"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 candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the 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.—number Forty-Three"
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Today my sister told me to read about Elizabeth Browning as she felt I would find her life very similar in some ways to my own. I am amazed at her and feel that she is in a small way a kindred spirit. When they say that she was ill but no one knew what it was that was ailing her, it is obvious to me that she had serious depression which affected her in every respect. Along with that came a sort of genius beyond words. I love and respect her. What a great woman and I'm glad she was given a good man who loved her purely for who she was and her situation, which she obviously had no control over, until the day she died. What a hero! She is worth reading about...worth thinking about...worth praising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning
