Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts”

The speaker in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts” is expressing her gratitude for all those who have loved her-including, of course, a special debt to her belovèd suitor.

Introduction and Text of Sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts”

The speaker in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts” from Sonnets from the Portuguese focuses on gratitude for all who have loved her, while hoping that she will be able to express the extent of her gratitude to her belovèd.  Again, however, this speaker imparts her own short-comings.  She will never be able to act with total confidence in her ability, or so it seems at his point.

While expressing a special debt to her belovèd suitor, the speaker explores her ability to experience gratitude for all the loves she has known in the past.  Yet, the speaker again places her trust in her belovèd’s ability to teach her true gratitude.  She continues to rely on her suitor to offer her direction in how to feel as well as how to behave.

Sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts”

I thank all who have loved me in their hearts,
With thanks and love from mine. Deep thanks to all
Who paused a little near the prison-wall
To hear my music in its louder parts
Ere they went onward, each one to the mart’s
Or temple’s occupation, beyond call.
But thou, who, in my voice’s sink and fall
When the sob took it, thy divinest Art’s
Own instrument didst drop down at thy foot
To hearken what I said between my tears, …
Instruct me how to thank thee! Oh, to shoot
My soul’s full meaning into future years,
That they should lend it utterance, and salute
Love that endures, from Life that disappears!

Commentary on Sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts”

In sonnet 41 “I thank all who have loved me in their hearts,” Barrett Browning’s speaker reveals how deep is her gratitude for all those in her life who have loved her.  She has a special expression for her belovèd suitor.

First Quatrain:  An Expression of Gratitude

I thank all who have loved me in their hearts,
With thanks and love from mine. Deep thanks to all
Who paused a little near the prison-wall
To hear my music in its louder parts

The speaker begins with a simple statement to thank all the people she has had surrounding her who have actually loved her deeply. She then offers her own heart’s love in return. Continuing, she reveals her gratitude as “deep thanks” to all those who have paid some attention to her, especially when they listened to her complaints.

Then, the speaker metaphorically characterizes her tantrumesque outbursts as “music” with “louder parts.”  The speaker nearly always demands decorum for herself that will not allow her to demonize herself even as she freely admits error and sorrowful dissatisfaction.  The pain and sorrow in the speaker’s life has moved her to expressions, as heretofore love never had done.

Second Quatrain:   A Different Expression of Love

Ere they went onward, each one to the mart’s
Or temple’s occupation, beyond call.
But thou, who, in my voice’s sink and fall
When the sob took it, thy divinest Art’s

All the others who had paid the speaker attention, however, were otherwise engaged; some had to scurry off to shopping, others to church, and they all remained far from her. She could not reach them, if she even had needed them.

Of course, her belovèd fiancé not only is near and able to listening to her pleasant thoughts, but he also lovingly remains to listen to her sorrowful outbursts.   The speaker’s belovèd suitor would cease his own musing to listen to her, and she now feels ready to voice her complete attention to his love, patience and devotion.

First Tercet:  His Art Divine 

Own instrument didst drop down at thy foot
To hearken what I said between my tears, …
Instruct me how to thank thee! Oh, to shoot

The speaker is grateful that her belovèd suitor would even interrupt his own work of “divinest Art’s” to attend to her needs and “hearken what I said between my tears.” But in offering such gratitude, the speaker implies that she actually does not know how to thank him for such devotion.

Thus the speaker demands of him to teach her all he knows about the profound state of gratitude.  She feels she lacks the words to convey such gratitude; her need is so great, and her gratitude seems so paltry to fulfill the debt that she owes this man.

Second Tercet:   Evidence of Thankfulness

My soul’s full meaning into future years,
That they should lend it utterance, and salute
Love that endures, from Life that disappears!

The speaker then projects a deep desire that her soul can reveal sometime in future just how grateful she is to her belovèd. She hopes that she can fill her “future years” with evidence of her thankfulness.

The humble speaker prays that her very being will be able to “salute / Love that endures, from Life that disappears!”  Even though the living are in a state of gradual dying, the speaker prays that the love which she has received will somehow be returned along with the sincere gratitude she now feels.