Nowadays, the only time we would say this word is in the Lord’s Prayer, when said, or a hymn, when sung. Then, she answers the question, saying “ 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.” The use of words like “thee” is an example of an archaism, which is the use of a word that is considered outdated, or archaic, ancient if you like, the sort of word no longer used. It is a question that does not require an answer and is the sort of technique used to make the reader or recipient think about the writer’s love for them. Using the sonnet, a tool used widely by writers like Shakespeare, she lets him know just how much sha cares when she utters those now famous first words of, “ How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Starting with a rhetorical question is a very good way to start. With that in mind, what becomes obvious is that this poem is written, presumably from her to her husband, or from one person to the next, who is totally in love with the recipient of the poem. Iambic pentameter is a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example “Two households, both alike in dignity.” Ten syllables for most of the lines and fourteen lines makes for a style that is difficult to write, using iambic pentameter as well as all the usual writing literary devices. Now, a sonnet, for those who need to know, is a poem of 14 lines, but there is usually a certain writing style used. They lived in Florence where she died and her poems were published in various guises, but she is most famously known for this poem, Sonnet 43. She met and was courted by the writer Robert Browning in secret and married him knowing that her father would disown her and disinherit her, so she married for love only, a love that lasts, a love that is eternal. She campaigned against slavery, wrote extensively and upon the death of William Wordsworth, was considered for the next Poet Laureate. This will have affected how she lived her life and her attitudes to life, other people and love itself. She wrote poetry from the age of six, at fifteen suffered illness that caused her to live in pain for the rest of her life and took Laudanum from an early age for the pain. The first thing you need to take into account when reading a poem like this is the life of the poet herself. I shall but love thee better after death. Smiles, tears, of all my life and, if God choose, In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right. My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight I love thee to the depth and breadth and height How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Sonnet of elizabeth browning