Sonnet 43
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Nick, Andhika and Aaron.
Elizabeth
Browning
• Elizabeth Barrett
Browning
• Born(1806-03-06)6
March 1806
Kelloe, Durham,
England
• Died29 June
1861(1861-06-29)
(aged 55)
Florence, Italy
Sonnet 43
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 thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Summary
• She is trying to describe the abstract feeling of
love by measuring how much her love means
to her. She also expresses all the different
ways of loving someone and she tells us about
her thoughts around her beloved. The tone of
the poem is deep, in a loving way.
Literary Devices used
• The dominant figure of speech in the poem
is anaphora: the use of I love thee in eight lines and I
shall but love thee in the final line. This repetition
builds rhythm while reinforcing the theme.
(Anaphora) – It is a type of expression whose reference
depends on another referential element.
• E.g., in the sentence 'Sally preferred the company of
herself', 'herself' is an anaphoric expression in that it is
coreferential with the expression in subject position
Alliteration
• thee, the (Lines 1, 2, 5, 9, 12).
thee, they (Line 8)
soul, sight (Line 3)
love, level (Line 5)
quiet, candle-light (Line 6)
freely, strive, Right (Line 7)
purely, Praise (Line 8)
passion, put (Line 9)
my, my (Line 10)
love, love (Line 11)
With, with (Line 12)
lost, love (Line 12)
but, better (Line 14)
These repetitions build rhythm while reinforcing the theme.
Significance of the poem
“Thee”
-Refers to the poets husband, Robert Browning
When . . . Grace:
-when my soul feels its way into the spiritual realm
(out of sight)
-to find the goal of being alive and living uprightly
By sun and candlelight
-refers to night and day
Significance of the poem
• Freely: she loves him willingly—and just as intensely
as men who fight for freedom
• purely: she loves him genuinely, without desire for
praise.
• with . . . saints: with a childlike fervor for saints and
holiness that I seemed to lose when I grew older.
• Smiles . . . life: their love is perhaps too sentimental
• I shall love the better after death – this implies that
their love is eternal, never ending
THE END