Published in 1850, Sonnets from the Portuguese is Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sequence of forty-four love sonnets addressed to her husband Robert Browning — charting the development of their love with extraordinary candour, intelligence, and formal mastery. The sequence takes its title from Robert’s pet name for his wife. The forty-third sonnet, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” remains one of the most quoted poems in the English language.
Together they constitute one of the finest love-sonnet sequences since Shakespeare. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg for a beautifully formatted edition of these essential Victorian poems.