Sonnet 29 - ‘I think of thee!’

Question 1

Summary-

Answer 1

The narrator tells her lover how much she thinks about him when they’re not together.
She’s worried that her thoughts will obscure the reality of what he’s actually like.
However, she reassures him that her thoughts do not compare to the reality of him. She wants him to be a strong presence in her life and to be with him rather than just thinking about him.

Question 2

Context

Answer 2

flinabeth Barest Browning bot her fature husband, our Broutham:. She wrote this poem in 1845-46 g. throra series o sonnets about her future husband, Robert Browning, called Sonnes from the Portug6 6.

Question 3

Form

Answer 3

FORM - Sonnet form is traditionally used for love poetry. This sonnet is loosely written in the Petrarchar
form, with eight lines (an octave) followed by six lines (a sestet) = the octave usually presents a problem
and the sestet provides a solution. However, in this poem, the solution arrives in the middle of line 7 - having it come early and in the middle of a line reflects the narrator’s impatience to see her lover.

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

STRUCTURE - The transition from the problem to the solution reflects the difference between the narrator thinking about her lover and being with him. This is emphasised by the reversal of the first and last lines - in the first line, the narrator says “I think of thee!”, but by the end of the poem, she imagines that when she’s with her lover, she’ll no longer think of him because she’ll be “too near” him.

Question 5

Language about nature

Answer 5

LANGUAGE ABOUT NATURE - The narrator uses an extended metaphor throughout the poem - the narrator’s lover is a tree and her thoughts are “wild vines” which cover him.
This shows how her thoughts are constantly growing and unrestrained. The image of the tree casting off the vines reflects how she wants her lover to be a strong, permanent part of her life.

Question 6

Excited language

Answer 6

EXCITED LANGUAGE - The use of exclamation marks shows how the narrator takes joy in thinking about her lover and feels excitement at the thought of being with him.
Plosive sounds and dynamic verbs emphasise how much she wants to be with him.

Question 7

quote about romantic love + nature

Answer 7

“I think of thee! - my thoughts do twine and bud”

-addresses the poem to her lover = creating a personal intimacy and showing it is a love poem.

-uses nature to express the complex emotions of the speaker.
->the extended metaphor of trees and greenery throughout the sonnet’s entirety

-represented by a “tree” (which rhymes with “thee”,) = subtle enhancement of the connection between the two with these natural processes

-extended metaphor = he is a tree and her thoughts about him are a vine

-natural imagery shows timelessness & boundlessness of her love - it appears to align with the natural order of the earth.

-the natural imagery reinforces how this love for her beloved is innate and intrinsic.