How do I love thee?

• Poet


  Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Context


  Poem was a declaration of love for Robert Barrett Browning. They had a secret courtship that her father did not approve of.
• Form


  Looser adaptation of sonnet form. Number 43 out of 44 sonnets in a collection called "Sonnets from the Portugese" as Roberts nickname for her was "My little Portugese"
• Rhyme


  Rhyme scheme changes in the sestet, line 9. The poems rhyme is ABBA ABBA CD CD CD
• Rhythm


  Iambic pentameter adds gravity and sincerity to the message
• Title


  The title is thematic and the love is obvious. Rhetorical question creates a contemplative tone and the pronoun "I" creates a personal quality. "love" is repeated 10x
• "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"


  The rhetorical question is immediately answered. Hypophora. The first two lines are monosyllabic and the simplicity of the language creates a child like tone which contrasts the complexity of the love that follows
• "I love thee"


  Anaphora is repeated 8 times which shows she is overwhelmed with love
• "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/my soul can reach"

  A spatial metaphor and hyperbole are used to describe the first way she loves her husband. She uses rational language to measure her love.
• "For the ends of Being and ideal Grace"


  Capital letters emphasise importance. Her love is all encompassing even when she feels her existence - Being - and God's divine help - Grace- may end, she knows the love for Robert will sustain.
• "by sund and candle-light"

  Juxtaposition of day and night show that her love is a quiet force that sustains from day to day.
• Line 5

  Day or night, her love fills these quiet moments. 

  Tone shifts from spiritual to mundane. The nouns "sun" and "candle light" mark the passage of time. The light imagery shows how the husband brings her happiness
• Sestet


  Not an obvious tonal shift like other petrarchan sonnets
• i love thee (sestet)

  Repetition of this phrase signifies a new perspective on her love. Tone becomes slightly ambiguous and sombre as she explains the "griefs" she suffered in her youth (the death of mother and brother). She puts large "passion" (energy) into resisting this pain just as she puts large energy into exerting her love for Robert
• "childhood's faith"


  Ambiguous-religious faith or faith in someone/
• "smiles" and "tears"


  Metaphorically represents the good and bad times. Mirrors wedding vows. "breath" suggests he is the key to her existence