Elizabeth Barret Browning:
How Do I Love Thee
A Presentation By Cas Schroy
Childhood
• Born: 1806 Durham,
England
• Eldest of 12 children
• Well to do family
• An intelligent child but
sickly
• Wrote first “epic” poem
by age 12
• Devout Christian
Early Adult Years
• 1826: Published An Essay on Mind and Other
Poems
• 1832: Father has to sell rural family estate
• 1833: Publishes translation of Prometheus
Bound
• 1838: The family moves to London
• After the death of her brother she became a
recluse
• 1844: Publishes Poems
• The two kept a secret courtship for 20 months
exchanging 574 letters
Married Life
• 1846 they married and moved
to Italy
• Had one son (Robert
Wideman Browning)
• While in Italy she tried to
help the fight for Italy’s
freedom from Austria
• She was very happy in her
marriage and life in Italy
helped with her health
• Died in Florence June 29,
1861
Her Works
• Later publications include:
▫ Sonnets from the Portugese (1850)
▫ Casa Guidi Windows (1851)
▫ Aurora Leigh (1857)
• Considered a better poet than her husband
during her life
• Criticism
▫ Social activism: slavery, child labor, women’s
rights, ect.
How Do I Love Thee (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.
The Poem
• Rhyme scheme: ABBA
ABBA CDC DCD
▫ Petrarchan Sonnet
•
•
•
•
•
Iambic pentameter
Religious imagery
Personification
Repetition
Author and Narrator in
one
Works Cited
Barret Browning, Elizabeth. "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
"Elizabeth Barret Browning." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York: Columbia UP, 2011. 1. MasterFILE
Premier. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
The Academy of American Poets. "Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Poets.org. The Academy of American Poets. Web. 22 Feb.
2012.
Pictures
http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/ui/custom/default/collection/default/images/elizabeth-barrett-browning_engraving.jpg
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/myrecordjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/cb/ccb000ac570a-11e1-8291-0019bb2963f4/4f3a5921df430.preview-300.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/2/10/1297350014099/Robert-Browning-003.jpg