Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 42 and 43

Sonnet 42:

My Future Will Not Copy My Fair Past

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

'My future will not copy fair my past'—
I wrote that once; and thinking at my side
My ministering life-angel justified
The word by his appealing look upcast
To the white throne of God, I turned at last,
And there, instead, saw thee, not unallied
To angels in thy soul! Then I, long tried
By natural ills, received the comfort fast,
While budding, at thy sight, my pilgrim's staff
Gave out green leaves with morning dews impearled.
I seek no copy now of life's first half:
Leave here the pages with long musing curled,
And write me new my future's epigraph,
New angel mine, unhoped for in the world!

Sonnet 43:

How do I love thee?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a 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.

Interpretation of Sonnet 43 (How Do I Love Thee?):

Informal Theme # 3:

As we all know, Elizabeth Barrett Browning dedicated the "How Do I Love Thee?" to her husband, Robert Browning. She expresses her intense love for her husband through this sonnet. She loves him freely, without coercion; she loves him purely, without any expectation of personal gain. She even loves him in a passion resembling that of Christ on the cross. Moreover, Elizabeth was expecting that she will continue to love him even after death. 

Death can never tear them apart. Their love for each other is for eternal. Elizabeth's love for her husband was unexplainable. Words can't even express how much she loves her husband.