Analysis of Sonnet 43 - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



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 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.


Scheme ABBCABBADEFGFG
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 1111010101 1111110111 1011100011 111101011 1101110101 1111011111 1111011111 1111010111 011101111 1111011111 1111111101 1111110111 1111110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 623
Words 129
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 471
Words per stanza (avg) 124
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

39 sec read
529

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

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