You know that poem everyone quotes on wedding cards but almost nobody actually reads closely? "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.On top of that, " It sounds simple. Soft. Like something you'd murmur before falling asleep.
But here's the thing — the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee is doing a lot more work than people give it credit for. And if you've ever tried to write a sonnet yourself, you'll know exactly why.
I've read this poem more times than I'd like to admit, and every time I come back to it, the structure surprises me a little. So let's actually talk about it Most people skip this — try not to..
What Is How Do I Love Thee
First, quick context for anyone who landed here halfway through a homework panic. Think about it: "How do I love thee? Because of that, " is the opening line of Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It's part of a collection called Sonnets from the Portuguese — which, despite the name, was written in English and by an English woman. The title's a bit of a joke between her and her husband. Real talk, that's the kind of detail most classroom summaries skip.
The poem itself is a love poem. Which means a devotional one. She lists the different ways she loves her partner — to the depth and breadth and height her soul can reach, with her childhood faith, with a love she hopes to keep even after death. It's intense. It's also one of the most famous sonnets in the English language It's one of those things that adds up..
Quick note before moving on.
Now, when people ask about the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee, what they really mean is: how are the lines paired up phonically? Where does the sound resolve? Where does it shift? Because a sonnet isn't just a poem that's fourteen lines long. It's a specific shape. And Browning is working inside that shape on purpose.
The Sonnet Family
There are two big sonnet types people usually learn about. The Shakespearean (or English) sonnet, which goes ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. And the Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet, which usually goes ABBAABBA for the first eight lines — the octave — then something like CDECDE or CDCDCD for the final six, the sestet Surprisingly effective..
Browning's Sonnet 43 is a Petrarchan sonnet. Worth adding: that matters. The rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee follows the Italian model, not the Shakespearean one. And once you hear it, the difference is obvious even if you don't know the terms.
Why It Matters
Why does any of this matter? Because most people skip it.
A rhyme scheme isn't decoration. On top of that, it's architecture. In a Petrarchan sonnet, the tight ABBAABBA envelope of the octave creates a sense of containment — like the feeling is being held in something solid before it's allowed to move. Practically speaking, then the sestet loosens. Worth adding: the rhyme pattern shifts. The poem can breathe, or turn, or complicate itself.
When you understand the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee, you understand why the first eight lines feel like a vault and the last six feel like an exhale. Worth adding: browning isn't just listing loves. She's building a container for them Simple, but easy to overlook. Nothing fancy..
And look — if you're writing about this for school, or trying to appreciate poetry without the jargon, this is the part that makes the poem click. You stop seeing it as "old-timey words" and start seeing it as a constructed object. That's the difference between memorizing and actually getting it.
How It Works
Let's break the actual poem down. I'll use the standard lettering so you can follow along. The rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee is ABBAABBA CDC DCD. Here's how that maps And that's really what it comes down to..
The Octave (Lines 1–8)
Line 1: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. — A Line 2: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height — B Line 3: My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight — B Line 4: For the ends of being and ideal grace. And — A Line 5: I love thee to the level of everyday's — A Line 6: Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. — B Line 7: I love thee freely, as men strive for right; — B Line 8: I love thee purely, as they turn from praise That's the whole idea..
See that? ABBAABBA. The first and fourth lines rhyme (ways / grace — well, sort of, in Browning's accent it's closer than it looks on the page now). Because of that, the second and third wrap around them. Then it repeats. That's the Italian envelope. In practice, it makes the octave feel symmetrical and locked And that's really what it comes down to..
Worth pausing on this one.
One thing worth knowing: Browning's rhymes aren't always perfect to modern ears. Because of that, "Ways" and "grace" are a slant rhyme, or what some call a half-rhyme. Same with "height" and "light" if you're being strict. But in the Victorian pronunciation, and in the music of the line, it works. Honestly, this is the part most guides get wrong — they pretend every rhyme is clean. Consider this: it isn't. And it doesn't need to be.
The Sestet (Lines 9–14)
Line 9: I love thee with the passion put to use — C Line 10: In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. That said, — D Line 11: I love thee with a love I seemed to lose — C Line 12: With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath, — D Line 13: Smiles, tears, of all my life! —and, if God choose, — C Line 14: I shall but love thee better after death Still holds up..
So the sestet is CDC DCD. Browning picks the interlocking version, which keeps a kind of tension going instead of resolving it into a cleaner pattern. Not the CDECDE you sometimes get in other Petrarchan poems. The short version is: the end of the poem still rhymes, but it rhymes like someone mid-thought, not someone closing a book.
Why the Turn Happens Where It Does
In a Petrarchan sonnet there's usually a "volta" — a turn — between the octave and the sestet. The sestet shifts to the quality and duration of love (passion, faith, loss, death). The rhyme scheme supports that. Plus, the sound changes. The container opens. Here's the thing — in How Do I Love Thee, the octave is about the measure of love (depth, breadth, height, daily need). You feel the turn even if nobody tells you the word "volta It's one of those things that adds up..
Common Mistakes
Here's what most people get wrong when they write about this poem.
They call it a Shakespearean sonnet. Consider this: the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee is Petrarchan, full stop. It isn't. If you write ABAB CDCD EFEF GG in your essay, you've described a different poem The details matter here. But it adds up..
They assume the rhymes are all perfect. Even so, as I said, Browning uses slant rhymes. And that's normal in this era and in this form. Don't force a "perfect" reading that isn't there.
They think the poem has no structure because the list feels free. But "count the ways" is ironic — she's not actually counting. She's using the strictest Western poetic form to say something that feels boundless. The form is the joke and the ache at the same time No workaround needed..
And another one: people confuse Sonnets from the Portuguese with translated foreign poems. If your teacher asks about the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee, you don't need to cite Camões. It's a nickname. And the whole book is English. You need to cite Browning and the Italian model.
Practical Tips
If you're trying to actually learn this — not just cram for a quiz — here's what works.
Read it out loud. That said, the rhyme scheme of How Do I Love Thee only makes sense in the mouth. The ABBA envelope feels different from ABAB the second you speak both.
Write the letters in the margin. Seriously. A-B-B-A down the side of the octave.
