How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Once again, it seems I have chosen a poem whose author I have no prior experience with.

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.

This is a sonnet, although not a Shakespearean one. It's rhyme scheme is:
A                       A                  D
B                       B                   E
B                       B                   D
C                       C                  E
                                               D
                                               E,
Meaning it is closest to a Petrarchan sonnet, although it really doesn't fit that category either. The lines are in Iambic Pentameter.

This is a straight-up love poem. It certainly lives up to it's title, as all the lines are proclamations of love, each one grander than the last. The speaker begins by saying that she "loves thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach", and goes on to say that she "loves thee freely", "purely" and "with all the passion put to use In my old griefs". The poem ends with the speaker stating that her love will survive past death, and even will grow stronger posthumously.

This poem is very beautiful. The language is stunning, and it's a lovely image of idealistic romance. This is a piece that clearly believes in true love.

Up Next: Send In The Clowns, by Stephen Sondheim