Sonnet 43 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Summary Sheet) Notes, explanations and interpretations on 'Sonnet 43' by poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This summary sheet contains everything you need to know about this poem. Categorised into individual boxes make finding information easy and it also helps when it comes to writing essays, and structuring answers. Thank You. To all of you out there who may find my presentation helpful in any way, shape or form. Hopefully, you find these presentations useful and helpful for exams or just general revision. More presentation coming soon on this profile, JaskiratKanwal. - Jaskirat Created By: JaskiratKanwal Uploaded By: JaskiratKanwal Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/JaskiratKanwal

1. Sonnet 43
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
An autobiographical poem written to her
future husband, Robert Browning. Both
individuals knew full well that their
marriage would not be accepted by
Barret Browning’s father.
Barrett Browning included this sonnet in
her collection titles ‘Sonnets From The
Portuguese’, titled because Robert
Browning often referred to his wife as
his little Portuguese.
In the poem, the speaker is
proclaiming her unending
passion for her beloved. The
poet describes the intensity of
her love which is powerful and
all-encompassing.
She loves him with all of her
being, and she hopes God will
grant her the ability to love him
even after she has passed.
PETRARCHAN SONNET:
~ Lines 1-8 = Octave = Ends with religion & balance of love. (Ideal Love)
~ Lines 9-14 = Sestet = (Reflective Love)
>Shift from octave to sestet = Tone shifts to seriousness and reflection<
IAMBIC PENTAMETER:
~ I.P. is usually used in Sonnets = Old-fashioned form.
~ Using a traditional love structured poem = Her love is timeless and will
live on forever.
FIXED RHYME SCHEME:
ABBA ABBA CDCD CD.
THEME & ABOUT:
AO1
1 Point Min.
STRUCTURE: AO2
The Way The Poem’s Organised – Enjambment,
Repetition, Stanzas, Rhythm, Rhyme etc.
2 Points Min.
MAIN QUOTES:
6 Point Min.
LINKS TO OTHER POEMS:
1 Link Min.
IMAGERY: AO2
Similes, Metaphors, Personification...
2 Points Min.
LANGUAGE: AO2
Specific Words & Phrases Used To
Create Effect; Tone etc.
4 Points Min.
CONTEXT: AO3
3 Point Min.
“How do I love thee?” = Rhetorical Question. She’s
trying and struggling to contain her feelings.
“I LOVE THEE= (Repetition x7) Suggests that the poet
can not contain how much see loves him.
“Ideal Grace”, “if God choose”, “Praise”, “Faith”, “Lost
saints”. = Religious Symbolism. It is reflective of purity
and strength of her love. She’d do anything for it.
(Line 5/6) = Enjambment. Shows excitement (like the
theme of the octave). Her love just spills out of her,
there’s so much she wants to say. Her love is
uncontainable.
“I love thee to the DEPTH and BREATH and HEIGHT” = This
is how Elizabeth measures her love. Logically, mathematical
way of measuring her love for him. The repetition of “and”
adds emphasise to the sentence as well as prolonging it.
“I love thee with the BREATH, SMILES, TEARS, of all my life!”
= Elizabeth lists nouns, as a way to show how she’ll go
through absolutely everything to be with him. She loves her
husband with all that had made up her life.
= Different life experiences.  “Smiles” = Happiness.
“Tears” = Sadness. “Breath” = To keep us living.
LAST STANZA:
Shifts towards death and how we deal with morality.
Theme of Lost = Loss of childhood, religion and life.
“In my OLD GRIEFS, and with my CHILDHOOD’S FAITH”
= She is taking the feelings that she has about somethings
relatively negative and comparing it to the feelings she has
for her husband.
 “OLD GRIEFS” = Can be defined as anything that a
person passionately despises. - She is telling her husband
here that she has as much passion for him as she does for
those things in life that she just cannot stand.
 “CHILDHOOD’S FAITH” = Usually steadfast and true. -
She also loves him with the faith of a child. Just like a child
has faith, so, too does the speaker have love for her
husband.
“I shall but love thee BETTER AFTER DEATH” = Browning
ends her poem by acknowledging that she is willing to love
her husband forever, if God chooses to allow her to do so.
Her love will continue to grown with the passing of time,
regardless of whether or not she or he are still alive. The
speaker’s love for her husband is so strong that not even
death can destroy it.
“I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with LOST SAINTS” =
Her “LOST SAINTS” is a reference to all of those people she
once loved and adored in her life. The love she once felt for
them, that she eventually lost, has now been transferred into
the love she feels for her husband.
By: Jaskirat Kanwal
GCSE English Literature – Poetry Anthology