I chose to “complete” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet How Do I Love Thee. I had to read this sonnet a few times over and over again before I was really able to make sense of it. In “How to Read a Poem”, Edward Hirsch says, “This act of completion begins when you enter the imaginative play of a poem, bringing to it your experience and point of view”. I had to bring this poem into my own personal experiences and my own point of view. This is obviously a romantic poem about how much this woman loves someone. So I thought about my husband and put myself in Browning’s shoes. My favorite line in the sonnet is at the very end and says, “. . .and; if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.” Browning is not only saying that she just loves this person so much, but she loves him more than just an earthly and it transcends into a heavenly/afterlife type love, Lord willing. This poem is essentially saying that true love is eternal and surpasses life on earth; that’s how much she loves him. Even at the beginning of the poem when she says, “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, . . .” this love she feels is deeper than the surface and reaches down into the depth of her soul and expands it. Browning also touches on the fact that the love she has for her husband is a choice of her own free will and it is a choice she makes because of who he is. “I love thee freely, as men strive for right.” It’s also like her choice to love this man is empowering her to become more of her own individual and not rely on anyone or anything to make her decisions for her or influence her decisions. Being a rookie to poetry, this sonnet was somewhat difficult to grasp, but I was able to “complete” it by asking questions, looking for literary devices, applying it to my own experiences and point of view, and getting rid of preconceived notions I had of the poem.
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5 thoughts on “Catherine Lee Discussion 3”
Hello Catherine
I liked it as you explained this poem. I agree with you about what you wrote about imagining. Understanding the poem is not easy, and we, readers, have to be imaginative to understand what the speaker tries to express. Browning explains how her adoration is inexplicable even in the most spiritual senses. She tries to show us how she is in love with metaphors and internal rhymes. I’ve read this poem too many times, and every time my feelings become more profound, I sink into the passion that Browning feels.
Catherine, thank you for this in-depth response to the poem. Yes, I think the first step in completing any poem is to read it more than once. Poems rarely reveal themselves on the first reading. Connecting with your own personal experience is also a way to meet the poem halfway. You took all the right steps—rereading, asking question, applying your own experience—and most of all, keeping an open mind.
Good evening Catherine Lee, I agree with everything you say about the poem, It is very interesting poem and as you say it is very romantic. When I reedit I completely connected with the poem my imagination was reflected in it, that is to say I was totally hooked at. Here Elizabeth expresses how much love she feels for her husband, it is not temporary love, it is an eternal love that goes beyond death, her love is extremely deep towards him. This is an eternal love, real, she love him freely.
Hello Catherine,
I couldn’t agree more with you! It is so important to read the poem more than 3 times at least. At first, you may think that if you don’t understand a poem from the first time you read it, you won’t understand it regardless of how many times you read it. However, that is not true. There is something magical in our brains that allows us to unconsciously dive into the words of writers, as long as we take initiative and try our best to understand a poem. Another helpful observation I made is to, as readers, keep our minds open. If the title of a poem has the word love in it, the poem may not necessarily be a love poem. Poems are filled with creativity and judging a poem based on its first glance or title will not help us in extracting the meaning behind the words. Therefore, we must keep our minds open! You did a great job explaining your chosen poem.
Hi, Catherine,
I rather enjoyed your analogy of this assignment. It also took me a few times to read this poem to understand what the writer was saying. Reading the In “How to Read a Poem”, Edward Hirsch help me with asking myself questions about this poem. Taking every sentence and taking its true meaning and not assuming what the writer was saying. Thank you for your comment. It helped as well.