Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 43” alternately knows as “How May I Love Thee” is a declaration of her feelings for her husband to be, who was courting her at the time; Robert Browning. It is part of the series of sonnets she wrote for him “Songs from the Portuguese”, a title which she deliberately made to mislead by letting people think that the poem were written by a Portuguese person and she only translated them. Later however, it was established that she herself had been the author of the series and the reference to the Portuguese in the title was in reality a reference to the name her husband to be at the time had given her.
Another aspect of her love for Robert Browning that can be seen in this poem is praise and admiration; her love is clearly stemming from the admiration she feels for him. The lines “In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith, I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” show how her admiration has blossomed into something more, she regards him with the same sort of reverence that a child feels for something holy like a saint. By talking of this she again parallels the object of her affection to something that is larger than life, her love and faith in him are as deep and as passionate as a child’s faith for saints to whom they pray to every night. In talking of her love in the way she is, the poetess effectively displays the same sort of childlike reverence towards her husband. Her deep confessions of love and the lyrical words she uses portray innocence and show a very untainted form of feeling. She expects nothing in return for anything and her only joy in life lies in the fact that she loves Robert Browning. He seems to be centre of her very being and this quality and the purity with which she talks of her feelings which she has in sorrow and joy show the depth of her love.
Elizabeth Browning wrote her sonnets in two forms, the English form which was revolutionized by Shakespeare and the Italian form which was named the Petrarch model. For this poem she has chosen the Petrarch model. The meter used is the iambic pentameter i.e. in every verse there are ten syllables one unstressed and one stressed, for example, my SOUL can REACH when FEELing OUT of Sight. The rhyme scheme of the octave that Browning follows is in the pattern ABBA and then again ABBA. The second and third lines rhyme at the end and so do the first and last in each of the ABBA sequences. This is how the rhyme scheme of the octave was set in Petrarch’s sonnet; however the sestet conventionally had the scheme CDC, CDE or DCE and CDE scheme whereas in this sonnet Browning uses only the CD towards the end. This diversion from the classically used pattern could be seen as way of rebellion against convention from Browning. Not only do these last lines in the sestet have a different rhythm than the rest of the poem and conventional patterns but they also have a deeper meaning because here the poetess talks about how she wants her love for her to be husband to live beyond life and death, which is an unconventional notion. Other than this in these lines she also talks about loving him through times of joy and sorrow and also links him to religion again as she mentions that she reveres him in the same way as she used to revere Christian saints as a child. These lines and the drift away from the conventional patterns of rhythm can also be seen as a form of confusion from joy the type only a young woman who is thoroughly in love can feel. The literary devices used in the poem continuously reinforce the theme of love. Like the drift away from the rhyme meter in the sestet shows the feelings and emotions of love of the poetess, in the same way there are other literary devices being used that highlight love in the poem. She uses the anaphora, which is a word or phrase that is being continuously repeated throughout the poem to create a sense of rhythm and reinforce the theme. In this poem Browning uses the phrase ‘I love thee’ eight times, which reinforces the central theme of love in the poem. The repetition of the phrase creates not only the rhythm but keeps the reader’s focus on the feelings of the poetess for her beloved. The alliterations being used make the poem catchy and lend to it a flow which makes it easier to read. The alliterations being used are thee and the, soul and sight, love and level, quite and candle-light, by reading these one again notices that everything is being related to love throughout. This literary device creates the necessary rhythm and at the same time creates emphasis on the central theme.
Similarly in the beginning in the third line Browning says that ‘I love thee to the depth and breadth and height’ by using the words depth, breadth and height together in one verse not only is she describing the intensity of her love but she is also giving the poem a flow and a sense of rhythm through the use of the ‘th’ sound, it is creating an internal rhyme, which is a rhyme within the verse.
Browning’s sonnet is a declaration of her love for her to be husband at that point. Not only does she effectively create the sense of the intensity of her passion through her words and the images she uses to describe her feelings, but she also uses literary devices to invoke the senses of the reader and show them in detail what she feels. The rhythm and rhyme she creates through the uses of alliterations, internal rhymes and the uses of the iambic pentameter create the flow of the poem which makes it an interesting and easy read. The human emotion of love which is very relatable to any person of any age across countries and cultures make the poem one of interest for everyone. The feelings the poetess invokes by literally baring her heart and soul and her feelings make this poem a great read for anyone because it addresses the simplest, purest human emotion one which anyone from a child to an elderly person will easily be able to relate to.
Citations
Shmoop Editorial Team. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (Sonnet 43) Analysis" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
Nicole. “Elizabeth's Browning's Sonnet 43”. Blogspot.com. n.p. 20 March. 2011 .Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
"Sonnet 43". Anti Essays. n.p. Web. 18 Apr. 2012
