Poet: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Published: 1850

Sonnet 43 is part of a sonnet sequence of 44 sonnets called Sonnets from the Portuguese. It was written before Elizabeth Barrett married the famous English poet and playwright Robert Browning. In Sonnet 43, Elizabeth expresses her intense love for Robert listing the various ways in which she experiences love for her beloved. Her love, which she considers spiritual, allows her to reach extremes which are otherwise impossible. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era and How do I love thee is her most renowned sonnet.

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 candlelight.

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.