GCSE English Literature Unit 2 Poetry Across Time - Relationships

Sonnet 43 (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

Analysis:
Throughout the poem, run on lines (enjambment) give a sense of incomplete and ongoing love. End-stopped lines give a
sense of having made his/her point and makes the reader reflect on the depth of love. Punctuation such as hyphens and
exclamation marks show the poet's emotion when saying that particular sentence. It shows the depth of her love.

Direct address - seems How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! This has become a cliché of
alliteration/assonance. romantic love.

These three words are
repetitive throughout.
Capitals - religious salvation, the
love, favour and mercy of God in
eternal life.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height Internal rhymes and end of line
rhymes help pull the poem together
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight tightly, linking tone, meaning and
emotion.
For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.
Beyond physical

Spiritual love. I love thee to the level of everyday's Hyphens

Caesura (break in line) gives the

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight - Visual image of light - emphasises
persona time to justify her love. extent of love.

Quiet love exists in everyday

experience.
The poet links suffering to sorrow and
passion - double meaning:
1. Intense love
2. Christ passion
Anaphoric (links to earlier) - repeated
ten times including the title. This
reveals the intensity of love/emotional
force of poem.
Imagery of light shows comparison
between their love and a source of light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right, - Religious language is used because love
like religion touches all aspects of her
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. life - suggests the awe she feels when
thinking of her love.
I love thee with the passion put to use
Enjambment - representation of her
ongoing love, emphasises the extent of
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
her love, and the natural flow of her
love which is goes beyond.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
Enjambment
With my lost saints! - I love thee with the breath,
r
KEY QUOTE
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
KEY:
I shall but love thee better after death. ___: Rhyme

Petrachan Sonnet (Italian sonnet)

This has an ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme followed by a sestet CD CD CD though the pattern may vary differently such as in
this poem. A sestet is a verse of six lines. One of the key issues in Sonnet 43 is the intensity of the speaker's love. The first
line of this poem has become a cliché of romantic love.

Themes:
1. The poem explores the nature of true love.
2. Its sonnet form (Petrarchan) means it has two quatrains and one sestet.
3. Religious imagery is used vividly.
4. The focus on enjambment and end-stopping line breaks reflect the change of direction and the certainty about her
love.
5. The structure is a sestet. This shifts slightly in mood. The love felt is seen as a reminder of past emotions and faith. The
sonnet culminates in a declaration of intense love beyond the grave.
6. The speaker lists the different attributes of her love. These cover a range of feelings and different situations where the
love will become even greater after death.
7. The voice is intense but also reflective.

COMPARE THIS POEM WITH 'SISTER MAUDE' (BETRAYAL) AND 'IN PARIS WITH YOU' (LOVE ON THE REBOUND).