Be there or Be Square and Fourteen lines.

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'—
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity. 

Hmmm, it's a square and fourteen lines!! It must be a sonnet!!! 

This sonnet is by Elizabeth Barret Browning and it's her fourteenth sonnet. Browning was born in 1806 and became the oldest of twelve. Her father owned a sugar plantation in Jamaica but she and her family stayed in England. While growing up, she read Shakespeare and when she was twelve she wrote her first poem. She secretly published An Essay on Mind and Other Poems in 1826. Sadly, she developed a lung problem that caused her to stay behind as her father sent her siblings to help with the plantation. It actually worked out really well for her because she hated slavery. She met her husband after he wrote her a letter about one of her poems. They eloped and had a son when she was healthy enough to. Her sonnets, which are said to be the best, were written before her marriage. 

Basically this sonnet is Browning saying how she does not want to be loved for her idiosyncrasies, but for who she really is. She is most likely writing this sonnet to Robert when she was wondering about his love for her. When men write sonnets, they typically talk about a woman who will pay them no attention and talk about how beautiful she is and sometimes even compare her to the moon. Browning on the other hand is writing about how she wants to be loved--conditional love in a way. But I don't blame her. I don't want to be loved for my appearance, I want to be loved for who I am. She starts, "Do not say/'I love her for her smile—her look—her way /Of speaking gently" (Line 2-4). Those are all just little things. It has nothing to do with what she believes in. For instance, say this man loves her because she's drop dead gorgeous. Say this man has slaves. What then? She is against slaves and he is for it. That could cause a problem, don't you think? She knows she won't always look the same, but she knows she will always be the same. She says, "For these things in themselves, Beloved, may/Be changed, or change for thee" (Lines 7-8). She knows what's coming. She knows that in a few years, she will be old, frail, and not as beautiful. She's basically saying, "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?" (Thank you Lana Del Ray). Even though she knows somethings don't last forever, she just wants to be loved " through love's eternity" (Line 14). 


"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.