She uses a constative (5) speech act, where she is describing her love in a relatively calm, logical – and even philosophical – manner. In the octave, she describes the loftiness of her love in abstract, spiritual terms, drawing parallels between her intense love and religious or political fervour in the sestet she includes her feelings of grief and the loss of innocence, giving her love a more realistic stance.
In Sonnet 43, Barrett raises this style to another level. Then we have a volta, or twist, followed by the last six lines (or sestet) which develop the theme further. In the first eight lines, or octave, we are presented with the theme of the piece: Love. Petrachan sonnets differ from other poems of the same genre in their formal structure.
It is evident from the outset of the poem then that love will most likely play a role in this particular genre of poetry, as it does in this instance. Sonnets originated in Sicily in the 13th Century – the English name is derived from the Italian ‘sonetto’ meaning ‘little song’ (4) – and were often accompanied by the lute, recalling a serenade or perhaps the courtly love ballads of the Middle Ages. In it the composer has utilised iambic pentameter (there are five iambs, or two-beat feet of unstressed-stressed syllables per line), which adds to the musical quality of the piece. This essay will briefly discuss the genre and other technicalities of this particular poem, before analysing it in more detail to determine its impact and effect up on the reader.Īs we have already briefly mentioned above, “How do I love thee?” is a sonnet, a 14 lined poem with a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CD CD CD in the style favoured by Petrarch. In any case, Sonnet 43 comes towards the end of the series, and as such inevitably possesses a climactic appeal when read in context with the other sonnets.
For purposes of this essay, we shall assume that the sonnet is written in homage to her beloved Browning. Others believe that the title is a private joke between Barrett and Browning, as the latter was fond of calling her his little “Portugee” (3). Critics’ opinions vary on this matter, but most agree that her choice is a reference to one of her earlier compositions about the love between a young girl and Camoens (2), a Portuguese poet of the 1500’s. Barrett wrote 44 sonnets about her love for her fellow contemporary poet and later husband, Robert Browning, a series which she titled “Sonnets from the Portuguese”. He could not have described Barrett’s Sonnet 43 more succinctly, in spite of the fact that he preceded her by half a century. William Wordsworth once described poetry as being “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…”(1).
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