In order to answer an essay question on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
- The poem in a nutshell
- A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
- A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Barrett Browning’s intention and message
'How do I love thee? (Sonnet 43)' in a nutshell
'How do I love thee? (Sonnet 43)', written by the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, can be considered a tribute to love. The poem is a traditional sonnet expressing an intense and passionate relationship.
'How do I love thee? (Sonnet 43)' breakdown
Lines 1–4
“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.”
Translation
- The poem begins with a rhetorical question that is answered immediately
- The speaker begins a list of ways they love the listener:
- They love the listener as deep and as wide and as high as their “soul can reach”
- They add, for emphasis, that this continues in absence, out of “sight”, and will last forever (“the ends of being”)
Barrett Browning’s intention
- The poet begins a persuasive argument to prove the extent of their love to a listener
- An emphatic statement answers the question posed and the speaker begins an elevated address to their loved one
Lines 5–6
“I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.”
Translation
- The speaker says that their love permeates their everyday life and meets their most simple need
- Whether it is the day or night, they love the listener
Barrett Browning’s intention
- The poet contrasts the previously hyperbolic comments on boundless love with a shorter statement that describes their love as simple and, perhaps, vital to daily life
Lines 7–8
“I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.”
Translation
- The speaker adds two shorter emphatic statements to the list
- They describe a love that is free and “right”, suggesting equality
- The speaker loves humbly and “purely” without praise or need for reward or attention
Barrett Browning’s intention
- Barrett Browning uses two similes, one after the other, to compare love to purity and freedom
- The rhetoric (argument) is assertive and sophisticated, equating love to goodness and justice
Line 9–12
“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”
Translation
- The speaker describes their love as restorative as it turns negative feelings (“old griefs”) to good ones with the same intensity (“passion”) as they once felt pain
- The speaker begins to make religious references in the passionate account of their love:
- The reference to “childhood’s faith” implies the speaker loves with the same innocence and trust they once had as a child
- They imply that their love for “saints” (religion) is not as strong as this love
Barrett Browning’s intention
- The poem’s spiritual nature is created with repeated references to a love that is pure and good
- Here, Barrett Browning uses religious imagery to heighten the intensity of the poem and thus express the strength of their love
Lines 13–14
“Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.”
Translation
- The poem draws to a close with a last list:
- The speaker says they love with the “breath/Smiles, tears” of their life, implying they love with every part of their being
- The last line proposes that “if God” chooses for them to die, their love would not change:
- In fact, it would improve it
Barrett Browning’s intention
- In a final, almost desperate, bid to prove their love, the speaker says that their love is entire
- Barrett Browning concludes the traditionally elevated sonnet with a final declaration of love:
- The love will continue after death