Sonnet 43 Flashcards
What year was Sonnet 43 published in?
1845
Who wrote Sonnet 43?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
What is the plot of Sonnet 43?
The speaker is proclaiming her unending passion for her beloved.
What are the themes of Sonnet 43?
-Love
-Faith/Hope
-Passion
What is the context of Sonnet 43?
-Speaker is catholic
-Brother drowned when she was 32, she became recluse
-Sonnet-> traditional love poetry
-Lifelong illness-> lends itself to the passionate appreciation she has of love for her husband
What is the form & structure/ concepts of Sonnet 43?
-Sonnet-> flexible rhyme scheme
-‘Love’ repeated for emphasis-> compared to holiness of ‘lost saints’
-Autobiographical
-Sonnet-> love, death
“How do I love thee? let me count the ways!”
“Let me count the ways!”- What is love?/in what ways does she love him?
“I love thee freely, as men strive for Right.”
“I love thee”- anaphora
“Right”- her love is free and chosen, this is the person she wants to and should be with, indicated ‘good’
“I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.”
“I love thee”- anaphora
-Christian virtue of humility
“Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.”
“sun”- he’s always there for her
“candlelight”- chooses to love him/intimate, love, hope, faith
“I shall love thee for better after death”
-Faith is shaken but not lost
What main theme does Sonnet 43 fall under?
Love-> “better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
