The poem, “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Essay Sample)

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How Do I Love Thee?
The poem, “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a romantic sonnet who clearly brought out the theme of “love’. The poet being a woman expressed in-depth feelings towards her life partner. According to her life history, as an early advocate of women’s right, Elizabeth illustrated how she opposed slavery. In this regard, she explicitly expressed her feeling of love following the reminiscence of what the women she fought for, encountered in the past. It is imperative to state that the poem illustrated a promising future for Elizabeth as a heroine who fought for women’s rights before encountering the challenges that married women go through in life.
In keeping the audience at bay, the romantic sonnet used words like; “I love thee/soul/ feeling/quiet need/ and passion”. Literary research affirms that such expressions are palpable to the audience (Parv 8). The poet used repetition especially of the word “I love thee” in lines (2, 4, 6, 8, and 9), which keeps the poem flowing, it also makes the poem lyrical since the meaning of the term love is explicitly brought out in a romantic way to sooth the audience and create the need to know what comes afterwards (Plett 6). The repetitive word is associated with, and it could be termed as the key determinant of the theme of “Love” in the poem. Research indicate that poetry could be adopted as source of entertainment (Parv 9). It is somewhat practical that the poet “Elizabeth” was determined to entertain the audience in the quest to accomplish the mission of expression her love to the begotten intimate partner, a prince to her heart (Plett 16).
Moreover, the poem is ironical considering the cases she handled as an advocate for women’s rights. In her early stage of life, the romantic poet realized the need to embrace love in a family (Adamson, Alexander and Ettenhuber 5). In her expression in the poem, “….I love thee, as men strive for Right…” it implied that, in a family, men often feel superior, but women should embrace love so that men may reciprocate to avoid family feuds (Parv 3). The poet promised much more than the reality, she expressed that… “I love thee with the breath/ smiles/ tears/ of all my life!/…if God choose/ I shall but love thee better after death…”. This expression is extra ordinary since it is not easy neither is it practical to love someone after death (Negri 9; Parv). Moreover, it expressed pathetic fallacy in the poem, especially through line (14), “…I shall but love thee better after death...” Surely, loving him better after death. This is extraordinary, and unrealistic indeed; nobody could love after death since a copse is not able to neither see nor identify anybody whether alive or dead (Negri 5).
Similarly, the poet used simile “…I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise…” adopted from the lines (lines 7 & 8). The poet expressed simile when comparing the love and passion which illustrated her commitment and trust to the only man in her life (Plett 3). Indeed, men often strive for their rights with formidable force likewise to how they turn from praise with joyousness. To the audience, Elizabeth’s expression created a perception of how lovely she valued her intimate partner, which keeps everybody mystified and challenged on how well to reciprocate the same to their intimate partners (Parv 8).
Alliteration is expressed in the poem “…I love thee to the depth and breadth…,” in line (2). This kind of expressions enhanced the audience capability and desire to keep focus on the theme of “love”. In furtherance, the poet also used rhythm through the same phrase, for example, “... breadth and height...” line (2). Thus breaking monotony in the poem from the beginning. Research in linguistics indicate that such words makes poem lively (Adamson, Alexander and Ettenhuber 7).
However, it is imperative to state that the poet somewhat expressed the theme of love in the poem to act as a warning to the women who do not have passion for their husbands; it ironically reflected on her work career encounters as an advocate of women's rights, and a staunch opponent of slavery. Moreover, from Elizabeth’s expression in the poem, it is apparent that men often reciprocate the love as expressed by their wives (Parv 11). It implies that most of the women she interacted with while practicing as an advocate had cases since they did not love their intimate...