Evaluate How Do I Love Thee as a love poem. 

Answer

Evaluate “How Do I Love Thee” as a love poem. 

A love poem expresses love and affection for another person. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era (1832-1901). Her “How Do I Love Thee?” (1850) is a timeless love poem. It expresses deep emotion and devotion. Addressing her beloved, the speaker counts the ways she loves him. Let us evaluate how the poem presents love as both personal and spiritual. 

Love is Vast: The speaker begins by expressing the immense scope of her love. She states, 

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

This opening question immediately shows the inexpressible love. She says she loves him “to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach.” It shows that her love is boundless. She imagines her soul stretching in all directions.

Love in Everyday Life: The speaker starts by describing a love transcending physical limitations. However, she also presents love as something grounded in daily life. She writes, 

I love thee to the level of every day’s 

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

Here, the speaker contrasts the earlier, grand love with a simpler, more relatable kind of love. This love exists in grand gestures and the quiet moments of daily life.

Love as a Choice and a Moral Act: The speaker also emphasizes that her love is freely chosen. She states, 

I love thee freely, as men strive for right,

This line indicates that her love is not based on obligation but on a moral decision. This significant line suggests the speaker’s pure and ethical choice of love. It is also deeply personal: 

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

In this way, her love is shown as selfless. It does not seek recognition or reward but exists simply because it is right.

Love that Surpass Time and Past Pain: The speaker reflects on how her current love is stronger than past emotions. She says, 

I love thee with the passion put to use 

In my old grief.

This suggests that the speaker has endured pain, but her love for her beloved has transformed her suffering into something more beautiful. Love, for her, has become a way to heal old wounds and find joy after grief. She also mentions how her present love has restored her faith.

Love that Lasts Beyond Death: In the final lines, the speaker takes her love beyond life on Earth. She declares, 

If God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

This reveals the speaker’s belief that love does not end with death but grows even stronger in the afterlife. Her love is not limited to earthly existence but is part of a spiritual connection with her beloved. This reflects a Christian belief in the eternal nature of love.

In summary, “How Do I Love Thee” is a powerful love poem because it expresses deep, timeless affection. Elizabeth Barrett Browning captures love’s vastness with imagery of “breadth” and “depth.” Her comparison of love to the pursuit of justice links personal and political devotion. The poem’s conclusion suggests that love transcends death. It also portrays an eternal, “immortal beloved.”