How do I love thee? Let me count the...

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 every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as [they]1 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]2 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.

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) , no title, from Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 43, published 1847-50

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Ernst Bacon (1898-1990) , "Sonnet", published 1974 [voice, piano], from Fifty Songs
by Frederic Balazs (1920-) , "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways", published 1960 [high voice and string quartet or chamber orchestra], from Sonnets after Elizabeth Barrett Browning, no. ?
by Alice Barnett (1886-1975) , "Sonnet", published 1918 [high voice, piano], from Three Songs
by Carl Milton Beecher (1883-1968) , "How do I love thee?", published 1921 [medium voice, piano], from Songs
by Gena Branscombe (1881-1977) , "How do I love thee?", published 1907 [medium voice, piano], from Love in a Life, no. 3.
by Noble Cain (1896-1977) , "How do I love thee", published 1936. [SSAATTBB a cappella]
by Louis Cheslock (1898-1981) , "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" [mezzo-soprano or tenor, piano]
by Otis Herbert Colvin, jr. (1923-) , "How do I love thee", 1952. [high voice, piano]
by Otis Herbert Colvin, jr. (1923-) , "How do I love thee", 1970. [high voice, piano]
by Leon Dallin (1918-) , "How do I love thee", 1953, first performed 1953 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Three Songs from the Portuguese, no. ?
by Blevins Davis , "How do I love thee", published 1936. [medium voice, piano]
by Norman Dello Joio (1913-) , "How do I love thee?", published 1954 [low voice, piano], from Songs in English
by Norman Dello Joio (1913-) , "How do I love thee?", published 1954. [high voice, piano]
by Clarence Dickinson (1873-1969) , "How do I love thee", 1935.
by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864-1942) , "How do I love thee", published 1910 [medium voice and piano], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 43.
by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864-1942) , "How do I love thee", published 1936 [mezzo-soprano and baritone duet, piano], from the opera The Brownings Go to Italy
by Abel Gabert , "How do I love thee?", published 1908. [medium voice, piano]
by Harvey Bartlett Gaul (1881-1945) , "A Sonnet from the Portuguese", published 1926. [TTBB, piano]
by James McDonald Gayfer (1916-) , "How do I love thee", 1974. [high voice, piano]
by Leonard Stanley Glarum (1908-) , "How do I love thee", published 1964. [SATB a cappella]
by William Arthur Goldsworthy (1878-1966) , "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways", published 1932 [SSA chorus and piano], from How Do I Love Thee, no. ?, note: portions of the text have been omitted by the composer
by Forrest Goodenough (1918-) , "How do I love thee?", published 1956. [medium voice, piano]
by Ron A. Goodwin (1925-) , "How do I love thee?" [SATB a cappella]
by Henry Kimball Hadley (1871-1937) , "How do I love thee?", op. 20 no. 3, published 1900 [high voice, piano], from Five Songs, no. 3
by Wesley M. Harris , "How do I love thee", 1972, first performed 1971. [SATB (divisi), piano]
by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874-1949) , "How do I love thee?", op. 116 (Three Sonnets) no. 2 (1935). [voice and piano]
by Franklin Hopkins (1879-?) , "How do I love thee", published 1913. [high voice, piano]
by Joseph M. Hopkins , "How do I love thee?", published 1949. [high voice, piano]
by Rosalie Housman (1890?-1949) , "The 43rd Sonnet" [voice, piano]
by Robert William Jones (1932-) , "Sonnet from the Portuguese, 43", 1972, first performed 1973 [alto, string quartet], from Love Song
by Edouard Lippé , "How do I love thee", published 1941. [voice, piano]
by Mrs. J. Chester Madsen , "Sonnet" [voice, piano]
by August Maekelberghe (1909-) , "How do I love thee?", published 1970. [SSAA, piano]
by Robert Alexander Markham (1898-) , "How do I love thee" [soprano, piano]
by William McCauley (1917-) , "How do I love thee?", 1967. [medium voice, piano]
by William J. McDaniel (1918-) , "How do I love thee"
by Mary Flournoy Passailaigue (1908-) , "How do I love thee"
by Allie Coleman Pierce , "How do I love thee", note: three lines of the sonnet have been omitted by the composer, not noted above
by Frederick Piket (1903-1974) , "How do I love thee?", published 1957. [four-part mixed chorus, a cappella]
by Daniel Protheroe (1866-1934) , "How do I love thee", published 1913 [medium voice, piano], from Songs
by Harold William Rhodes (1889-1956) , "A Woman's Love", published 1919. [high voice, piano]
by Franklin W. Riker , "How do I love thee", published <<1940. [voice, piano]
by Tom Vernon Ritchie (1922-) , "How do I love thee?", 1971, first performed 1971. [soprano, piano]
by Kurt George Roger (1895-1966) , "How do I love thee?", 1952, first performed 1968 [baritone, harp,and string quartet], from Three Love Odes for Baritone, Harp, and String Quartet, no. ?
by Ned Rorem (1923-) , "How Do I Love Thee", 1997, published 1999, from Evidence of Things Not Seen, no. 5.
by Annetta Rosser (1938-1998) , "How do I love thee?", published 1997, from Songs of Love, no. 1.
by William Roy , "How do I love thee", published 1948. [voice, piano]
by A. A. Smith , "How do I love thee", 1962. [voice, piano]
by Arthur Edward Stahleschmidt , "How do I love thee", 1940, note: from a letter
by Lynn Steele (1951-) , "Sonnet XLIII" [soprano and flute], from Three Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 3.
by Carlos Surinach (1915-) , "How do I love thee?", published 1966 [voice and piano], from Flamenco Meditations, no. ?
by Peter Tahourdin (1928-2009) , "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways", 1968, first performed 1970 [speaker, alto, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, tape], from Riders in Paradise, no. ?
by Beulah Threlkeld , "How do I love thee", 1935. [voice, piano]
by Lajos Vass (1927-) , "How do I love thee?", c1966. [soprano and piano], also set in Hungarian
by Harriet Ware (1877-1962) , "How do I love thee", published 1912. [high voice, piano]
by Mrs. J. Eddie Weems , "How do I love thee", from The Browning Cycle of Love Lyrics
by Maude Valérie White (1855-1937) , "How do I love thee", published 1899 [mezzo-soprano or baritone, piano], note: five lines have been omitted by the composer, not noted above
by Juanita Hardy Wilson , "How do I love thee?", published 1957. [voice, piano]

by Lajos Vass (1927-) , "Hogy szeretlek?" [soprano and piano], also set in English

CHI Chinese (M.W. Wang)
GER German (Rainer Maria Rilke)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Gentle Reminder

This project is not funded. If you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated!      - Emily I also have a wishlist at Amazon.ca.

Search/Shop for

Sheet music:

  Search sheetmusicplus.com for A Woman's Love, A Sonnet from the Portuguese, Sonnet, Sonnet XLIII, Sonnet from the Portuguese, 43, The 43rd Sonnet, How do I love thee Let me count the ways, How Do I Love Thee, Art song , Lieder, chansons, or works for solo voice
  Search musicroom.com for A Woman's Love, A Sonnet from the Portuguese, Sonnet, Sonnet XLIII, Sonnet from the Portuguese, 43, The 43rd Sonnet, How do I love thee Let me count the ways, How Do I Love Thee, vocal/choral music

CDs:

  Search amazon.com for A Woman's Love, A Sonnet from the Portuguese, Sonnet, Sonnet XLIII, Sonnet from the Portuguese, 43, The 43rd Sonnet, How do I love thee Let me count the ways, How Do I Love Thee, art song, Lieder, or chansons
  Search amazon.ca for A Woman's Love, A Sonnet from the Portuguese, Sonnet, Sonnet XLIII, Sonnet from the Portuguese, 43, The 43rd Sonnet, How do I love thee Let me count the ways, How Do I Love Thee, art song, Lieder, or chansons

Books:

  The Art of the Song Recital [amazon.com]
  The Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of Over 1000 Songs [amazon.com]
  Search amazon.com for art song, Lieder, or chansons
  Search amazon.ca for art song, lieder, or chansons

Classical Vocal Repertoire