elizabeth barrett browning's how do i love thee presents a theme about love. identify what the poem says about love and discuss how the author develops this theme

"How do I love thee" is a poem that Elizabeth wrote about her husband Robert Browning (he was also a famous victorian poet). In this poem, she tries to measure the love she has for him, in doing so she mentions the different dimensions that her love reaches. Below you can find a more detailed explanation:

"How do I love thee?, Let me count the ways."

The author asks herself how much does she love him, and she provides an intoduction to her answer "let me count the ways", so what follows is an inventory of the love she has for him.

"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."

Barret Browning uses a spatial metaphor on these lines, she says her love for him reaches everywhere where her soul can be. We could say that she is trying to measure her love at a spiritual level.

"I love thee to the level of everyday's most quiet need, by sun and candle light"

Now, she starts describing another dimension of her love, a less spiritual love, because she loves him in their day by day life.

"I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely as they turn from praise"

She continues to develop her ideas about the way she loves him. Now she states that she is not forced to love him and that she doesn't do it to get something in return. This dimension is connected with morality.

"I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and my childhood's faith"

Here, she states that she uses the same passion and anger she felt about things that happened before to love him, and also she loves him with the pure faith she had when she was a child. This dimension has to do with her passion for religion (Elizabeth was very dedicated to religion when she was young)

"I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints"

I love you in the same way that I have loved the best regarded people (or even God and his saints) in her life.

"I love the with the breadth, smiles, tears of all my life"

Now, she states that she loves him in happy and in sad moments of their lives.

"And if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death"

Even after death (Elizabeth was very ill and she knew she would die before Robert) she will continue to love him. This dimension trascends, because he love will be eternal.