Sonnet 43 by EBB Flashcards
1
Q
Story + message of S43:
A
- Love poem for partner expressing overwhelming love for them
- Conveys how love and relationships can transcend Earth
- The overwhelming nature of love
2
Q
Imagery in S43:
A
- Large amount of religious imagery
o Resonates with Victorian readers + emphasises the narrator’s intensity of emotions and the greatness of their love for their partner - Imagery of overwhelming love and affection
o “depth, breadth and height / My soul can reach.”
3
Q
Tone of S43:
A
- V. romantic tone
- Reflective tone initially created through questions at the start of the poem
4
Q
What was EBB’s life like and who is this poem about?
A
- EBB lived fairly lonely existence until age of 40 when she met and fell in love with her husband Robert (also a famous poet)
- She was besotted with Robert
- Her father disinherited her after the marriage (as he did with all his children), so from that point onwards, Robert was her world
5
Q
How does “Freely” link to context?
A
- “Freely” important word choice in poem – possible autobiographical dimension to the poem
o might link to RBB’s previous life under the thrall of a controlling father
o to be able to express her love “freely” in the way the narrator does in the poem
o She does this “as men strive for Right” feeling every but as confident in her moral purpose as the men who labour to good
6
Q
How does “In my old griefs” link to context?
A
- “In my old griefs,” - Barrett is likely referring to the grief she felt at the deaths of her mother and brother; now she’s using the love she had for them to love her future husband
o She’s no longer wasting her energy wanting what’s gone and is focusing on her new love
7
Q
What was S43 part of and how did it come to be published?
A
- Sonnet 43 was part of a collection of poems that initially EBB was hesitant to publish
o They were intensely personal focusing on her love for her new husband, and were not intended to be made public
o However, RBB insisted that they were the best sequence of English-language sonnets since Shakespeare’s time and urged her to publish them
o To offer the couple some privacy she published them as if they were translations of foreign sonnets written by poets from other countries, by doing this she could publish her intensely personal feelings without people realising
o Sonnet 43 was published in 1850 as part of an anthology called ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’ - The choice of publishing the poems under the guise of a translated work also perhaps distanced her as a female poet
8
Q
How does the Sonnet form link to context?
A
- The sonnet is in Petrarchan form (an octave followed by a sestet) – this choice differs from the English Sonnet
o The Petrarchan form was made famous by Petrarch (Italian poet)
o This ‘foreign’ form may have intentionally been chosen to make the translation idea more credible
9
Q
How did EBB meet RBB?
A
EBB was a celebrated and well-known poet in the 19th C – RBB was a fan of EBB and wrote her a letter telling her he loved her verses which led to their meeting
10
Q
What was the Victorian Era marked by?
A
Victorian Era was marked by ideals of morality, purity and a repression of sensuality and emotional intensity esp. for women
11
Q
How would a 19th C reader have felt about the religious imagery?
A
19th C reader would have strongly resonated with the religious imagery – they may have understood and interpreted the religious references as explaining the depth of the narrator’s love
12
Q
- “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
A
- begins with a rhetorical question, which Elizabeth Barrett Browning immediately answers herself – hypophora
- It is a first-person narrative, addressed to her beloved “thee”, that is, Robert Browning
- “Let me count the ways” has an innocent, almost childlike effect as if she wants to ease the reader gently into something that will develop into a declaration of adult passion
13
Q
- “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.”
A
- first ‘I love thee’ begins a pattern of repeated phrases that begin five of the lines – anaphora
- repeats “I love thee” midline, totalling nine times
- The implication is that she is overwhelmed by her feelings
- “depth and breadth and height” is a spatial metaphor for the multi-dimensional and all consuming love that she stands for
- Their love must be enjoyed in all dimensions of physical and spiritual passion
- “my soul can reach” she is saying that her love is as an act of blind groping or seeking for the mystical
- hence, “feeling out of sight.” – synaesthesia
- hyperbolic iambic pentameter lines begin the elaboration promised in the first line
- it’s the kind of love the human soul is capable of at its maximum potential; mystical and inexplicable
- “Being” and “Ideal Grace” are capitalised, as are “Right” and “Praise”, used later in the poem, to emphasise the importance of these concepts. It takes her feelings out of the realm of the ordinary
14
Q
- “I love thee to the level of every day’s / Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.”
A
- After the grand claims of the previous three lines, the poet adds that her love is also a quiet, persistent thing; something that will stand the test of time, of everyday living.
- She will continue to love him and meet all his ordinary needs during the day (sun) and the night (candle-light)
- Even in the most insignificant aspect of the days, her love fills those moments as well
- “level” and “quiet” provide a beautiful contrast
- We might expect her to say that she loves him to the level of something very huge or loud, but she emphasizes the power and passion of the simple moments
- She does not only love him when life gets hard and she needs someone. In the peaceful and silent moments
15
Q
- “I love thee freely, as men strive for Right.”
A
- The phrase “I love thee freely” is echoed in the following line with another adverb, “I love thee purely”, and in the line after with an adverbial clause “I love thee with the passion put to use …”
- This has a rhythmic, hypnotic effect as well as increasing emphasis, as if she is being overwhelmed by her feelings, as she composes – syntactic parallelism
