Sonnet 43 entitled “How do I Love Thee” is a poem with 14 lines that is written in iambic pentameter. It follows the a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a pattern of rhymes that is typical to Italian sonnets. It also follows the form which consists of the octet that is the first eight lines and the sestet that is the final six lines. The theme of the poem could be recognized in the octet, and the sestet consists of the conclusion of the poem together with the poem’s resolution. The poem consists of hyperbole and exaggeration for describing love as being eternal (Bardhan, np).
It was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1846 before she got married to her husband Robert Browning. It was published as a part of the poem collection of “Sonnets from the Portuguese” in 1850. The poem simply describes the feelings of love of Elizabeth to her husband before their wedding date (Locher, np). It is one of the sonnets that were written for her husband during their courtship period. The theme of the sonnet is love, and it is described as an aspect that is eternal and consist of all (Phillipson, 22). The poem started with a question followed by several answers that could be related to other principles and ideals. The author does not intend to answer the question of how do she love her husband, but she describes her feelings with various concepts.
In the octet, Elizabeth relates her concept of love with the ideals of religion and politics. The first answer of Elizabeth states that “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.” The concept of soul is a religious ideal which could be associated with eternal being. She describes love as a dimension of her soul. However, in religious terms, soul is a concept which could not be measured or an aspect of limitless. According to most religion, if a person dies, the soul could remain (Simonsen, 135). In religion, faith is the one that binds the people with the Almighty Being. The same thing is described by the sonnet. When her husband feels unloved, he should think that her love could not be measured, and faith will bind them together.
The fifth and the sixth line of the poem describe the authors love as an object that could overcome all things. The phrase “every day’s most quiet needs” could be associated with the basic needs of man for his everyday life. It this text, the author tried to describe her love like an object which satisfies all the essential needs of a person for living (Swapna, 14). The phrase “sun and candlelight” means day and night. The author also tries to interpret love as a basic need of a person as long as he or she needs it or without time constraints. She also means that her love could give her husband’s basic needs in everything he does anytime.
The seventh line describes love as a man trying to fight for his freedom and rights. It is a description with the use of political ideals. The author tries to say that she loved his husband freely without the help of someone to persuade her to love him. She will love her husband as if it is her right for doing it. The eighth line describes her love to be pure and innocent which means there is no other reason for loving him. She loved her husband without anything in return. The author did not expect anything for personal gain from loving her husband. The eighth line also associates her love to be pure eternal.
The sestet of the poem discussed the conclusion and resolution of the author in writing the sonnet. Starting from the ninth line, the author described her love like how Jesus loves mankind. It is described as if Elizabeth could accept any suffering and pain that could arise from loving his husband (Raymond, 3). The intensity of her love could only be resembled as a love that is ready to accept any negative aspects of life. The phrase “I love thee with the breadth, Smiles, tears, all my life!” means the author loved her husband for the betterment or the worst. She described her love to be everlasting even if anything goes wrong with them. She also tried to tell her husband that she will never stop loving him even if they are happy or sad (Raymond, 6).
In the end, Elizabeth argues that her only resolution for describing her love is that she would continue to love her husband even if they were dead. The octet describes how the author will love her husband for every moment of her life while the sestet argues that there will be nothing to stop her love. In the phrase, “I shall but love thee better after death”, the author tried to interpret her love as everlasting – that nothing will stop her from loving him, not even death (Swapna, 17).
Works Cited:
Bardhan, S. Analysis of How do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barret Browning. 2010. Web. http://beamingnotes.com/2013/05/21/analysis-of-how-do-i-love-thee-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning/.
Locher, T. Famous Love Poems: An Analysis of “How do I Love Thee” by Elizabeth Barret Browning. 2012. Web. http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/62766-how-do-i-love-thee-analysis/.
Phillipson, J. How do I love Thee?. An Echo of Saint Paul. Victorian Newsletter. 1962. 22. Print.
Raymond, M. Elizabeth Berrett’s Early Poetics: The 1820s. Browning Society notes. 1978. 3-6. Print.
Simonsen, P. Victorian Interrogations: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet from the Portuguese and Aurora Leigh. Massey University. 1993. 135. Print
Swapna, S. Reading Poetry. School of Distance Education. 2011. 14-17. Print
