Currently I am in the latter half of a British Literature class in school which covers the Romantic Period, The Victorian Age, and The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. I will go ahead and admit that I am the nerd who absolutely adores learning about the authors during these time periods such as William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and their different kinds of literature.
Sometimes the readings can be difficult to understand though just because of the time difference or even dialect. However, we just began with the Victorian Age and the literature thus far has been much simpler to comprehend.
Of course, a common theme throughout literature, especially in the Victorian Age, that is understood no matter what the time period in history is or where it was written out of is love. We read a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in class this past week that is an absolute must read if you have a special someone.
Sonnets from the Portuguese 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote in the 1800s these Sonnets from the Portuguese, which is all about the love she feels for her husband of three years, Robert Browning who is another famous poet. Imagine receiving a gift like that!
If this poem doesn’t just make you smile from ear to ear, fill you up with butterflies and immediately want to share it with your person, then I don’t know what will! As soon as I read it, I took a picture of it and sent it to my boyfriend. Then when we were in the same room, I read it out loud to him. I don’t think I have ever read a poem that describes the love I have for him as well as this poem does.
Oh and by the way, Happy Two Year Anniversary to my amazing boyfriend!