But the poet forbids him to show those as reasons for his love.įor those things in themselves, Beloved, mayīe changed, or change for thee, – and love so wrought, The lover may discover that his thought process certainly matches with hers in a particular day. She also tells him that he may find some of her qualities compatible with him. She asks her lover not to love her for her smile, her look or her gentle speaking. The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning does not want to be loved for her physical beauty, gentle manner of speaking or her way of thinking. That falls in well with mine, and certes broughtĪ sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ – Advertisements Of speaking gently, – for a trick of thought

‘I love her for her smile – her look – her way Love me for love’s sake, not for any other reason. To make it easy: Love me because of love and because of the essential eternal quality of love on earth. If the lover really wants to love her, he should love her for nothing but only for love’s sake. In the very first line of the poem, the poet reveals her expectations from her lover. If thou must love me, let it be for nought If Thou Must Love Me: Line by Line Explanation The sonnet is in the Italian or Petrarchan form of sonnet with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CD CD CD. In the sonnets Elizabeth Barrett Browning shows her love for her future husband Robert Browning, who himself was a great Victorian poet. Sonnets from the Portuguese is a collection of 44 love sonnets published in 1850. She was a major woman poet in the Victorian era (1830-1890) of English literature. “If Thou Must Love Me” is sonnet no.14 of the collection “ Sonnets from the Portuguese” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861).

Elizabeth browning sonnets