Skip to content
Storgy

The Annotated Edition

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Sonnets from the Portuguese 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

Read aloud in ~1 minOpen reading mode →

This sonnet is Elizabeth Barrett Browning's heartfelt gift to her beloved.

Poet
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Composed
1850 · Victorian
Core theme
Identity
The PoemFull text

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Sonnets from the Portuguese 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1850

Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers Plucked in the garden, all the summer through And winter, and it seemed as if they grew In this close room, nor missed the sun and showers. So, in the like name of that love of ours, Take back these thoughts, which here unfolded too, And which on warm and cold days I withdrew From my heart's ground. Indeed, those beds and bowers Be overgrown with bitter weeds and rue, And wait thy weeding: yet here's eglantine, Here's ivy!—take them, as I used to do Thy flowers, and keep them where they shall not pine; Instruct thine eyes to keep their colours true, And tell thy soul, their roots are left in mine.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

This sonnet is Elizabeth Barrett Browning's heartfelt gift to her beloved. Just as he brought her fresh flowers throughout the year, she now shares her deepest thoughts and feelings with him. She acknowledges that her inner world has its share of dark and complicated areas, but there are also lovely things flourishing there. The poem concludes with a subtle yet strong promise: even when her thoughts drift away, their roots remain in her heart.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers / Plucked in the garden, all the summer through

    Editor's note

    Browning begins by speaking directly to her beloved, reminiscing about the flowers he gifted her during both summer and winter. The imagery is both tender and vivid: these weren't extravagant gestures, but rather a consistent, gentle devotion that brought warmth and life to even the most closed-off room. The mention of the room not missing the sun establishes the poem's central theme: his love changed her restricted reality.

  2. So, in the like name of that love of ours, / Take back these thoughts, which here unfolded too,

    Editor's note

    Here she makes the turn. Just as he gave her flowers, she is now sharing her thoughts with him — her poems, her feelings, her inner life. The word "unfolded" holds great significance here: thoughts open up like petals, slowly and naturally, in the warmth of being loved. She sees this as a fair exchange, a mutual act done in honor of their shared love.

  3. And which on warm and cold days I withdrew / From my heart's ground. Indeed, those beds and bowers

    Editor's note

    She uses the garden metaphor to describe her heart as a plot of ground. Her thoughts emerge from it just like plants grow from soil — whether she's having a good day or a bad one. But she doesn’t sugarcoat it: she openly acknowledges that this inner garden is tangled with "bitter weeds and rue." Rue refers to both a bitter herb and a sense of regret, giving it a sharp, intentional double meaning.

  4. Be overgrown with bitter weeds and rue, / And wait thy weeding: yet here's eglantine,

    Editor's note

    This is the most genuine moment in the poem. Her heart is a mess—grief, doubt, and regret have taken over. But she doesn't just dwell on that. She turns to what remains beautiful: eglantine (a sweet-briar rose) and ivy. These aren’t extravagant flowers; they’re tough, enduring, and a bit wild. The "yet" is crucial—it maintains the entire poem's emotional balance between hurt and resilience.

  5. Here's ivy!—take them, as I used to do / Thy flowers, and keep them where they shall not pine;

    Editor's note

    She asks him to receive her thoughts just as he received his flowers — with care, ensuring they stay vibrant. "Pine" suggests withering and fading, but it also conveys a sense of longing. She hopes her thoughts, once shared with him, will be kept in a place where they won’t fade or ache with desire. It’s a request for her inner world to be held with the same tenderness he showed towards her physical presence.

  6. Instruct thine eyes to keep their colours true, / And tell thy soul, their roots are left in mine.

    Editor's note

    The closing couplet delivers the emotional punch. She urges him to truly see her thoughts—clear and unaltered, without any fading or distortion. Then the last line hits with a gentle clarity: even though she’s sharing these thoughts with him, they still originate from within her. Love doesn’t require losing yourself. What she offers him, at its core, is still hers.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is intimate and unhurried—this is a private conversation, not a performance. There’s genuine tenderness here, but also honesty: Browning doesn’t pretend her inner life is flawless. The mood shifts from warmth and gratitude to a moment of candid self-reflection, then settles into a quietly confident space. It feels less like a declaration of love and more like a trust—the kind you only give to someone who has shown they can handle it with care.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Flowers
The flowers brought by the beloved symbolize his daily devotion—not through grand speeches, but through simple, repeated gestures of love. They also establish the poem's main exchange: his flowers for her thoughts.
The garden / heart's ground
Browning reflects her inner emotional life in the imagery of a garden. It's a place that can either flourish or be ignored, where beautiful plants coexist with weeds. This metaphor allows her to acknowledge pain while still holding onto hope.
Bitter weeds and rue
Rue is a genuinely bitter herb, but it's also an old term for sorrow and regret. The weeds symbolize the grief, illness, and loss that shaped Browning's life before she met Robert. She doesn't shy away from them — she calls them out directly.
Eglantine and ivy
These are the beautiful remnants in her tangled heart. Eglantine, a wild rose, symbolizes sweetness and poetry, while ivy stands strong and green all year round. Together, they imply that love and creativity have persisted through it all.
Roots
The last image of roots remaining in her heart conveys the poem's central message: sharing love, thoughts, or poems with someone else doesn’t mean depleting yourself. The essence stays intact. What you share is still fundamentally yours.

§06Form & structure

Form & structure

Meter
iambic pentameter
Rhyme
ABBA ABBA BCBCBC

§07Historical context

Historical context

Elizabeth Barrett Browning penned the *Sonnets from the Portuguese* between 1845 and 1846, during her secret romance with poet Robert Browning. For years, she had been a semi-invalid, mostly confined to her family home in London under a strict father who forbade his children from marrying. Robert's letters and visits changed everything for her. She wrote these 44 sonnets in private, only sharing them with Robert after they eloped to Italy in 1846. He encouraged her to publish them, and they were released in 1850. The title served as a subtle cover—"from the Portuguese" made them sound like translations instead of personal reflections. Sonnet 44, the last poem in the series, stands as a heartfelt gift of thoughts given back to the man whose flowers had sustained her through years of isolation and grief.

§08FAQ

Questions readers ask

You're correct that "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" is the well-known opening line of **Sonnet 43** in the sequence. This poem — which explores flowers and the heart's garden — is **Sonnet 44**, the final sonnet. The two are easily mixed up since Sonnet 43 is so frequently quoted. Sonnet 44 serves as the quieter, concluding counterpart to it.

More by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Browse all Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems →

Themes in this poem

Poems about IdentityPoems about LovePoems about MemoryPoems about Nature

Poetry tools

Analyze another poem →Rate your own poem →Check rhyme & meter →