Objectives

• Analyse how Barrett Browning uses spatial and spiritual imagery in lines 1–4 to establish the scope of the speaker's love.
• Explain how the volta and closing couplet (lines 13–14) shift the poem's focus from earthly to transcendent love.
• Identify how the Petrarchan sonnet form is both used and subverted to centre a female speaker's desire.
• Evaluate how biographical and literary context — the secret courtship, the Petrarchan tradition — shapes the poem's meaning.
• Write a fully evidenced analytical paragraph that embeds quotation, analyses language choices, and links to context.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: Counting the Ways: Close Reading Sonnet 43 from First Line to Final Couplet

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Write down three observations about the opening question 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways' — one regarding its grammar, one about its tone, and one about your expectations for the rest of the poem. You have four minutes. No dictionaries or discussions at this point.

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of lines 1–4:

   Text: '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.'

   Think aloud: Let's break this down together. The phrase 'depth and breadth and height' is a tricolon, which gives us a sense of love that occupies three-dimensional space. It’s as if the speaker is mapping love onto a tangible framework we can visualize. But then, she shifts away from that concrete imagery, using phrases like 'out of sight' and 'ends of Being,' which take us into an abstract realm.

   Notice how 'Being' and 'Grace' are capitalized. This choice elevates love to a more spiritual or theological level right from the start. The speaker hasn't even completed her first thought, and already we see love being intertwined with profound concepts of existence and divinity.

   As we annotate this on the visualiser, let’s identify the technique: the tricolon and capitalization. The effect creates a powerful contrast between the physical and the ethereal, linking back to Barrett Browning's devout faith and her belief that love plays a vital role in bringing her back to life.

   This approach not only enriches our understanding of the text but also connects it deeply with Browning's personal context.

   Independent task

   Working from the printed text of Sonnet 43, students independently annotate lines 5–12, pinpointing at least three different techniques (for instance, the anaphora in the repeated 'I love thee', the simile 'as men strive for Right', and the contrast between 'childhood's faith' and 'lost saints'). For each technique, they craft one sentence that explains how it influences the reader's perception of the speaker's love. Following this, students compose a brief paragraph — four to six sentences — addressing the question: 'How does Barrett Browning use the body of the sonnet (lines 5–12) to transition from abstract measurement to a personal, emotional experience?' The paragraph should incorporate at least two embedded quotations.

   Exit ticket

   In one sentence, explain why Barrett Browning places the word 'freely' at the start of line 7 ('I love thee freely, as men strive for Right') — what does its position tell us about the speaker's understanding of love?

2. Lesson 2: From Earth to Eternity: Writing About Transcendence in Sonnet 43

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   The speaker promises that their love will continue to deepen even after death, suggesting an enduring commitment. The phrase "love thee better after death" carries the most weight because it emphasizes the idea of love transcending even the finality of life, highlighting the depth and permanence of their feelings.

   Teacher input

   Model how to write a top-band analytical paragraph on the closing couplet (lines 13–14). On the board, draft the paragraph aloud: start with a point about the conditional 'if God choose' — the speaker's love is so immense that it seems to need divine approval to persist, which both honors the beloved and places the speaker's desires beneath God's will. Embed the quotation smoothly. Next, analyze 'better after death': the use of the comparative adjective suggests that earthly love, no matter how remarkable, serves merely as a practice run. Make a clear connection to the context — Barrett Browning's faith, her health struggles, and the intimate nature of the sequence — before concluding with a remark on how the Petrarchan couplet form lends this promise the authority of a final judgment. Illustrate to students the distinction between a paragraph that mentions a technique and one that delves into the reasons behind the poet's choice here.

   Independent task

   Write a full analytical response of three to four paragraphs (approximately 300–400 words) to the following question: 'How does Elizabeth Barrett Browning present love as a force that transcends the physical world in Sonnet 43?' Your response must: (1) open with a paragraph on lines 1–4, analysing how the spatial imagery of 'depth and breadth and height' is immediately undermined by the phrase 'out of sight' to suggest love exceeds measurable space; (2) include a second paragraph on at least one of lines 7–10, examining how Barrett Browning links love to moral and spiritual virtues ('freely', 'purely', 'childhood's faith'); (3) close with a paragraph on the couplet (lines 13–14), arguing how the conditional 'if God choose' and the comparative 'better after death' together position love as an eternal, perfecting force. Every paragraph must embed at least one quotation and include one reference to biographical or literary context.

   Exit ticket

   Write one sentence explaining why the word 'better' in the final line is more powerful than a word like 'stronger' or 'deeper' would have been — what does Barrett Browning's specific word choice reveal about her view of what love does to a person after death?

Activities

Assessment

• Do-Now (Lesson 1): checks whether students can notice grammatical and tonal features of the opening line before any teaching has occurred.
• Annotation of lines 5–12 (Lesson 1 independent task): checks whether students can independently identify and name techniques such as anaphora and simile in the body of the sonnet.
• Exit ticket (Lesson 1): checks whether students understand how word placement — specifically 'freely' at the start of line 7 — carries argumentative weight, not just decorative effect.
• Do-Now (Lesson 2): checks whether students can interpret the closing couplet's promise and isolate the most significant word without teacher prompting.
• Timed Paragraph Sprint (standalone activity): checks whether students can produce a structured analytical paragraph independently, embedding quotation and linking to context, before the summative task.
• Exit ticket (Lesson 2): checks whether students can distinguish between near-synonyms ('better' versus 'stronger' or 'deeper') and articulate what a specific word choice reveals about the poet's argument.

Standards covered

Common Core 11 12

• RL.11-12.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL.11-12.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• RL.11-12.5 — Analyse how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events, and manipulate time create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
• W.11-12.9 — Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (Skill 1.A) — Make a defensible claim that requires a line of reasoning about the poem's meaning.
• Textual Evidence (Skill 1.B) — Select and use relevant evidence from Sonnet 43 to support the line of reasoning.
• Explaining Literary Techniques (Skill 2.B) — Explain how Barrett Browning's use of anaphora, spatial imagery, and the Petrarchan volta contribute to the poem's meaning.
• Contextualising Interpretations (Skill 5.B) — Explain the significance of the poem's cultural and biographical context — the Petrarchan tradition, Victorian gender norms, Barrett Browning's faith and illness — to its meaning.

AQA

• AO1 — Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in Sonnet 43, including Barrett Browning's use of anaphora, tricolon, spatial imagery, and the volta.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which Sonnet 43 was written and received, including the Petrarchan tradition and Victorian attitudes to female authorship.
• AO4 — Explore connections across literary texts where relevant, including comparison with other Victorian love poetry.

Edexcel

• AO1 — Articulate informed responses to Sonnet 43, using relevant concepts and terminology and accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse the language, form (Petrarchan sonnet), and structure (volta, closing couplet) used by Barrett Browning to create meanings and effects.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the contexts of Sonnet 43 — biographical, historical, and literary — and how they influence meaning.
• AO5 — Communicate a coherent, well-structured argument about the poem's treatment of transcendent love.

Eduqas

• AO1 — Communicate a relevant, well-structured argument about how Barrett Browning presents love in Sonnet 43, using accurate terminology.
• AO2 — Analyse how Barrett Browning uses language (anaphora, simile, conditional syntax) and form (Petrarchan sonnet, volta) to shape meaning.
• AO3 — Demonstrate knowledge of the literary and biographical context of Sonnets from the Portuguese and its significance to the poem's meaning.