Sonnet 14 from the Portuguese
Author: Elizabeth Barret Browning
Elizabeth Barret Browning
She was born on March 6, 1806
 She was born in Coxhoe Hill Durham ,
England
 Her parents were really wealthy due to her
family’s land in Jamaica
 She was home schooled and very studious
 Her writing is compared to Shakespeare
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Sonnets from the Portuguese
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She wrote it in 1850, dedicated to her husband
(Robert Browning)
She wrote it secretly before they got married
This was one of her best works, and one of the
best works in her time
It was a series of sonnets, a total of 44
She had to hide her love by changing the title
of her poem to Sonnets from the Portuguese ,
so it looks like she was just translating this
from Portuguese
Usually it’s a male writing to women in the
Elizabethan Time Period but this is the
opposite.
What is your definition of loving
someone?
Love is an emotion of strong affection and
personal attachment.
 Loving someone means you love them for
who they are and for love sake. ( not for
looks or pity)
 Love is when you admire someone , you
care for them, you look up to them , and
you respect them.
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Read the poem , find the message
and theme.
If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
“I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee,and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou may’st love on, through love’s eternity.
Theme
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The theme is to love someone for love sake
and love’s sake only, not for pity or looks
because those wont last and change. Love
sake in love is the only thing that will last
for eternity and will not change. The sonnet
is about how you love someone for love
sake that is it
Literary devices?
Rhyme
 Personification
 Alliteration
 Repitition
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Unique/Modern connections
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In Elizabeth’s time, sonnets were generally
written about girls by men, however
Elizabeth wrote about a guy. This was very
different. The roles were reversed. This is
very similar to poetry today. There are a lot
of literature where women talk about men.
Modern literature relationship?
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Can you think of any modern connections to
this sonnet. Any songs that relate to any part
of the theme? Get together in groups of 2-3
and the group who wins gets a prize.