Sonnet 43 Flashcards
(9 cards)
About
a traditional sonnet to convey ideas of romantic love. The poem is predominantly a direct address that offers a list of ways the listener is loved. The speaker is said to be the poet herself speaking to her husband, Robert Browning
Language
Repetition of “I love thee” — anaphora (repetition at the start of lines) emphasizes the depth, constancy, and certainty of her feelings.
Religious language: words like “soul”, “grace”, “praise”, “saints”, and “God” suggest her love is sacred, almost worshipful.
Hyperbole: phrases like “depth and breadth and height” exaggerate the vastness of her love to create an overwhelming emotional intensity.
Structure
Sonnet form: traditionally associated with love poetry, especially in Shakespeare’s time.
Octave (first 8 lines) explores the nature of her love.
Sestet (last 6 lines) intensifies and spiritualises her feelings.
Enjambment (sentences flowing over lines) gives a rushing, breathless quality — mirroring overwhelming love.
Finality: the ending (“I shall but love thee better after death”) gives a powerful, climactic conclusion — her love will not die, making it seem immortal.
Counting motif: the structure of “counting” her ways of loving gives a logical, almost mathematical feel to something emotional — suggesting it is rational as well as passionate.
Imagery
Spatial imagery: “depth and breadth and height” — her love fills every dimension, suggesting it is immeasurable.
Moral imagery: “freely, as men strive for Right” — love is compared to striving for justice, showing it’s pure and honourable.
Emotional imagery: “passion put to use / In my old griefs” — she transforms old pain into a force of love, suggesting healing and resilience.
Religious and eternal imagery: loving “after death” suggests the idea of an everlasting, divine love that survives beyond the physical world.
‘I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach’
The repetition of dimensions (“depth and breadth and height”) creates a sense of infinity — her love is vast and limitless.
The spiritual language (“soul”) elevates love beyond physical attraction into something eternal and sacred.
Barrett Browning suggests that true love transcends earthly boundaries; it is cosmic and divine.
‘I love freely, as men strive for Right’
“Freely” suggests choice and purity — her love is not forced or selfish.
Comparing love to “striving for Right” links love to morality and virtue; it is as noble as fighting for justice.
Browning idealises love as a conscious, ethical commitment, not just an emotion
‘I love purly as they turn from Praise’
“Purely” evokes innocence and sincerity.
Turning from “Praise” suggests humility — her love is selfless and not attention-seeking.
True love, she argues, is untainted by ego or desire for recognition; it is private and profound.
‘I love thee with a passion put to use / With my old griefs’
She repurposes intense emotion from past suffering (“old griefs”) into passion for her beloved.
Shows the depth and maturity of her love — it comes from a place of lived experience, not naïve fantasy.
: Love becomes a redemptive force, transforming past pain into something beautiful
‘I shall love thee better after death’
“After death” hints at the idea of eternal, spiritual love that outlasts mortal life.
The future tense “shall” adds certainty and timelessness to her declaration.
Grade 9 point: Barrett Browning portrays love as transcendent — not even death can diminish its power.
