How do I love thee?

"How do I love thee?" is an sonnet published in 1850 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning as the 43rd poem in her "Sonnets from the Portuguese" cycle.

Original text
XLIII 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.

In popular culture
The opening line of the sonnet appears in the 1988 Touchstone film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit.