Sonnet 43, by Elizabeth Browning

Question 1

Summary

Answer 1

It is a dedication of love, where the poet uses reference to the natural world and to God in order to express her passion towards her lover.

Question 2

Form and structure

Answer 2

• composed of 14 lines and a regular but flexible rhyme scheme
• word love is repeated for emphasis and is compared to the holiness of ‘lost saints’
• reflects the struggles that she went through to be with her true love, Robert Browning

Question 3

What type of poem is this?

Answer 3

Autobiographical
(poet is the speaker)
Petrarchan sonnet

Question 4

What name did she publish her sonnets as?

Answer 4

‘sonnets from the Portuguese’

Question 5

What type of poem are sonnets usually?

Answer 5

love poems

Question 6

How does this poem relate to the poet?

Answer 6

It is very personal and deeply intimate
–> spiritual and holy

Question 7

In which era did Elizabeth Barret Browning live in?

Answer 7

Victorian era and was apart of the Romantic movement

Question 8

Who was the sonnet written for?

Answer 8

Her husband, Robert Browning.

Question 9

‘How do I…

Answer 9

…love thee? Let me count the ways!’

Question 10

‘I love thee freely..

Answer 10

…as men strive for Right’

Question 11

‘I love thee purely…

Answer 11

as they turn from praise;’

Question 12

‘I love thee with…

Answer 12

…the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!’

Question 13

‘I shall…

Answer 13

…but love thee better after death.’