Sonnets from the Portuguese, XLIII
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 43, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”, is part of a collection of 44 love sonnets known as “Sonnets From the Portuguese”, written between 1845 and 1846 and published in 1850.
Born Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett, Browning was born on 6 March 1806 in Coxhoe, County Durham, England, and she died on 29 June 1861 in Florence, Kingdom of Italy, at the age of 55.Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838, and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation, and prose. Her prolific output made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate on the death of Wordsworth.
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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.