“How do I love thee”

by Elizabeth Barret Browning

Presentation by Shahad Dhafer Albakri
Uni ID: 391009801
POETRY- 2
Section - 400
 Contents
➢About the author
➢Text of the poem (How do I love thee)
➢Explanation the 1&2 stanzas
➢Theme
➢Summary
➢Technical Devices / Structure of the poem
➢Figurative Language
 Elizabeth Barret Browning
(1806-1861)

▪ She was born on March 6th , 1806 in Durham, England - died on June 29th ,1861 in
Florence, Italy
▪ She is one of the best poets during the Victorian era
▪ She was the oldest of twelve children,
▪ Self- educated at home from age four
▪ At 13 years old she had her first poem written
▪ Elizabeth had health problems from an early age (lung illness)
▪ She married Robert Browning in secret and moved to Italy with him, where she had
her son and lived happily
 Text of the poem

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.
 Explanation the first stanza
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.
Here the speaker asking a question in the first line of
the poem which is “How do I love thee” and she
quickly answers the question the rest of the sonnet by
listing all the ways and said “Let me count the ways”
the word “thee” is assumed to be the speaker’s
husband Robert Browning .
Browning uses a spatial metaphor to convey the all-
encompassing essence of her passion for Robert, using
words like "depth," "breath," and "height." Imagine
going up to a shelf where you can't see your hand or
what it's touching when you're 'feeling out of sight. In
the fourth line is an image encapsulates her love for him
and her unwavering faith in him.
 Explanation the second stanza
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;
. equality. This liberation is from guilt and sin in this
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
These two lines further describe her intense feeling of
passion for him and how her love and desire for him persist
in moments of silence and contemplation, making this
explanation more emotive. The images of the sun and
'candle-light not only describe how she feels about him
during the day and night, but also in strong, thrilling
moments like the sun and quiet, but still passionate
moments like the flickering fire of 'candle-light.'
Elizabeth's free decision to love Robert is defined by the
phrase "I love thee freely" (which was significant in Victorian
times as women may be forced to marry). Like ‘men striving
for right,' her love for him is morally correct.
Although it isn't said clearly, the principle of 'purity' in
this line is a repetition of the previous line's concept of
situation. This section describes that her affection is
modest and humble, and that it is not fueled by other
people's "praise."
 Theme of the poem

➢ Love
The theme of this poem is true love lasts forever.

Summary of the poem

The speaker asks how she loves her beloved and tries to list

the different ways in which she loves him. Her love seems to

be eternal and to exist everywhere, and she intends to

continue loving him after her own death, if God lets her.
 Technical Devices:

➢ Assonance: which is the repetition of similar vowel sounds.

In lines 3-4 “My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/ For the ends of being and ideal grace”

➢ Alliteration of (p)sound For example, “purely” and “praise” in line eight.

The words “purely” and “praise” begin with the same consonant / p /

Structure of the poem

➢ Structure: This poem is an Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet: with the following rhyme scheme: abba,
abba cde, cde OR cd,cd,cd sonnet, it has 14 lines. Also it is iambic pentameter.
➢ Begins with a rhetorical question
➢ Rest of the poem answers the question

Repetition - The repetition of the phrase “I Love Thee”

repeated throughout the poem. emphasizes the intensity
of the speaker’s love.
 Figurative Language

❑ Similes
In the 7th and 8th lines, similes is founded.
“I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.”
The poet represents her love to her lover using simile.
She uses ‘as’ to compare it. She compares her free love
as men who strive for right. She also compares her
pure love as those men who turn from praise.
❑ Personification
In the third line, personification appears in this
poem. From “My soul can reach, when feeling out
of sight”,
Soul is not human being and it can not reach
something, but it is given human attributes as if it
has ability to reach.

❑ Metaphor: "by sun and candle-light" (line 6) very

likely represents day and night, as the speaker loves
ceaselessly throughout the day and night.
 Thank you
for you attention…