Abd. Gafur Yusuf, an English teacher from Paser, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, analyzes a model poem entitling How do I Love Thee?? composed by Elizabeth Barret Browning. He argues that the poem is suitable for MTs/SMP students since it is simple and familiar with them.
How Do I Love Thee??
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 everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
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.
By: Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The title | How Do I Love Thee? |
The narrator | Elizabeth Barrett Browning |
Type of poem | Model Poem |
Paraphrase | The narrator asks how she loves her beloved and tries to list the different ways in which she loves him. Her love seems to be eternal and to exist everywhere, and she intends to continue loving him after her own death, if God lets her. |
Poetic devices | · Rhyme : Perfect rhyme → abba abba ababab · Rhythm : Line 1 : How do I/ love thee?/ Let me/ count/ the ways Five feet/pentameter: 1st foot → dactylic 2nd foot → spondaic 3rd and 4th feet → trochaic 5th foot → iambic Line 2 : I love/ thee to the/ depth and/ breadth and/ height Five feet/pentameter 1st foot → iambic 2nd and 4th feet → dactylic 3rd and 5th feet → trochaic Line 3 : My soul/ can reach,/ when feel/ ing out/ of sight Five feet/pentameter → iambic Line 4 : For the ends/ of Be/ ing and/ ideal/ Grace Five feet/Pentameter 1st foot → anapestic 2nd and 3rd feet → iambic 4th and 5th feet → trochaic Line 5 : I love/ thee to the/ level of/ everyday’s Four feet feet/tetrameter 1st foot → iambic 2nd, 3rd, and 4th feet → dactylic Line 6 : Most quiet/ need, by/ sun and/ candlelight Four feet/tetrameter 1st foot → spondaic 2nd and 3rd feet → trochaic 4th foot → dactylic Line 7 : I love/ thee free/ ly, as men/ strive/ for right Five feet /pentameter 1st and 5th feet → iambic 2nd foot → spondaic 3rd foot → anapestic 4th foot → trochaic Line 8 : I love/ thee pure/ ly, as they/ turn from/ Praise Five feet/pentameter 1st foot → iambic 2nd foot → spondaic 3rd foot → anapestic 4th and 5th → trochaic Line 9 : I love/ thee with/ the pass/ ion put/ to use Five feet / pentameter 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th feet → iambic 2rd foot → trochaic Line 10 : In my old/ griefs, and with/ my child/ hood’s faith Four feet / tetrameter 1st foot → anapestic 2nd foot → dactylic 3rd and 4th feet → iambic Line 11 : I love/ thee with a/ love I/ seemed/ to lose Five feet / pentameter 1st and 5th feet → iambic 2nd foot → dactylic 3rd and 4th feet → trochaic Line 12 : With my lost/ saints, I/ love thee/ with the breath Four feet / tetrameter 1st and 4th feet → anapestic 2nd foot → dactylic 3rd foot → spondaic Line 13 : Smiles,/ tears, of/ all my/ life! And, If/ God choose Five feet / pentameter 1st, 2nd, and 3rd feet → trochaic 4th foot → dactylic 5th foot → spondaic Line 14 : I shall/ but love/ thee bet/ ter af/ ter death Five feet / pentameter 1st, 2nd, and 5th feet →iambic 3rd foot → trochaic 4th foot → spondaic · Alliteration : None · Simile : Line 7 : I love thee freely, as men strive for Right Line 8 : I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise · Metaphor : The narrator uses a spatial metaphor to describe the extent of her love, comparing her soul to a physical, three-dimensional object in the world. · Onomatopoeia : None · Personification : None · Hyperbole : None · Oxymoron : None |
Kinds of stanza | · Sonnet because the poem consists of fourteen lines. |
Style | · The use of special diction, that is thee instead of using “you” to make it deeper and more meaningful. |
Poetic diction | · Allusion : The use of diction “sun and candle-light (line 6) images of different kinds of light. · Parody : none · Repetition : In line two, three words have a "th" sound, and a fourth word ("height") comes close. These breathy syllables soften the line, making it more difficult to fit it into a traditional iambic pentameter rhythm. In fact, throughout the poem there's an excess of "th" sounds, some of them voiced (like the "th" in "thee") and some of them unvoiced (like the "th" in "depth"). It might be interesting to think about how the two different kinds of "th" sounds fall into patterns in the poem. · Ambiguity : none · Pun : none · Paradox : none · Irony : none |
Content | · Theme : Love · Tone : Romantic · Message : We should express our love purely till death do us a part. |
Comment | · The model poem is suitable for MTs students since it is simple and familiar with them. |
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