joy lights up my loneliness, – I shall not perish all!” (1232).  I felt as if Hemans herself was speaking while I read these lines, and I think it is reasonable to conclude that writing this poem probably served as a sort of emotional release for Hemans as she coped with the loss of her husband.