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HOW DO I LOVE THEE LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

HOW DO I LOVE THEE LET ME COUNT THE WAYS. by ELIZABETH BARRET BROWNING. ELIZABETH BARRET BROWNING. ROBERT BROWNING. POETIC STRUCTURE. Sonnet Petrarchan (but does not follow normal structure) There is no clear break between octave and sestet. Begins with a rhetorical question.

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HOW DO I LOVE THEE LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

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  1. HOW DO I LOVE THEELET ME COUNT THE WAYS by ELIZABETH BARRET BROWNING

  2. ELIZABETH BARRET BROWNING

  3. ROBERT BROWNING

  4. POETIC STRUCTURE • Sonnet • Petrarchan(but does not follow normal structure) • There is no clear break between octave and sestet. • Begins with a rhetorical question. • Rest of the poem answer the question.

  5. First quatrain (4 lines) • Petrarchan sonnet structure A B B A A B B A C D E C D E statement Second Quatrain (4 lines) Turn/volta – a change in direction of argument or narrative First tercet Counter – statement First tercet

  6. THEMES • True love can be profound, deep and moving; a spiritual experience. • The expression of love for another person can lift life above mundane. • There is hope that great love exists beyond the grave; that a truly great love can never die.

  7. TONE AND MOOD • Sincere, passionate, idealistic. She shares her feelings honestly and openly.

  8. Line 1 “How do I love thee?” • RHETORICAL QUESTION • It’s a question addressed to her husband. • She doesn’t expect an answer because she will list the ways.

  9. LINE 2-3 “depth and breath and height” • HYPERBOLE • This exaggeration reinforces the poet’s intense belief in the extent of her love. • ENJAMBEMT (line 2 - 3) • The line carries on over the end of the verse line into a next line. This increase the pace of the poem. The poem is read smoothly and eloquently.

  10. LINE 3-4 “when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace” • When my soul feels its way into the spiritual realm (out of sight) to find the goal of being alive and living upright. “Being” and “Grace” • PERSONIFICATIONand APOSTROPHE • Poet pay homage to these things. • Poet feels strongly about her religion and these concepts would have been important virtues.

  11. LINE 5-6 “level of everyday’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light” • I love you enough to meet all your simple needs during the day (sun) and even during the night (candle-light) “sun” and “candle-light” • METONYMY • Represents day and night “I love thee to the level” • ALLITERATION

  12. LINE 7-8 “Right” and “Praise” : • PERSONIFICATIONand APOSTROPHE • Look at line 3-4 “freely” • Willingly and just as intensely as men who fight for freedom “purely” • Genuinely without desire for praise

  13. LINE 9-10 “with the passion put to use” “old griefs” “childhood’s faith” • With an intensity equal to that experienced during suffering or mourning; I love you with the blind faith of a child.

  14. LINE 11-12 “love I seemed to lose With my lost saints” • She love her husband the same as the loved her dead mother and brother. “lost saints” • EUPHENISM • Reference to her dead mother and brother Edward “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” • ALLITERATION

  15. LINE 13-14 “love thee better after death” • Their love is eternal, never ending

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