Surname 1 Name Tutor Course Date Explication of a poem "How do I love thee" Introduction True love is surely a cure for everything and it overcomes all. The poem “How do I love thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a masterpiece that depicts the love of a woman to a man, lover. The poem is a 14-line piece written in iambic pentameter. The poem follows an Italian sonnet’s rhyme scheme and the structure of the poem also adheres to an Italian Sonnet that consists of an octet, which is the first 8 lines, and the sestet, which is the final 6 lines. The inspiration behind the poem was Elizabeth’s love for a man who had, for all purposes and intents, rescued her from reclusive and desperate life after the death of her brother. The poem talks about true love for a man, and in the octet, the speaker highlights the depth of her lover through the use of exaggeration. The sestet of the poem inclines to a love which transcends all, and mature love. The poem conveys the message of love through the use of hyperbole, or exaggeration, juxtaposition, simile, alliteration, and repetition. The hyperbole is a fitting poetic device for this love poem. Body The first poetic device that depicts “I Love Thee” or the woman love for man is repetition. The repetition of the words “I Love Thee” clearly depicts the intensity of the speaker’s love for the man. The repetition of “I love thee” also acts as a constant reminder of the speaker’s love. When the speaker repeats the words “My soul can reach”, it reiterates her Surname 2 immense love for the man. In the article about the significance of repetition, Toolan states that “repetition reinforces core theme of the poem”. The argument given by Toolan is applicable to Elizabeth’s poem in the sense that it builds the theme and coherency of the flow. Although repetition plays an important role in developing the theme of love, there are other poetic devices that play the same role and with the same weight. In addition to repetition, hyperbole plays a significant role. The hyperbole “Depth and breadth and height” depicts that the speaker’s love for the man is bigger or larger than life. It also depicts that her love is an actual physical mass that can be measured. When the speaker says “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose/With my lost saints”, she exalts her love for him by comparing with people perfect and pure as saints. It also shows that her love is so true and pure with no pretense or blemish. When she says “I love thee with the breath,/Smiles, tears, of all my life”, she describes her love as a physical experience as well as an affection which she encounters even in her movement and breath (Browning). In an article about the role of hyperbole in a poem, McGrath asserts that “hyperbole gives a deep connection between object and being”. The argument given by McGrath is relevant to Elizabeth’s poem because it helps in building a connection between her love and some of the objects given in the poem. Apart from hyperbole and repetition, juxtaposition has been employed. Juxtaposition is seen at the ending of the poem when the speaker says “I shall but love thee better after death”. In this instance, life and death are juxtaposed at the end in order to highlight the manner in which at the end of her life, she will still love him even at her death. In the article by Lorden and an article by Munawar, the two articles assert that “juxtaposition is used to portray characters in great detail”. The argument given by Lorden is applicable to the Surname 3 poem because it helps in building a connection between the end of her life and the end of the poem. The next poetic device that plays an important role is the poem is simile. Simile is seen in the “I love thee freely, as men strive for right” because of the use of the word “as" (Browning). The speaker uses this simile as a comparison of her lover to him and how mankind strives to do good to others. In an article that highlights the role of simile in a poem, Giora asserts that “simile is used to clearly convey the message”. This argument by Giora is used to understand the meaning of the poem. The next poetic device that plays an important role is the poem is alliteration. Alliteration is seen when the speaker says “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose”. The repetition of the word “I” consonant rolls off the tongue and creates a somber and soft tone. In an article that builds a connection between alliteration and simile, Bridwell argues that “Alliteration is used to focus readers' attention on a particular section of text.” The argument by Bridwell is relevant to Elizabeth’s poem because it creates a musical rhythm as well as helping readers to understand the intensity of the speaker’s love. Conclusion In conclusion, Elizabeth’s poem is a masterpiece that properly uses poetic devices to convey the message of true love to readers. Her creative styles definitely and necessarily add to the creation of her strong purpose of love in the poem. The fact that she loves him in her life and she will love him after her death is a huge indication that she has undying love (Line 12-14). Although "How Do I Love Thee?" may look peculiar and vague, Elizabeth’s thorough approach wins the attention of readers and helps them understand her purpose. Surname 4 Works Cited Bridwell, Keiko. "Processing Differences in Reading Alliteration and Rhyme: An EyeMovement Study." (2017). Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, et al. How do I love thee?. Phoenix, 1996. Giora, Rachel. "Models of Figurative Language: A Special Double Issue of Metaphor and Symbol." (2019). Lorden, Jennifer A. "Discernment and Dissent in the Cynewulf Poems." Modern Philology 116.4 (2019): 299-321. McGrath, Brian. "Understating Poetry." New Literary History 49.3 (2018): 289-308. Munawar, Bushra, and Hina Rafique. "Structuralistic Analysis of the Poem “The Stone Chat” by Taufeeq Rafat in perspective of Binary Opposition." International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 5.4 (2016): 122-126. Toolan, Michael. "Poetry and poetics." The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity (2015): 231-47.
Purchase answer to see full attachment