1 I thought once how Theocritus had sung
2 But only three in all God's universe
3 Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart!
4 Thou hast thy calling to some palace-floor
5 I lift my heavy heart up solemnly
6 Go from me. Yet I feel that I shall stand
7 The face of all the world is changed, I think
8 What can I give thee back, O liberal
9 Can it be right to give what I can give?
10 Yet, love, mere love, is beautiful indeed
11 And therefore if to love can be desert
12 Indeed this very love which is my boast
13 And wilt thou have me fashion into speech
14 If thou must love me, let it be for nought
15 Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear
16 And yet, because thou overcomest so
17 My poet, thou canst touch on all the notes
18 I never gave a lock of hair away
19 The soul's Rialto hath its merchandize
20 Beloved, my Beloved, when I think
21 Say over again, and yet once over again
22 When our two souls stand up erect and strong
23 Is it indeed so? If I lay here dead
24 Let the world's sharpness like a clasping knife
25 A heavy heart, Beloved, have I borne
26 I lived with visions for my company
27 My own Beloved, who hast lifted me
28 My letters! all dead paper, mute and white!
29 I think of thee! -- my thoughts do twine and bud
30 I see thine image through my tears to-night
31 Thou comest! all is said without a word
32 The first time that the sun rose on thine oath
33 Yes, call me by my pet-name! let me hear
34 With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee
35 If I leave all for thee, wilt thou exchange
36 When we met first and loved, I did not build
37 Pardon, oh, pardon, that my soul should make
38 First time he kissed me, he but only kissed
39 Because thou hast the power and own'st
the grace
40 Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours!
41 I thank all who have loved me in their hearts
42 My future will not copy fair my past
43 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
44 Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers
| Sonnet 43 (How do I love thee?) by |
| From Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1850 |
XLIII[]
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Analysis[]
The penultimate and most famous sonnet of the Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet 43 is the most passionate and emotional, expressing Barrett Browning's intense love for Robert Browning repeatedly.
Elizabeth says in the second to third lines that she loves Browning with every aspect of her soul. She then goes onto say that she loves him enough that it meets the needs of every day and every night in lines 5 and 6. Through lines 7, 8, 9 and 11 Elizabeth repeats the phrase, "I love thee..." to build intensity and show emphasis. Line 7 says that she loves him "freely," or willingly, as men who try and reach "Right," which in this case could mean righteousness, or in correlation with the previous word "freely" it may mean freedom. Line 8 means that she loves him, as it says, purely, without any want for praise.
It is interesting that line 9 says that she loves him as passionately, or intensely, as she experienced her old griefs or sufferings, and with a faith as strong as a child's. This helps to transition into line 11, expressing that she loves him as much as she used to love the saints as a child. And the last three lines state that she loves him with all of her life and, God willing, she will continue to love him that deeply in the afterlife.
It is not surprising that this sonnet is so passionately written, as it helps to show how her love for Robert Browning grew intensely over time, starting out as nothing and blooming into a love that most of us could only wish to experience.[1]
Audio / video[]
Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~ How Do I Love Thee? poem with text-0
References[]
- ↑ "Sonnets from the Portuguese," British Literary Wiki. Web, Apr. 8, 2016.
External links[]
- Audio / video
- About
- Sonnet 43 at Cummings Study Guides
This poem is in the public domain