“Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways”
Author:
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was an English poet, best known for her collection Sonnets from the Portuguese. The poems in this collection were written during her courtship with her husband, Robert Browning. Browning’s sonnets are a reflection of her deep and passionate love for him, as well as her own inner emotional conflicts.
Introduction to the Poem:
This sonnet is one of the 44 sonnets in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s collection Sonnets from the Portuguese, written during her secretive engagement to Robert Browning. The poem, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways, stands as one of the most iconic declarations of love in English literature. It portrays the speaker’s deep, all-encompassing love for her beloved, cataloging the many ways in which she loves him. Each line represents a different aspect of her love, blending the physical, emotional, spiritual, and eternal.
Summary of the Poem:
The poem begins with the speaker asking how she loves her partner and then proceeds to enumerate the many ways in which her love manifests. She loves him to the depths of her soul, in the quiet moments of daily life, with passionate intensity, and with the purity of childhood faith. The speaker also mentions that her love is unwavering and eternal, even growing stronger after death. The poem portrays a love that is not only physically and emotionally intense but also transcendent, touching the realm of the spiritual and eternal.
Literary Devices:
- Anaphora: The repetition of the phrase “I love thee” at the start of several lines emphasizes the speaker’s intensity and variety of love. This repetition also creates a rhythmic and flowing quality to the poem.
- Hyperbole: The speaker uses exaggerated phrases such as “to the depth and breadth and height” to describe the immense extent of her love. This highlights the boundless nature of her feelings.
- Imagery: The poem is rich with sensory images. The references to “sun and candle-light,” “passion,” “smiles,” “tears,” and even “if God choose” create vivid pictures of the speaker’s emotions and devotion.
- Allusion: The reference to “lost saints” alludes to religious and idealized figures from the speaker’s past. This conveys the notion that her love is spiritual and transcendent, similar to the love she once had for her saints or ideals.
- Personification: The phrase “If God choose” personifies the concept of fate or divine will, suggesting the speaker’s submission to a higher power in determining the continuation of her love.
- Metaphor: The speaker compares her love to “breath, smiles, tears,” symbolizing how love is essential to life and how it encompasses all emotional experiences.
- Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds, such as “sun and candle-light” and “passion put to use,” adds musicality to the poem, enriching its aesthetic appeal.
Themes Analysis:
- Enduring and Eternal Love: The central theme of the poem is the idea of eternal love. The speaker expresses that her love transcends the physical realm and continues to grow after death. The love she feels is unending and spiritual, making it a universal concept for eternal devotion.
- The Depth of Love: The speaker’s use of a variety of descriptors — “depth,” “breadth,” and “height” — reveals the infinite and immeasurable nature of love. She illustrates that love cannot be confined to mere words or physical dimensions; it reaches every corner of her soul.
- Spiritual Love: There are references to “childhood’s faith” and “lost saints,” which suggest that the speaker’s love is rooted in something pure, idealistic, and spiritual. The connection to saints and faith highlights the idea that love, like spirituality, transcends human limitations.
- Selflessness in Love: The speaker also emphasizes that her love is pure and selfless, free from any desire for praise or reward. She loves without expecting anything in return, highlighting the sacrificial and unconditional nature of true love.
- Love Beyond Death: The poem ends with the powerful declaration that the speaker’s love will continue even after death. This suggests that love is not bound by time and will persist beyond physical life. It becomes eternal, something that remains in the afterlife.
- The Idealization of Love: The poem portrays an idealized form of love, one that is perfect and pure. The speaker’s love is not tainted by jealousy or flaws but is instead an idealized, faithful devotion that elevates the human experience.
Conclusion:
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways is a beautiful expression of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s deep, transformative love for her husband, Robert Browning. Through this poem, she illustrates how love can be an all-encompassing force that stretches across every part of a person’s life—emotional, physical, and spiritual. The sonnet’s use of literary devices such as repetition, hyperbole, and imagery enhances its emotional depth, making it a timeless piece that resonates with readers across generations.
Here’s a line-by-line explanation of the poem with key word meanings:
Line 1: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
- The speaker begins by asking how she loves the person, followed by the declaration that she will attempt to list all the ways she loves them.
Line 2: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
- She describes her love as vast and immeasurable, stretching to every possible limit of her soul.
Line 3: My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
- Her love reaches beyond what the physical senses can perceive, going into the deepest realms of her soul and emotions.
Line 4: For the ends of being and ideal grace.
- Her love stretches beyond mere existence to an ideal, perfect love that transcends human limitations.
Line 5: I love thee to the level of every day’s
- She loves the person not only in grand moments but in the quiet, mundane routines of everyday life.
Line 6: Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
- She loves them through both the light of day and the quiet, intimate moments of the night.
Line 7: I love thee freely, as men strive for right;
- Her love is not forced or constrained; it is given freely, just as people strive for what is morally right.
Line 8: I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
- She loves with purity, without seeking any reward or recognition, much like someone who does good deeds without expecting praise.
Line 9: I love thee with the passion put to use
- She loves with a passionate intensity, comparable to the passion she once invested in her past sorrows.
Line 10: In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
- Her love is both intense and sincere, reminiscent of the deep feelings she once had for her childhood beliefs and past struggles.
Line 11: I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
- She loves with a love that she thought was lost, possibly referring to the love and faith she once had in a higher, ideal form of love.
Line 12: With my lost saints.
- “Lost saints” may refer to ideals or inspirations from the past that she thought were no longer part of her life but have now been revived in this new love.
Line 13: I love thee with the breath,
- She loves with the very essence of her being, even in the smallest things like breath.
Line 14: Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
- Her love is a culmination of all her life’s emotions—joy (smiles) and sorrow (tears). She also acknowledges that this love is in God’s hands.
Line 15: I shall but love thee better after death.
- The speaker believes that her love will only grow stronger even after death, suggesting eternal and transcendent love.
Key Word Meanings:
- Breadth: The width or expanse of something, here referring to the extent of her love.
- Ideal grace: A perfect, pure love that is above all earthly concerns.
- Freely: Without any restriction or reservation.
- Passion: Intense emotion or feeling.
- Griefs: Past sorrows or pain.
- Faith: Trust or belief, often associated with childhood innocence and hope.
- Saints: Sacred or revered figures; can symbolize ideals or values.
- Breath: Refers to life itself, with the metaphor of love encompassing every part of her being.
