How Do I Love Thee?
how do i love thee? let me count the ways.
i love thee to the depth and breadth of height
my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
for the ends of being and endless grace.
i love thee to the level of every day’s
most quiet need, by sun and the candlelight.
i love thee freely, as men 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.
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning
