Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: context, form and key methods

One of the most famous love poems in English: the speaker counts all the ways she loves her beloved, ending with a love beyond death.

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Context and Barrett Browning's purpose

Published in Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850). Elizabeth Barrett wrote the sequence during her courtship with the poet Robert Browning. Her father disapproved of any of his children marrying, so the couple married in secret in 1846 and moved to Italy.
She had suffered long illness and grief, and Browning's love transformed her life. The poem expresses complete, spiritual devotion.

Form and structure

A Petrarchan sonnet: fourteen lines in iambic pentameter, with an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The sonnet was the traditional form for love poetry, usually written by men about women; here a woman speaks.
It opens with a question, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.", then answers it with a list.
It builds to a climax in the final line, which looks beyond death.

Language and key methods

Anaphora (repetition at the start of lines): "I love thee" is repeated many times, which makes her love sound endless and overwhelming.
Hyperbole and spatial imagery: "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach". Her love fills every dimension.
Religious language: words such as "soul", "Grace" and "saints" make love sacred. It ends: "and, if God choose, / I shall but love thee better after death."
Worked example

Compare how devotion is presented in Sonnet 43 and i wanna be yours.

  1. Both speakers list the ways they will show love.
  2. Barrett Browning's spiritual imagery and anaphora; Cooper Clarke's everyday objects.
  3. AO3: a Victorian courtship in secret; a modern punk poem.

Answer: Both poems are built on lists that show the speaker's devotion, but their language could hardly be more different. Barrett Browning uses anaphora, repeating "I love thee", and spiritual imagery, loving "to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach", which makes her love sacred and eternal. Cooper Clarke's speaker also repeats a single phrase, but offers to become everyday objects, such as a vacuum cleaner or a car, which makes his love practical and humorous. Barrett Browning writes within the traditional sonnet form, reflecting a serious Victorian courtship, whereas Cooper Clarke's lower-case, unpunctuated lines reflect a modern, playful voice. Both, however, suggest that true love means giving yourself completely.

Key idea

Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1850; written to Robert Browning; secret marriage, 1846. Petrarchan sonnet; opening question; anaphora ("I love thee"); spatial imagery; religious language; love beyond death.

Key words
Sonnet
A fourteen-line poem, traditionally about love, usually in iambic pentameter.
Context
The circumstances in which a text was written and set, such as historical events, social attitudes and the writer's life (AO3 in the GCSE, AO4 in the International GCSE).
Form
The type and shape of a text: for example sonnet, ballad, free verse, tragedy, comedy, novel or play.
Speaker
The voice of a poem. The speaker is not always the poet.
Petrarchan sonnet
A sonnet divided into an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines), with a volta between them.
Anaphora
Repeating the same word or phrase at the start of several lines or sentences to build emphasis.

All GCSE and International GCSE English Literature key terms and definitions →

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Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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