ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING- Love sonnets - Sonnet 43: "How do I love thee?..."

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING- Love sonnets - Sonnet 43

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
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.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Music: Frederic Chopin, Nocturne No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 9 No. 1, Maria Joao Pires
Image: Balthasar van der Ast, Bloemen in een Wan-Li vaas en schelpen, Mauritshuis, The Hague

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