From the very beginning of their acquaintance, Roberts attraction to Elizabeth was very strong, while the poetess did not believe in his feelings. The sonnet How do I love thee is one of the prominent examples of Elizabeth Brownings love poems.

Sonnets from the Portuguese consist of 44 sonnets written by Elizabeth Browning during their romantic relationship with Robert Browning. The peak of Elizabeths Browning popularity was caused by a publication of one of her most famous collections of amatory verses Sonnets from the Portuguese. Overview of Elizabeth’s Rise in Popularity Despite her fathers disapproval, Elisabeth was secretly married to Robert, and soon they departed to Italy. In such a way, there emerged a romantic relationship between them.

In 1845, Robert Browning, impressed by her poems, wrote her a letter. This very year she experienced a nervous breakdown caused by the death of her brother Edward and practically secluded herself from society. In 1833 after publishing the collection of her poems, The Seraphim, and Other Poems, her name became known to a wide audience (Poetry Foundation, n.d.). At the age of twenty, there was published her first book of poems. She wrote poems since early childhood, dedicating them to family celebrations. She was born in 1806 in a family of West Indian plantation owner. She doesn’t have to think about him when she’s with him – he’s better than anything she’s capable of imagining.Elizabeth Barrett Browning is one of the most prominent and famous poetesses of the Victorian age, who is famous not only for her creative work but also for her wonderful destiny. A reversal of the first line highlights the difference between thinking and being with him.

“I do not think of thee-I am too near thee”.

Last 6 lines rhyme with himself showing an obsession

“Insphere Thee…Hear Thee….Too near thee”.

“Set thy trunk all bare” Possible erotic reference.

“Renew” and “rustle” are imperatives and alliteration show and emphasize how much she wants him to take action.

“Renew thy Presence as a strong tree should rustle”- Sibilant sounds reflect trees rustling and thoughts changing.

“Except the straggling green”- Suggests vines are inferior to the tree as her thoughts are inferior to the actual man himself she is describing.

“Put out broad leaves”- Suggests the love is extensive.

“Wild vines about a tree”- Metaphor shows that narrator is “wild vines” and lover is the “tree”.

Her love is ever-growing and developing as well as her thoughts “My thoughts do twine and bud”- Natural imagery shows her thoughts focus on him as vines do on a tree.“I think of thee” Narrator addresses the lover directly making it more personal.

Sonnet of elizabeth browning