EMILY REYNOLDS
Track one- Literary Meaning Track Two- Personal Associations
Track Three- Theme Track Four-Literary Associations
Track Five- Highlighter Fig. Lang. Track Six- Figurative Language Judgment
Track Seven- Connection to Author’s Life Track Eight- Shifts
My poem is “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This poem is describing how much Browning loves her husband. This entire poem is a love letter to her husband.
How much do I love you? There are many different ways.
I love you as far as I can reach, even when I can not feel you.
I will love you until God comes back to earth and the sinful world is destroyed.
I love you as much as needing the sun or food.
Even during war, I still love you
Even if you win the war and everyone “loves” you, I still love you as genuine as ever.
I love you with all the effort I put into stupid worries that were not worth anything,
I love you like a wholesome child loves a butterfly.
Even as a child, I still love you like I do now.
I love you with everything I do, even the bad.
And if I die, I will love more after I am passed away.
Track one- Literary Meaning Track Two- Personal Associations
Track Three- Theme Track Four-Literary Associations
Track Five- Highlighter Fig. Lang. Track Six- Figurative Language Judgment
Track Seven- Connection to Author’s Life Track Eight- Shifts
This poem reminds me of a typical old-fashion romance. The two lovers writing love letters back and forth to each other, most likely in secret. This is the kind of letter a girl wants to receive in the mail, not a bill. It really reminds me of the book Tuck Everlasting. Jesse and Winnie have this everlasting love that never ends; even when Winnie dies at the end, Jesse still loves her just as much as when he first met her. This poem reminds me of how much God loves his children. God loves us through the bad times and the good. He loves every part of us. I have not felt this way about anyone, but I hope I will some time in my life.
The theme of this poem is true love lasts forever. Browning states that she loves her husband with “the depth and breadth and height/My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight”. She is saying that she loves everything about him; even when she can not touch him or even see him, she still loves him as much as ever. Also, the lines “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose/With my lost saints”. Browning loved her husband even before she knew what love was. That is a powerful love, an everlasting love. Furthermore, Browning says “and, if God choose, /I shall love thee better after death.” Even if she dies, she will love her husband more than when she was alive. Through these quotes, the theme is clearly true love lasts forever.
Track one- Literary Meaning Track Two- Personal Associations
Track Three- Theme Track Four-Literary Associations
Track Five- Highlighter Fig. Lang. Track Six- Figurative Language Judgment
Track Seven- Connection to Author’s Life Track Eight- Shifts
This poem reminds me of Ophelia in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Ophelia loves Hamlet so much that she just does not know what to do about. Hamlet writes love letters to her, and this poem sounds like a letter Ophelia would write back to him. Ophelia says that "[Hamlet] hath, my lord, of late many tenders/Of his affection to me" (1.3.104-105). Ophelia is saying that Hamlet and herself have been affectionate towards each other. Ophelia also says "…he hath importuned me with love/ In honorable fashion" (1.3.115-116). She says that Hamlet has bothered her constantly with his love but does this honorably. Browning loves her husband very much. Ophelia loves Hamlet very much. The love for a significant other is the key connection between the two people.
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 candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
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.
Key:
Red= anaphora purple= personification bright green=assonance yellow=hyperbole
Bright Blue=similes
Track one- Literary Meaning Track Two- Personal Associations
Track Three- Theme Track Four-Literary Associations
Track Five- Highlighter Fig. Lang. Track Six- Figurative Language Judgment
Track Seven- Connection to Author’s Life Track Eight- Shifts
6.
Figurative Language Judgment
The figurative language in this poem greatly influences the meaning Browning is trying to get across to her readers. For example, Browning uses the repetition of the phrase "I love thee" to catch the readers' attention. She wants the reader to know that she loves her husband very much, which is why she keeps repeating the phrase over and over in the poem. Browning also uses personification in the second and third lines. She says "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/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. Her love is so strong that she doesn't have to touch him for him to know. Furthermore, Browning exaggerates her words to make them sound more important. In lines 12 and 13 she states,"-- I love thee with the breath, /Smiles, tears, of all my life!--". She has not known her true love her entire life, but it adds more meaning to the poem if she says she has loved her husband her whole life. Although this poem does not have a specific beat, the structure of the sentences creates a sense of natural flow. Browning uses great syntactic variety in her poems.
7.
Connection to Author's Life
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote this poem because she wanted to express her deep feelings for her soon-to-be husband. She loved her husband, Robert Browning, so much that she wanted the whole world to know. Her father strongly disagreed in the idea of any of his children getting married, but they secretly got married and ran away to be together. At a younger age, Elizabeth’s brother drowned which deeply depressed her. She did not even come out of her bedroom for a few years. Robert Browning was her lifesaver. He brought her out of depression and into happiness. Even though most of the poem sounds exaggerated, it may have been how she really and truly felt about him. Elizabeth loved her husband, and that’s all that really matters. True love conquers all.
The shifts in this poem are very subtle. Since it is a sonnet, there is a shift after the fourth line, eighth line, twelfth line, and the last line. Each section is a different way she describes how much she loves her husband. The first section describes how much Elizabeth loves Robert in an extremely exaggerated way. In the second section, Elizabeth is telling the reader how much she needs her husband Robert. She says “I love thee to the level of everyday’s/Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.” She needs him like she needs the sun. Like the first section, Elizabeth exaggerates again in the third section, but about how long she has loved him. She says that she loved him even more she knew what real love was. The final couplet ties the whole poem together. It says that if she dies, she will love her husband even more after she is gone. That is a passionate love.
Track one- Literary Meaning Track Two- Personal Associations
Track Three- Theme Track Four-Literary Associations
Track Five- Highlighter Fig. Lang. Track Six- Figurative Language Judgment
Track Seven- Connection to Author’s Life Track Eight- Shifts