PowerPoint of "How do I love thee", by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

1. HOW DO I
LOVE THEE
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
PRESENTATION PREPARED BY
M. ANAMALLAY

2. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett,
/ˈbraʊnɪŋ/; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an
English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain
and the United States during her lifetime. Born in
County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabeth
Barrett wrote poetry from the age of eleven.

3. A sonnet is a type of fourteen-line
poem.
Traditionally, the fourteen lines of
a sonnet consist of an octave (or two
quatrains making up a stanza of 8 lines)
and a sestet (a stanza of six lines).
Sonnets generally use a meter of iambic
pentameter, and follow a set rhyme
scheme.

4. PETRARCHAN SHAKESPEAREAN
Named after the Italian poet,
Petrarch, who popularized the form.
Adapted by Shakespeare for his 154
sonnets.
Division between the octave and
sestet is very clear.
Very often still falls into Octave and
Sestet, but the division is not so
obvious.
Octave rhymes: abba abba Three quatrains (four-lines) rhyming:
abab cdcd efef
Sestet various rhymes: cd cd cd or
cde cde
Rounded off by a clinching rhyming
couplet (two lines) : gg
SONNETS
•All sonnets have 14 lines.
•All sonnets usually have 10 syllables in each line. This means that the whole sonnet should have only 140 syllables.
•A sonnet is divided into two parts:
- the OCTAVE: the first 8 lines
- the SESTET: the last 6 lines
•The OCTAVE introduces the theme or argument while the SESTET develops the theme or argument.
•Thereafter, the sonnets divide into two sorts: Petrarchan and Shakespearean:

5. How Do I Love Thee’ is
a famous love poem and was first
published in a collection, Sonnets from
the Portuguese in 1850. The poem deals
with the speaker’s passionate adoration
of her beloved with vivid pictures of her
eternal bond that will keep her
connected to her beloved even after
death.

6. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1
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 5
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. 10
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. 14

7. “How Do I Love Thee” As a Representative of Love:
As this poem is about love, the speaker counts how she
adores her beloved. To her, love is a powerful force that
can conquer everything in the universe.
As an epitome of her expression of love, she details the
ways how her love will get stronger with every passing
phase of life.
At the outset, she attempts to discuss the depth of her
passion by drawing analogies between her love and
religious and political ideals.
Later, she expresses the unique quality of her enduring
love when she says that her love will get better after
death.

8. Major Themes in “How Do I Love Thee”:
Love and faith are the major themes filling this poem.
The poem is primarily concerned with the love of the
speaker with her significant other.
She expresses her deep and innocent love in
captivating ways. Also, to show the intensity of love she
feels, she details how her love will eventually get stronger
with time.

9. Analysis of Literary Devices in
“How Do I Love Thee?”
Literary devices are tools that writers use to convey
their emotions, ideas, and themes to make their text
more convincing and appealing to the reader.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning has also employed some
literary devices to bring uniqueness in this poem.
The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this
poem will be discussed.

10. 1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the
same line such as the sound of /ee/ and /i/ in “I love thee freely,
as men strive for right;” and the sound of /e/ in “I love thee to the
depth and breadth and height.”
2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an
implied comparison is made between the objects that are
different. For example, the poet compares her love and her soul
to a physical three- dimensional object.
“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.”

11. 3. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or
expression in the first part of some verses. For
example, the word “love” is repeated to emphasize her
feelings of true love.
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height.”
4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that
does not come to an end at a line break rather
continues in the next line. For example,
“I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.”

12. 5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive
things involving their five senses. For example, “I love
thee to the depth and breadth and height”, “Most quiet
need, by sun and candle-light” and “In my old griefs,
and with my childhood’s faith.”
6. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate
any statement for the sake of emphasis. For example,
“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.”

13. Analysis of Poetic Devices in “How
Do I Love Thee?”
Poetic Devices refer to those techniques a poet uses to
bring uniqueness in his text. The analysis of some of the
poetic devices used in this poem is given below.
1. Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in with one
idea flow throughout the text. This is Petrarchan
sonnet, meaning it has an octave and sestet.
2. Octave: An octave is a verse form consisting of eight
lines, which usually appear with iambic pentameter.
3. Sestet: A sestet is the six-lined stanza of poetry. The
term refers to the final six lines of a sonnet.

14. 4. Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme used in Octet is
ABBAABBA, and the Sestet follows CDCDCD rhyme
scheme.
5. Iambic Pentameter: It is a type of meter consisting of
five iambs. The poem comprises iambic pentameter such
as, “I love thee to the depth and breadth and ”
Analysis of Poetic Devices
continued