Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Among all female poets of the English-speaking world in the 19th century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of her views. In this sonnet she continually uses the line “I love thee”, to answer the question proposed in the the first line of the poem “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”  This fits in with the theme of love as she not only uses the word love but she explains the way she loves this person of which she is making references towards.

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.