Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnet XLIII Commentary

        The next quatrain makes further addresses the question that Browning proposed in line 1 in various ways. She begins the quatrain, "I love thee to the level of everyday's most quiet need by sun and candle-light" proposing that she loves Robert Browning enough to satisfy even the simplest of needs Here, Browning uses the literary device repetition to "count" yet another way that she loves her husband-to-be. Line 7 reads "I love thee freely, as men strive for Right." With this simile, Browning illustrates her love as existing without interference or outside pressures. She then goes further to compare the intensity of her love to the fervor of men who fight for any supremely just cause. Line 8 mirrors the structure of line 6, using another simile that creates a connection between her personal feelings and a broader societal affair. In saying "I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise," Elizabeth Barrett Browning is describing her love as being genuine, originating in her, and her alone, and unconditional, needing nothing in return. She seeks no reward for her love, as noble men ask no reward for their noble deeds. Both lines 7 and 8 contain repetition of the phrase "I love thee," just as in line 5, line 2, and line 1. This extreme reiteration of this phrase is significant, for it displays the idea of everlasting love in a literal sense, and gives the feeling that Browning is literally counting off the ways that she loves Robert Browning, as she eludes to in line 1, "Let me count the ways."

        The final 6 lines of Sonnet XLIII make up the sestet of the poem, in which Browning develops her feeling in a more personal manor and reaches her conclusion regarding the theme. Lines 9 and 10 have a similar structure to that of lines 5 and 6, beginning with the repetitious phrase "I love thee" and then using the two lines as one to convey a single concept or explanation of said love. Lines 9 and 10 read, "I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith." In this, Elizabeth Barrett Browning is imparting that her love for him encompasses all of the intense emotions that were previously wasted on pretty grievances. "With my childhood's faith" implies that the blind faith that a child possesses is the same kind of faith that she has discovered once more in their relationship. The next two lines, 11 and 12, state "I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints!". These lines are interpreted as her ability to love with a renewed faith, as if Robert Browning has given her life restored spiritual meaning. Again, in these lines, Browning restates "I love thee," reinforcing the idea that her love is unfaltering, whilst still conveying a sense that she is listing the ways in which she experiences and interprets her love. Her adamant admiration of her fiancé, Robert Browning is only intensified in the last few lines of Sonnet XLIII, the end of line 12 to line 14, "I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears of all my life!--and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." The phrase "I love thee" is used twice more in these lines, displaying Browning's insistence in loving him unconditionally, with a relentless use of repetition. Browning follows the classical English meter of iambic pentameter, which poses an interesting issue in line 13, where the word God is written as an unstressed syllable. In doing this, Elizabeth Barrett Browning is, in a sense, belittling even the power of God, implying that although it is ultimately in his hands to choose if their love will live on, she is confident that its strength will overcome even His power. In these lines, Browning is implying that she loves this man with all aspects of her life, but, God-willing, their love will transcend the boundaries of life and death, becoming eternal and immortal.

        Elizabeth Barrett Browning composed many beautiful works of literature, making her one of the most famous poets of her time. In Sonnet XLIII, the octave creates broad, impersonal analogies, drawing comparison between the poet's love and overarching political and religious ideologies, whereas the succeeding sestet draws more personal analogies, equating the intensity of love that she as an individual experienced whilst writing the poem to the intensity of emotions that she has experienced in various situations earlier in her life. Her use of iambic pentameter, with no irregularities or deviations is equally as steadfast and unfaltering as her love for her fiancé, Robert Browning. The tone of this piece indicates that the writer finds her emotions to be singularly her own, unparalleled and exalted as compared to the feelings of all others. Through the use of literary conventions as well as structure and passion, Elizabeth Barrett Browning effectively expressed her devotion towards her betrothed, Robert Browning, putting emphasis how her love is immutable and everlasting.