Sonnet 43 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Quotes)

‘I love thee’

* Repetition shows her love for him

‘How do I love thee?’

* Complex, rhetorical question

‘depth and breadth and height’

* Triplet
* Internal rhyme
* Her love is 3D and cannot go any further

‘soul’

* Spiritual connotations
* Shows love is internal and pure rather than just physical

‘Being’

* Her entire being loves him
* Capitalised to emphasise

‘need’

* She needs him as much as air and water

‘candlelight’

* He is the light of her life
* Similar to God or a divine being

‘freely’

* Not looking for anything in return

‘purely’

* No hidden agenda
* Her love is genuine

‘griefs’

* Loves him with such intensity that it is similar to grief

‘childhood’s’

* Expression of innocence
* Believing/trusting in purity
* Her youthful side is brought out when he is around

‘With my lost saints’

* Others have failed her in life before
* People she used to admire have lost her respect
* Despite her trust issues she loves him
* Line contains iambic pentameter - she might struggle to talk about her past or her heart is beating fast thinking about him

‘of all my life!’

* Exclamative
* Excited to be with him for the rest of her life

‘if God choose’

* In God’s hands
* The purity of their love is witnessed by God as it is that unique and special