How Do I Analyze Thee? In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “Sonnet No. 43” Otherwise known as “How do I Love Thee”, Barrett Browning wrote the sonnet for her husband Robert Browning and the sonnet is included in “Sonnets from the Portuguese”. Barrett Browning includes improper sonnet structure, and the themes of true love and true grief to show a love that can withstand the burdens of time. Elizabeth Barrett Browning includes improper sonnet structure to further enhance ideals of things out of reach. People during this time didn’t think very highly of sonnets with improper structure, those poems were not considered professional. Barrett Browning had several earlier poems that critics claimed contained “clumsy rhythms and inept rhymes (Kelly 2)”. However, …show more content…
One of the most noteable things accomplished by Barrett Browning, would be her “combin[ing] traditional and nontraditional form to craft an expression of her secret, yet powerful, love for her husband (Goodman 1)”. Traditional sonnet structure includes punctuation, or a pause at the end of each line. Barrett Browning ends five out of fourteen lines with enjambment meaning “The running-over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation. (Enjambment 1)” Many scholars believe that Barrett Browning used enjambement to capture things that “are far-flung and without boundaries...something that keeps slipping out of grasp. (Goodman 2)” Similar to trying to understand something, like calculus, however having it just out of your reach. Also, English sonnets tend to end with two lines whose last words rhyme, or a rhymed couplet. Obviously “choose” and “death” do not rhyme. So why