Literary Birthday - 6 March

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, born 6 March 1806, died 29 June 1861

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

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 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.
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.

Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.

by Amanda Patterson from Writers Write

You were made perfectly to be loved, and surely I have loved you, in the idea of you, my whole life long. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese: A Celebration of Love

How do I love thee?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61)

Sonnet 43 from Sonnets From the Portuguese, c1846

In January 1845, Robert Browning wrote to the poet, “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett.” She replied, “I thank you, Mr Browning, from the bottom of my heart”. So began a correspondence that led to their first meeting and eventually to their marriage on 12 September 1846. It was only after the birth of their son in 1849 that Elizabeth showed her husband the sonnets she had secretly written during their courtship, including “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”