How Do I Love Thee?

"How do I love thee" by Elizabeth Barrett 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 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.

Summary of "How do I love thee?" 

The speaker begins the poem by asking the question, “How do I love thee?” and responding with, “Let me count the ways.” One may assume that the speaker is either musing out loud—as one might do when writing a letter—or responding to a lover who may have posed such a question. The entire sonnet addresses this lover, “thee,” who may also be considered the listener. As it is known that Elizabeth Barrett Browning dedicated this poem to her husband, she is assumed to be the speaker addressing her husband.

The speaker describes all the ways in which she loves her husband. Her love is multifaceted, as it can be compared to many aspects of life. Initially, she describes her love as a powerful force of her soul so great in extent that she attempts to measure it in three-dimensional terms. Next, she illustrates a quieter love that sustains her in her daily life, just as the light of the sun illuminates her days. She then compares her love to the experiences of mankind as a whole, portraying her love as free, pure, and humble just as decent people strive to do good in the world without expectation of reward or praise. She then compares her love to the passionate intensity with which she once tried to overcome her past pains as well as the way in which she believed in good things as a child. Lastly, she compares her love to what she once felt for people she used to revere but have somehow fallen out of her favor. Near the poem’s conclusion, she states that her every breath, smile, and tear is a reflection of her love for her husband. The speaker concludes the sonnet by telling her husband that if God will allow her, she will love him even more after she is gone.