Sonnet 29 - ‘ I think of thee!

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Sonnet
● Shakespearean or petrarchan sonnets
● 14 lines
● Set rhythm
● Rhythm - iambic pattern
● Traditionally uses to celebrate love

Petrarchan sonnet
● 1 octave (group of 8)
● 1 sestet (group of 6

Iambic pentameter
● 10 syllables per line
● Arranged in pairs called iambs or feet
● Each pair has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Ideas
● The writer is elizabeth barrett browning, she's married to robert browning , writer of
porphyria’s lover
● First person narrator
● Extended metaphor around a tree
● Her lover is a tree
● Tree is strong sturdy firm stable
● She is the vines, she depends in him and thinks about him alot, almost possessive
love as she wraps around the tree as ‘ wild vines’
● Up until line 7- she is talking about thinking about him, after line 7 she is trying to
manifest her presence into real life
● Present tense, thinking about him now
● All imagination
● Can be quite disturbing, vines wrapped around the tree can be suffocating or
overwhelming for the writer

Verse 1
● ‘I think of thee!’ the exclamation mark tells us that its a passionate emotion, personal
pronoun pronoun ‘ thee’. ‘-’ the dash gives us a pause, its like recollection of her
thoughts, or putting it out that she is thinking about said person, reflective tone
● ‘My thoughts do twine and bud about thee, as wild vines about a tree’ he is the tree
she is the vines , ;wild; suggesting extreme or out of control, relating to her thoughts
● Put out broad leaves , and soon there’s nought to see except straggling green which
hides the wood’ her vines wrapping around the whole tree, very attached
 ● Yet, o my palm tree, be it understood i will not have my thoughts instead of thee’
she'd rather have him but she has to make do with her thoughts, ‘ my palm tree’
continuing metaphor
● ‘Who art dearer, better!’ praise
● ‘Rather, instantly renew thy presence’ she wants to see him, wants him to be there.
‘Instantly’ meaning quick / now
● ‘As a strong tree should’ simile bringing back extended metaphor
● ‘ rustle thy boughs, and set thy trunk all bare’ to break free from the vines
● ‘And these bands of greenery which insphere thee drop heavily down’ to reimburse ,
come as new, leaves vines- greenery - her thoughts
● ‘ burst shattered everywhere’ exaggerated verbs
● ‘ because in this deep joy to see and hear thee and breathe within thy shadow a new
air’ ‘deep’ referring to how much she loves him and longs for him. The thoughts also
give her pain, remembering that he is not her. Senses - breathe , see, hear
● ‘ i do not think of thee- i am too near thee’ no longer needs to think of him as he's
right in front of her - imagination

Comparisons
● When we two parted can be compared as , the writer has not gotten over his
previous lover and longs to see them , pain of separation , continuous thoughts for
someone
● Obsessive and possessive love in porphyria’s lover as well . but porphyrias lover is
more destructive and sonnet 29 is more pure
● Natural imagery in love's philosophy
● Perfect pairs, is what loves philosophy wants , it describes the pairs in nature and its
like sonnet 29 has found theirs