An Analysis on the poem 'How Do I Love Thee' By Elizabeth Barrett

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An Analysis on the poem "How Do I Love Thee" By Elizabeth Barrett
The poem "How do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth is from the Sonnet from Portuguese, a sequence that this poet had written during her courtship. The poem is a true account of the unconditional and immense love she felt for her husband Robert Browning. The poem is composed as a sonnet of an octave that is followed by a sestet. The rhyme scheme from the first eight lines is A,B,B,A,A,B,B,A the scheme for the other six lines is C,D,C,E,C,E, lines six and seven however do not follow this scheme. All the lines are made up of 10 syllables. In the first part of the poem, there is a there is an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable. The poet uses anaphora or repetition with the words "I love thee" which consequently builds rhythm, yet reinforcing the theme. There is also alliteration, or a repetition of consonants, for instance line 8 has "purely" and "Praise" line 9 has "passion" and "put" and line 8 with "lose" and "lose".
01. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
This first line is a rhetorical question, and she uses it in a way to foreshadow what she is about to explain; her love for her husband Robert. In this poem, the poet is trying to her love to her husband and does this by expressing that she loved him in every imaginable way, and with all her elements. The poet says that the great love which she has for her man was so strong that it fills every pole of her soul.
02. I love thee to the depth and the breadth and the height.
There is an internal rhyme with the words "depth" and "breadth" and places height between them as to indicate the extent; depth of her love. This is a special way of saying that her love for her beloved is three dimensional. In the real sense, all things that appear in the physical world are three dimensional. Breadth is in other word the width. So she her love was from the east to the west, far across - immeasurable. Height and depth signify the depth, how far up and how far down her love is (Eagleton, 25)
03. My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
These measures are spiritual in as much as they are physical since they appertain to her soul, which is an infusion of body and soul. The key word in this sentence is "soul" which the poet uses to express that her love is not affected by the limitations of the physical.
04. For the end of Being and ideal Grace.
This is a spiritual and physical measurement of her soul and the true essence of her existence (being) to the very end. The word Grace in this sentence is in caps, perhaps to denote her creator of her life - God, for the gift of salvation, and for creating her thereby giving her a chance to experience eternal bliss and love in his presence. Indeed she likens her undying love for her husband to the solemn love for God.
05. I love thee to the level of every day`s
06. most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
Her lov...