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 everyday'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 grief’s, 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.
(from “Sonnets from the Portuguese” poem 43)
As Elizabeth Barrett Browning has written this poem for her husband-to-be Robert Browning, I can not help to notice how much she loves him. Initially, their relationship started off as nothing and grew intense over time. We are to love with our whole being; our minds, bodies, and souls. I actually sounds like wedding vows. This sonnet is passionate and emotional. She says that she loves Robert with her soul professing that feels a very intimate bond between them. By reiterating "I love thee" Ms. Browning was emphasizing and declaring her love, if it were ever one disputed. If God allows, her love for Robert will continue even after death.
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Tisha,
ReplyDeleteWhile it is good practice to quote a poem you intend to discuss, so your reader can follow your explication, if you quote the entire poem the reader is apt to be no closer to knowing what to pay attention to than before. You need to focus on sections and highlight passages that build and illustrate your interpretation. Your later remarks are perceptive, but are often not directly or visibly connected to specific parts of Barrett Browning's sonnet.