英诗赏析How-Do-I-Love-Thee

英诗赏析--期末小论文Title：HowDoILoveThee?HowDoILoveTheeElizabethBarrettBrowningHowdoIlovethee?Letmecounttheways.IlovetheetothedepthandbreadthandheightMysoulcanreach,whenfeelingoutofsightFortheendsofBeingandidealGrace.Ilovetheetothelevelofeveryday’sMostquietneed,bysunandcandle-light.Ilovetheefreely,asmenstriveforRight;Ilovetheepurely,astheyturnfromPraise.IlovetheewiththepassionputtouseInmyoldgriefs,andwithmychildhood’sfaith.IlovetheewithaloveIseemedtoloseWithmylostsaints,—Ilovetheewiththebreath,Smiles,tears,ofallmylife!—and,ifGodchoose,Ishallbutlovetheebetterafterdeath.我是如此地爱你伊丽莎白·勃朗宁我是如此地爱你？让我一一道来：我爱你，到我灵魂所能及到的深邃、宽广、和高远；爱，随未现于视野她却于存在的边际和永恒的恩典。我爱你，到每一天所需的最基本，在日光下，在烛焰下。我自由地爱你，像男子们为正义而奋争；我纯粹地爱你，像他们在赞美前低头。我爱你，以我满腔热情，就像往日的辛酸；我爱你，以我童年的信仰。我爱你，如同那随着逝去的圣者而消逝的那种爱，——我爱你以我一生的呼吸，微笑和泪水！－－如果上帝愿意即使死去，我还要更加爱你！HowDoILoveTheeisoneofthe44poemsofSonnetsfromthePortuguesethatElizabethBrowningwrotetoexpressherloveforherhusbandandwasregardedasthebestone.BeforeIgettothecontentofthepoem,IwanttosaysomethingaboutthepoetElizabethBarrettBrowningandthepoem’sbackground.ElizabethBrowninggrewupinthewestofEnglandandwaslargelyeducatedathomebyatutor.Whilesaddlingaponywhenshewas15,sheinjuredherspineandcannotstand.Despiteherailments,hereducationcontinuedtoflourish.In1844ElizabethproducedacollectionentitledsimplyPoems.ItwasPoemsthatwonhersomecriticalrecognitionandinspiredRobertBrowningtowritetoher,tellingherhowmuchhelovedherpoems.Nextyear,Elizabethhadbeen39yearsold,sixyearsolderthanRobertBrowningandaftertheymet,theyfellinlovewitheachother,whichopenedanewchapterofhermiserylife.LoveconquereddeathandsavedalifewhohadgivenupherselffromtheshadowofthedeathanditwasRobertBrowning’sloveforElizabethBarrettthatmadeherstandagainmiraculously.Later,becauseElizabeth’sfatherdisapprovedtheirengagement,theystillmarriedandfledtoFlorence,Italy.SonnetsfromthePortuguesewasavaluablegiftElizabethsenttoRobertwhereshewroteherprimarydoubtsbecauseofherageandherinvalid,thefearofstrugglingagainstfamily,thesweetwithloverandthejoyofultimatevictory.Itwassaidthatthe44poemswaswrittenbeforetheirmarriageanduntiltheymarriedandlastedforalongtime,andthenMrs.BrowningputitintoRobert’spocketquietlyandtoldherhusbandthatifhedidnotlikeit,hecanburnit.AfterRobertBrowningreadit,hesaidhedarenotpersonallyhidethemostbeautifulsonnetssinceShakespeareandthenitcanbepublished.Itwastheirhappinessandlovethatpropelledthesepoems’birth.Thepoemstrictlyabidesbythecharacteristicsofsonnets,andisiniambicpentameter(with10syllables,fivepairsofunstressedandstressedsyllablesineveryline)andtherhymeisabbaabbacdcd.Thepoemsstartswiththequestion,“HowdoIlovethee?”andproceedstocounttheways.Altogethersheprofessed8waysthatshelovesherbeloved.Thefirstwaythatshelovesherlover“tothedepthandbreadthandheightMysoulcanreach.”Theseventhwayisthat“Ilovetheewiththebreath,/Smiles,tears,ofallmylife!”Thisdescribesthefactthatshebelievestherearenolimitstowhatthehumansoulandheartcanfeel.Inthepoemsheusessuchwordsasdepthandbreathandheight,lifeanddeath,andnightandday(sunandcandlelight)toshowtheenormityandvastnessoflove.Throughtheuseofmetaphors,shecomparesherdepthofloveforherlovertosuchthingsasasoldierfightingforfreedom:“Ilovetheefreely,asmenstriveforRight/Ilovetheepurely,astheyturnfromPraise.”Her“passionputtouse/Inmyoldgriefs”referstothedepthsofherformerdespair.Thelovethat“IseemedtoloseWithmylostsaints”referstothelostlovesofhermotherandherbrother.ThepoemendswiththedeclarationthattimeanddeathwillnotdiminishherloveforRobertbecause“ifGodchoose,Ishallbutlovetheebetterafterdeath.”Exceptmetaphors,anaphoracanbethedominatefigureofspeech:theuseofIlovetheeineightlinesandIshallbutlovetheeinthefinalline.Thisrepetitionbuildsrhythmandreinforcesthetheme.Mrs.Browningalsousesthealliterationasfollows:thee,theinlineone,two,five,nine,twelve;soul,sightinlinethree;love,levelinlinefive;purely,Praiseinlineeight,etc.InHowDoILoveThee,climaxalsoisanveryimportantrhetoricaldevice.ThepoemusesILoveTheeeighttimesandwecansee:thefirst“ILoveThee”to“mysoulcanreach”isaboutthebreadthanddepthlovethepoet’sloveandthesecond“Ilovetheetothelevelofeveryday’s”isaboutthenecessityoflove,whichistantamounttothefundamentalneedsofbasiclife,suchaswater,air,sleepandsoon.Andsuchnecessityisliketheman’sinstinctforliving.Inthethird“Ilovethee”“asmanstriveforRight”,thepoetcompareslovewiththefreerightandpointsthatlovecannotbedeprived.Thefourthtoldusthesincerityandpurityofherloveandthefifthclaimedthepassionandloyaltyofherlove;theseventhpresentedthatthepoetlovedherloverwithherlifeandfromthelast,wecanfindthepoet’slovehadbeenraisedtoahigherlevel:deathcannotstoploveandonthecontrary,deathdeepenedloveandwasvanquishedbyloveultimately.Fromthepoem,whatwecanseeisElizabeth’spursuitoflovedirectlyandbravely.Andherloveforherloverissointensiveandeternal,whichimpliesusthatthoughtheendoflifeisdeath,human’saffectionwillnotendwhenthelifeends.