Elizabeth Barrett to Robert Browning, 4 October 1845: 'Your spring-song is full of beauty as you know very well [...] so characteristic of you [...] that I was sorely tempted to ask you to write it "twice over," .. & not send the first copy to Mary Hunter notwithstanding my promise to her. And when you come to print these fragments, would it not be well if you were to stoop to the vulgarism of prefixing some word of introduction, as other people do, you know, .. a title .. a name? You perplex your readers often by casting yourself on their intelligence in these things [...] Now these fragments ... you mean to print them with a line between .. & not one word at the top of it .. now dont you? And then people will read '"Oh, to be in England" & say to themselves .. "Why who is this? .. who's out of England?" Which is an extreme case of course, -- but you will see what I mean .. & often I have observed how some of the very most beautiful of your lyrics have suffered just from your disdain of the usual tactics of writers in this one respect.'