Sonnet 43, Elizabeth Barett Browning Flashcards
“Sonnet 43”
Sonnet - a type of love poem.
“43” - 43/44 love poems she wrote.
“Depth and breadth and height”
Mathematical language
Emphatic listing - loves him in a complete and total way.
“Sun and candlelight”
Symbol of day and night - shows her love for him is all-encompassing.
“Smiles, tears”
Shows she loves him through the happy and sad times.
“I shall but love thee better after death”
Eternal love language
Her love for him will last longer than she does.
Repetition of ‘I love thee’
Could show devotion and intensity or desperation and insecurity.
Structure
Sonnet 43 is the length of a traditional sonnet (14 lines) but doesn’t follow the traditional sonnet rhyme scheme. There are rhyming couplets yet the poem avoids a perfect rhyme scheme.
Perhaps this reflects their relationship - unconvential but with close unity.
