"How Do I Love Thee?"

How Do I Love Thee?
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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 everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with 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 thee better after death.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)

Browning was one of the most respected poets of the Victorian era. The eldest of twelve children, Elizabeth was educated at home and attended lessons with her brother's tutor becoming very well-educated for a girl of that time. She first began writing poetry between the ages of six and eight; and her poem "The Battle of Marathon" was published when she was only fourteen. The death of her brother Edward in 1840 had a serious effect on her already fragile health, which she eventually recovered from after several years. During this time her fame continued to grow. In 1845 she met her future husband, Robert Browning, and they married in secret due to her delicate health and the extraordinary objections made by Mr. Barrett to the marriage of any of his children.

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How Do I Love Thee?
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Inspirational Love Poems