Introduction to “How Do I Love Thee”
”How Do I Love Thee?” is one of the popular sonnets penned by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, an English poet of the Victorian era. The sonnet is from her collection “Sonnets from the Portuguese”, and was published in 1850. This poem is also formally known as Sonnet 43, and it is a very passionate love poem, believed to be written for her husband, another poet Robert Browning. The sonnet provides a description on how deep, vast and passionate love is focusing on the fact that love is eternal and universal.
It is hard to overemphasize the passion and the lyrical quality that characterizes Browning’s work and “How Do I Love Thee?” is a perfect illustration of this. The poem has 14 lines in it, which follows the characteristics of a sonnet; the poem uses iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDC DCD. By adopting this structure, Elizabeth captures and demonstrates the deep and complex aspects of love thus making the sonnet a perpetual celebration of love.
Themes in “How Do I Love Thee”
Theme#1
The Immensity of Love
“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.“
In this Sonnet, Elizabeth does not only talk about the love, she throws open the doors to a love so immense, it can not be contained. She tends to express the infinity of love by stressing over its abundant nature.
Using the words “love” and “depth and breadth and height” she attempts to claim that her love is beyond the physical endeavors of measurement, reaching into the spiritual and the metaphysical realms of one’s soul. This expression enhances the fact that good love is beyond the normal realm and it covers every aspect of life as well as the concept of grace.
Theme#2
Eternal Love
“I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.“
In the sonnet, the subject of eternal love is considered an important theme, which reflects the writer’s conception of love as well as love’s immutability. Thus, saying that she loves her beloved with every breath, smile, and tear demonstrates that her feelings are strong and ever lasting.
The phrase “I shall but love thee better after death” indicates that she will love him better after she dies, which implies that the author believes in the existence of souls and in loving that persists in the afterlife. This theme deals with the aspect of love as being eternal or endless in nature.
Theme#3
Spiritual Love
“I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.“
Another theme touched in the poem is the spiritual love. The author compares her love with the great deeds of the people, who seek for justice and purity.
Through comparing her love to those that fight for justice and do not need people’s applause, she raises her emotions to the level of spirituality. This theme underlines that her love is not only the sensual or emotional one but also the ethical and the virtuous one, which has also the moral and the spiritual aspects.
Theme#4
Love as a Source of Strength
“I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.“
In this sonnet, love as a source of strength is the key theme. Browning recollects her strong feelings from the past, such as old sadness and childhood beliefs. She puts that same passion into her love for her partner.
This contrast represents that her love is now strong and constructive type of love that replaced her past suffering and innocent believing with strong passionate and buoyant type of love. This theme stresses the notion that love is the source of some emotional power that can help a person cope with all the difficulties in life and find hope.
Theme#5
Love’s Constancy
“I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.“
The theme of love’s constancy is significant in the sonnet. Browning declares that she loves her beloved in both the routine of everyday life and in extraordinary circumstances.
Thus, by stating that she loves him “to the level of every day’s/ Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight”, she underlines the continuity and stability of her love. This theme focuses on the stability and consistency of love, which does not change even in the worst conditions.
Theme#6
The Sacrificial Nature of Love
“I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints.“
The sacrificial nature of love is the primary theme of the sonnet. Browning refers to a love she “seemed to lose” along with her “lost saints”, which indicates toward a rich emotional background of the poet who has loved deeply but, perhaps, for the individuals she may have idolized.
By associating the past love with the present affection, she means to say that love, especially true love involves willingness to sacrifice and devote oneself fully to another. This theme emphasizes the fact that love is not only a pleasure for those who give it but also obligation and devotion towards the object of love.
Theme#7
Love as a Transformative Force
“I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.“
Browning clinches her argument with her beloved by pondering aver how her feelings have reshaped her past life. By raising the question and answering it about love transforming one’s life, she has further exemplified it by pouring into love the force of old griefs and innocent childhood faith.
This theme illustrates the fact that love has the ability to change people and to raise the individuals, turning past miseries and immature conceptions into passionate and lasting love.
See also: Themes in Twelfth Night
Theme#8
The Universality of Love
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
The theme of universality of love is evident in “How Do I Love Thee?” Browning’s uses of comparisons insisting that her love is as good as every known virtue that aims at justice and does not seek publicity.
She connects her love to the widely understood ideas, showing that the true love is a fundamental and universal human experience. This theme emphasizes that love, as the most profound feeling, belongs to all people and expresses itself in everyday life and different cultures.
Theme#9
Love’s Intensity
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
The intensity of love is an essential theme arises in the sonnet. Browning imparts the depth and passion of the love and compares it to the strong emotions she has felt in the past.
When she asserts her ability to love in the same way with which she used to race in the direction of her old griefs and the childish faith, she qualifies her affection as intense and total.
This theme captures the notion that love is passionate and transformative – the emotion courses through one’s character and significantly defines their soul.
Theme#10
The Measurement of Love
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach.
The theme of measurement of love is an essential aspect of the sonnet. Browning tries to calculate love using spatial values of depth, width and, height.
Because of this attempt to quantify love, it shows how extensive and infinite love is, and at the same time, how difficult is to explain the intense emotion. This theme dwells upon the fact that love is divine having no limits and encompassing all aspects of existence.
See also Themes in The Book “Night”
