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 every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
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.
Analysis:
In this sonnet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning explores the depth and breadth of her love for her husband, Robert Browning. She begins by asking, "How do I love thee?" and then proceeds to list the many ways in which she loves him.
She says that she loves him "to the depth and breadth and height/My soul can reach," which suggests that her love for him is boundless and immeasurable. She also says that she loves him "to the level of every day’s/Most quiet need," which shows that her love is not just a fleeting emotion, but a deep and abiding commitment.
Browning also uses a number of metaphors to describe her love for her husband. She compares it to "the passion put to use/In my old griefs," and to "my childhood’s faith." This suggests that her love for him is both strong and enduring.
In the final lines of the sonnet, Browning says that she loves her husband with the "breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!" This suggests that her love for him is all-encompassing and all-consuming. She also says that she will "but love thee better after death," which suggests that her love for him will only grow stronger in the afterlife.
Sonnet 22 is a beautiful and moving expression of love. It is a testament to the power of love to transform and transcend the human experience.