Journal 7 - How Do I Love Thee?

In the poem, "How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the writer talks about undying love for the object of the poem. The narrator describes a need for the object of their affection in the line, "I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight" further saying that only a little part of the day with this person isn't enough, but that they need to see or be with this person every second possible (The Norton Introduction To Literature, pg 821, ll. 5-6). The writer describes love as reverting back to that silly childhood trust and faith in people, that quality which we all seem to lose because we see the reality of life. The reality that no one can ever promise not to hurt you, to go behind your back, or to betray you in any way doesn't help at all for us to just give our heart to someone. Lastly, in the final line, "I shall but love thee better after death" makes everyone realize that when there is nothing else to hurt us, when we're already dead and in the grave, we can truly love someone the best because there is no longer trust issues to overcome (pg 822, l. 14).

Browning, Elizabeth. “How Do I Love Thee?”. The Norton Introduction To Literature. 10^th ed. Ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 821-822. Print.