Dhita Arum Maysita

Analysis Poetry
How Do I Love Thee
By : Elizabeth Barret Browning

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 quite 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 my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Unsur Instrinsik & Ekstrinsik

 Tema : The idea of love as powerful and all encompassing.

 Amanat : This sonnet for her husband and it leads us to believe that the
speaker of the poem is blest interpreted as female, while the beloved is best interpreted
as male.
 Perasaan : A very complex internal emotional landscape. “ she loves someone
intensely, but she also has old griefs.
 Rima : This poem had been choose by Barret Browning to model her
sonnet on the Italian or Petrarchan pattern.
 Lirik : Definitely a lyric poem; it doesn’t have true characters in the way
that a play would. In fact, it’s too short to be epic and too abstract to be dramatic.
 Citraan : It’s become a combination of personified abstractions.
Unsur Biografi

 Unsur Biografi: Elizabeth’s father was very possessive and controlling and kept her vittually
imprisoned in the family house. Robert first “met” Elizabeth by reading one of her books of
poetry, then by exchanging letters with her, in order to marry, Elizabeth and Robert had
to develop and go to Italy, Elizabeth’s father never forgave her, but the browning
marnage was famously happy and passionate.
The Elements Of Poetry

 Form :
 Figurative of Language : Simile
 Stanza’s : The first line is unusual because it is a question asked in an almost
conversation manner. The poet has challenged herself to complete reasons for her love. The
second, third, and fourth lines suggest that her love is all encompassing, stretching to the limits.
Line 5-8, the poet Elizabeth can contious with her passionate need to differentiate the many
ways her love for her husband manifest. Line 9-14, the sestet starts at line nine, the speaker now
looks to the past and compares her new found passion with those of the old griefs. Elizabeth
had plenty of negativity in her adult life. She was mostly like, I’ll and lived like a recluse, sesing
only old fam and finenels. In the final line, if god grarits it, she’ll carry on loving her husband
even more after she dies.
 Rhyme : scheme is tradisional- ABBAABBACDCDCD.
 Repetition : Alliteration - I love thee to the depth and breadth and height. My soul can
reach, when feeling out of sight
 Onomatopoeia : NONE
Thankyou.