Sonnet 43 is the penultimate poem of a series called Sonnets
from the Portuguese ( 1850) written by Browning to express
her love for her husband-to-be Robert Browning. This
particular poem is arguably to most well know out of the
series.
 Sonnet, from the Italian word sonetto (little song) is a
lyrical poem that often has a theme related to Love.
 This poem is a typical Italian or Petrarchan style sonnet
written in iambic pentameter. (10 syllables per line with five
pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables)
I LOVE..|..thee TO..|..the DEPTH..|..and BREADTH..|..and HEIGHT
My SOUL..|..can REACH,..|..when FEEL..|..ing OUT..|..of SIGHT
( Lines 2&3 ).
 It has 14 lines and a rhyme scheme of two quatrains and
two tercets, ABBA ABBA CDC DCD.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!-
A
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
B
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
B
For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.
A
“…depth
“My “Let
souland
canbreadth
reach…Ideal
and
height…”
Grace.”
me
count
the
ways!”
“How do I love thee?” – follows the format of and Italian sonnet, starts by posing
a question. (not really rhetorical because she actually answers it).
“Let me count the ways!” – Attempts to mathematically measure love which is
emotion. This shows that her love is so deep that even she is still trying to fully
understand it.
The exclamation mark illustrates her own disbelief at the number of ways she can
love him.
“…depth and breadth and height…”- All dimensions, expresses the volume of her
love for him. Makes her love seem so passionate that it is almost touchable.
Suggests at the vastness of her heart’s capability to love him.
“My soul can reach…Ideal Grace.”
“feeling out of sight”- exploring or searching for…
“ends” – results and “Being” – life i.e. the results or achievements in her life.
“Ideal Grace” – heaven, idealism and perfection.
This part means: in her search for love, obtaining his love is one of her life’s best
achievements. And in her quest for an ideal life and perfection, she has found
him.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
A
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
B
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
B
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
A
“…sun
“…love
thee
candlelight.”
freely,”
“…everyday’s
“Love
“Iand
love
thee
most
thee”
purely,”
quiet need…”
Line 5: ‘everyday’s / most quiet need’ – translates to a basic
constant need which can’t live without.
6: ‘sun & candlelight’ – it’s the only reference in poem to
concrete imagery, but even this is very tangeable. The range
between the two shades of light encompasses all light,
shows ‘thee’ is light of all shades and intensities, providing
comfort and warmth in every situation.
7:’freely’ – love ‘thee’ as intensely men fighting their ‘Right’
to freedom. Perhaps she has ‘lost’ her freedom for her love,
being unable to stop loving ‘thee’.
8: ‘purely’ – genuine, without desire for ‘Praise’ & requital.
Anaphora ‘I love thee’ in lines 7 and 8 – reinforce the theme
of love, builds rhythm. Poem is like a list of ways of loving
‘thee’.
I love thee with the passion, put to use
C
In my old griefs … and with my childhood's faith:
D
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
C
With my lost saints, -I love thee with the breath,
D
Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and, if God choose,
C
I shall but love thee better after death
D
“…passion
… and
inchoose…”
my
old
griefs”
“…love
thee
“Smile
“If
God
better
after
tears…”
my
death”
“My childhood’s
faith”
“…breath…”
At this point, the rhyme scheme turns into CDC DCD. This is associated with a narrowing
in perspective. Up to this point, the poem has been talking about love in a religious and
idealistic tone. Now she begins to express more of her personal feelings.
“…passion … in my old griefs” – old griefs may relate to the loss of her favourite brother
or her mother. The intensity with which she mourned their loss is compared to her love for
Robert Browning.
“My childhood’s faith” – she was a stout Christian. She loves him with the simple and
unquestioning manner she did with her faith.
“…breath, Smile, tears…”
– breath means that he is as precious to her as the very air that she breaths. He is essential
to her being and she can’t live without him.
–
Smile and tears: she is proclaiming that their love with not fail through all the ups and
downs of life. They will accompany each other through both happiness and sadness.
“If God choose” – she recognizes that fact that their love may not last forever. Also she’s
expressing her frustration and anxiety that this may be so.
“…love thee better after my death” – shows that their love is restricted by neither time nor
life, that their love is eternal- goes on after they die. Shows that their relationship is not
merely physical but more emotional.
Love: The entire poem is like a list of the different
ways the speaker’s love for ‘thee’.
Spiritual: “…my soul can reach”, “Being and Ideal
Grace”: Lines 3 and 4
Political: as men strive for right: Line 7
Religious: as they turn from Praise: Line 8
with my lost saints: Line 12
Love thee better after my death: Line 14
Theme: Love
Spiritual
So intense is her love for him, that it rises to the spiritual level
Political
She loves him freely, without external motives
Religious
She loves him purely, without expectation of personal gain
She even loves him with the passion of her childhood faith
She loves him in the way that she loved saints as a child
She expects to continue to love him after death
She talks about ‘her childhood’s faith’ as though it’s something way in the past,
suggesting she is now mature and old, not a young girl experiencing her first
crush. This adds weight to her love.
The poem relates to anyone who has been in love because there is an
uncertainty in the identity of the speaker/’thee’.
1.
Explore the methods the poet uses to express her love for her husband
2.
How does the poet make the love seem heartfelt and genuine
3.
With reference to the poem, explain how it effectively expresses
emotions and how the poem is made memorable.
Sonnets from the Internet, #43
by Harley Hahn (2003)
How do I access thee? Let me count the ways.
I access thee to the depth and breadth and height
Your topology can reach, when connecting out of sight
For the ends of bandwidth and ideal servers.
I look at thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by Web site and email.
I look at thee freely, as men strive for data;
I look at thee purely, as they turn from spam.
I look at thee with the hypertext put to use
In my old browsers, and with my childhood's graphics.
I look at thee with a resolution I seem to lose
With my lost pixels — I look at thee with the bits,
Bytes, folders, of all my data! — and, if God choose,
I shall but look at thee better after losing my connection.
© All contents Copyright 2010, Harley Hahn