Sonnet 29: ‘I think of thee!’ - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnet 29: ‘I think of thee!’ - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

1. Context

   • Part of a series of sonnets about her future husband
     • Married to Robert Browning, poet of Porphyria’s Lover

2. Feelings & Attitudes

   • The narrator tells her lover how much she thinks about him when they’re not together
   • She’s worried that her thoughts will obscure the reality of what he’s actually like
   • She wants him to be a strong presence in her life
   • Narrator longs to be with her lover instead of just thinking about him
   • She takes pleasure in her feelings of love for him She enjoys the way her thoughts envelop him But she takes even greater joy in the thought of him being a physical presence in her life

3. Key Themes

   • Fulfilment
     • Nature
       • Distance
         • Longing
           • Sensuality

4. Form

   • Sonnets are traditionally used for love poetry Loosely written in the Petrarchan form
     • 8 lines (octave) followed by 6 lines (sestet)
     • Octave usually presents a problem and the sestet provides a solution
       • However, in this poem, the solution arrives in the middle on line 7 Having it come early and in the middle of a line reflects the narrator’s impatience to see her lover
   • ‘thee’
     • Repetition
       • This shows her obsession with him The narrator addresses her lover directly, which makes it more personal
   • Iambic pentameter Human heartbeat
     • Genuine feelings Speaking from the heart

5. Extended Metaphor of Nature

   • Narrator’s lover is a tree and her thoughts are ‘wild vines’ which cover him
     • This shows how her thoughts are constantly growing and unrestrained
       • The image of the tree casting of the vines reflects how she wants her lover to be a strong, permanent part of her life.
   • ‘my thoughts do twine and bud’
     • ‘as wild vines, about a tree’
       • ‘renew thy presence; as a strong tree should’
   • Lexical field of natural verbs
     • ‘twine’ ‘bud’ ‘rustle’ ‘burst
       • Personified imagery
         • Nature coming closer and linking as one Underlying intimacy and sensuality
           • Connotations of her desire to close the distance between their love Their love is so overwhelming for her; they must intertwine as a tree does

6. Excited Language

   • ‘I think of thee!
     • The use of exclamation marks show how the narrator takes joy in thinking about her lover She feels excitement at the thought of being with him
   • Plosive sounds and dynamic verbs Emphasise how much she wants to be with him
   • ‘Renew’ and ‘Rustle’
     • Imperatives and alliteration
       • Emphasise how much she wants him to act Her language is forceful She uses imperatives which almost order him to be with her
   • ‘- burst, shattered, everywhere!’
     • Use of different words to describe the way his presence replaces her thoughts Exclamation mark emphasises her excitement Caesura contributes to the dramatic effect