College of Education

ENG118- Survey of English and American Literature

1st Semester, AY 2022-2023
Emmanuel D. Dayalo, EdD, Course Facilitator

Activity 1

Name: MARCHELLE T. CABE Course/Year/Section: BSED ENGLISH 3B

Literary Piece: How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barret Browning

1. Discuss the comprehensively the elements of the sonnet:

A. Form – Accordingly, the poem is a sonnet, a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter.
Although it does not follow the precise rhyme scheme of an Italian sonnet, the poem's
structure follows the form of an Italian sonnet, consisting of an octet - the first eight lines,
and the sestet, the final six lines.
B. Sound – In lines three and four, the poet uses assonance, repeating long "e" vowel sounds in
words like "reach," "feeling," "Being," and "ideal." This repeated long vowel sound adds a
brighter, livelier quality to the poem. It also reminds us of what the speaker calls the beloved
– "thee."
C. Rhyme – The rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd. Note that some of the rhymes are not
absolute: ways/grace, for example, and faith/breath. These are called half-rhymes and they
are included in the assessment of the rhyme scheme. Note that the rhyme scheme divides the
poem into two parts.
D. Imagery – The imagery used in this sonnet would be the imagery of love, the grief and
bitterness and the loss of innocence, the love she feels for "thee" is beautiful and intense, but
it's also the follow-up to a series of less warm and fuzzy feelings.
E. Figurative Language – Browning also uses personification in the second and third lines. She
says "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height or My soul can reach, when feeling out
of sight". Browning is saying that even when she cannot touch him with her hand or any part
of her body, her soul will still reach him.
F. Speaker – The speaker of “How do I love thee” is often identified with Elizabeth Barrett
Browning, the author of the poem. The addressee of the love poem is then usually assumed
to be Robert Browning, her husband.
G. Theme – The theme of Barrett Browning's poem is that true love is an all-consuming
passion. The quality of true love the poet especially stresses is its spiritual nature. True love
is an article of faith.
H. Symbol – In this sonnet, love is everything. Loving the beloved is the way that the speaker
actually knows she exists. Trying to list the different types of love that she feels, and to
work out the relationships between these different kinds of love, becomes a new way of
expressing her affection and admiration for "thee."

2. Explain the background of the author and her relationship in the making of the literary piece.

The tale of their courtship and marriage is a real-life Victorian romance that includes
love letters, elopement, and the Italian adventure of a lifetime. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
inherited her ideas about what poetry could do principally from the poets of the Romantic
period – in particular William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and her great love, George
Gordon, Lord Byron.

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Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
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3. What do these lines mean to you?
“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.”
This means that she has transformed the love she used to have for someone she admired,
but was let down, and has since channeled it towards her new lover with the same intensity.
3. “How Do I Love Thee” as a Representative of Love. Do you agree or disagree on this?
I agree with this. The theme of Barrett Browning's poem is that true love is an all-
consuming passion. The quality of true love the poet especially stresses is its spiritual nature.
True love is an article of faith. In addition, the speaker is proclaiming her unending passion for
her beloved. She tells her lover just how deeply her love goes, and she also tells him how she
loves him. She loves him with all of her beings, and she hopes God will grant her the ability to
love him even after she has passed.
5. Make a recorded video. Pronounce/interpret the sonnet orally. Take note of the correct
pronunciation, etc. when teaching as if this literary text to your students. Send the video through in the
GDrive.

(uploaded in the google drive)

Accredited: Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP)
Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)