English Poem: How do I love thee

Title: How do I love thee
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
from Sonnets from the Portuguese

XLIII

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 might 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.




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The forty-four poems that became Sonnets from the Portuguese were written by the future Mrs. Browning between 1845 and 1846 while she was being courted by Robert Browning. They were first published in 1850 in her Poems with the 1856 edition containing most of the desired revisions and corrections. (A supposed 1847 edition of the Sonnets by themselves was later proven a hoax.)
It is thought that the title was meant to shroud some of the personal nature of the poems by implying they were a translation of an older work. The link between the contents of these poems and her correspondance with Robert are detailed in the introduction to Dow's edition. Harmon notes that the title Sonnets Translated from the Bosnian was also considered.


Sonnett XLIII can be found, for example, in:

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. A Variorum Edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnets from the Portuguese. Miroslava Wein Dow, ed. Troy, NY: The Whitston Publishing Company, 1980.
Harmon, William, ed. The Classic Hundred Poems (Second Edition). New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.

【诗后的故事】作者ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING[伊丽莎白·巴雷特·勃朗宁]于公元1806年出生在达翰姆（英格兰北部一郡）。1838年，她出版了《撒拉弗和其它诗篇》[撒拉佛——六翼天使(九级天使中地位最高者)，又称：炽爱天使]。1843年，由于当时英国的最高统治者是女性，伊丽莎白于国家诗人的提名得到了更加广泛的支持。结果很不幸，她输给了威廉·华兹华斯--同一时代的另一位伟大诗人[有机会笔者会撰文介绍此人]。此后不久，伊利沙白与罗伯特·勃朗宁——另一位有才华的诗人，结婚了。然而，伊丽莎白的父亲，却不同意这场婚事。于是，这对情侣决定出逃。并由此，引发了一场浪漫的婚姻。伊丽莎白与罗伯特·勃朗宁准备各自出发，逃往意大利，并在比萨会合，去继续他们的生活。他们成功了。三年后，即1849年，他们已在意大利中部的佛罗伦萨定居。一日，伊丽莎白送给她的丈夫一件珍贵的礼物——44首她为丈夫写的十四行诗，里面有开始时的怀疑，与家庭抗争的恐惧，与爱人的甜蜜，及最终爱的胜利的喜悦。同年，他们唯一的男孩出生了。一年后，即1850年，勃朗宁夫妇出版了那44首诗，但做了些伪装。他们用“葡萄牙十四行诗集”为这44首诗命名。如此一来，读者便会接受这些诗是由葡萄牙语翻译过来的的暗示。于是，我们今天可以看到如此表达真爱和深爱的诗句。伊丽莎白的浪漫婚姻促成了她的，也是整个维多利亚时代的，最美丽的爱情商籁体诗。