Sonnet 43 (How do I love thee?) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Full Text

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 every day'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 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,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Overview

A devotional catalog of love that moves from cosmic scale to daily life, ending with a vow that love will outlast death.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-8

The speaker measures love in spiritual dimensions and everyday acts, blending ideal and ordinary devotion.

Lines 9-14

Love gathers past grief and faith into the present, culminating in a promise of love beyond mortality.

Themes

• Romantic devotion
• Spiritual love
• Continuity of the self
• Faith
• Mortality

Literary Devices

Anaphora

I love thee... — Repetition builds intensity and structure.

Hyperbole

depth and breadth and height — Expands love to cosmic dimensions.

Historical Context

Part of a private sonnet sequence written for Robert Browning during their courtship; later published and widely celebrated.