Hello everybody, and a super warm welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Miss Haliday and I'll be taking this lesson for today.

I'm massively looking forward to today's lesson as we're going to be reading and discussing Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnet 43" for the first time, which is just the most beautiful and incredible and inspirational love poem, I think, on this anthology.

So I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you and hearing your suggestions.

So let's get started with today's learning.

So today's lesson is called "Understanding Sonnet 43".

And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how Barrett Browning presents her feelings of love.

But first, here are some keywords that you'll need in order to unlock today's learning, starting with the phrase Petrarchan sonnet.

Now, a Petrarchan sonnet is a kind of sonnet that is usually used to express feelings of love, which has a very unique rhyme scheme.

Now, a volta is a shift shift in tone in a poem found in a sonnet between the octet and the sestet.

The word sombre means very serious, sad and reflective, and the word bountiful means abundant and endless.

And finally, one of the longest words that we've had thus far as one of our keywords, transcendental means beyond ordinary or common experience, spiritual or supernatural in some way.

So as I said, these keywords are going to be really essential in unlocking today's learning.

So if you think you might forget any of the definitions, then please do feel free to pause the video while you jot any of them down.

So here's today's lesson outline.

We're going to begin by reading the poem first of all, before moving on to exploring some of the context that might shape our understanding of this poem.

But let's start first of all by reading the poem.

So we know already that the poem's title is Sonnet 43, and it can be really useful when you first approach a poem to consider analysing the title and making predictions about what you think the poem might be about based on its title.

So I'd like you to practise doing that now by considering the following questions.

Well, what do we already know about sonnets? What might the number 43 tell us? And finally, what might the poem be about? If you'd like to discuss this with people around you, then please feel free to do that.

But if you don't have access to a discussion partner, that's absolutely fine.

Please don't worry, you can just consider these questions independently by writing them down or considering them in your head.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at answering these three questions, as I said, either with people around you or just thinking about them independently.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your ideas.

So pause the video and off you go, fantastic discussions and some really insightful suggestions raised there.

So we know as some points out that sonnet are poems that are usually on love and admiration and expressing those emotions to somebody else.

Sonnets have 14 lines, and as this is called Sonnet 43, Sam states that they think that this might be the poet's expression of love for somebody else.

So we're kind of expecting feelings of love to come through this poem.

Now, Laura's predictions were this, the fact that this is sonnet number 43 suggests that this poet wrote many sonnets, perhaps she was very in love with her partner and wrote them very many love poems. And I think these are two really valuable and insightful predictions based on the poem's title.

So well done to Sam, and thank you to Laura for their suggestions and well done to you as well as many of you were echoing the same sentiments as our Oak pupils here.

So onto the really exciting part of the lesson now where we are going to read through the poem in full.

We're then going to discuss some of the key ideas and moments in more detail.

But I'd like first to read through the poem and I'm really excited to hear what you think of it, as this is one of my favourite poems and in my eyes, one of the most beautiful love poems in the anthology.

I will read it to you, and as I'm reading, you need to make sure that you have your anthology open and that you are following along with my reading of the poem.

I'm going to start reading now.

So this is Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

"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 outta sight, for the ends of being an 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 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 seem 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." What a heart wrenching poem, I just love it.

I think it's absolutely brilliant and I'm really interested to hear what you think of this poem.

So I'd like you to discuss the following questions in response to the poem we've just read together.

What are your first impressions of the poem? Did you like it, did you not like it? Why or why not? And how did the poem make you feel and why? It can be really useful to ask yourselves questions like this the first time that you read a poem as this can really help you to understand your own personal response to the poem, but also start to form an idea of what you think that poem is about.

So these are really useful questions to consider.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at answering those questions either with the people around you or just considering them independently if you're working on your own, pause the video and off you go.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the poem.

Fantastic discussions and really well done, and it was really heartwarming to hear that so many of you love this poem as much as I do and find it as moving and as touching as I do every time I read it.

So it's brilliant to know that and thank you for those suggestions and contributions.

So this poem takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet.

Now a Petrarchan sonnet is structured like this, and I've given you a visual representation of the Petrarchan sonnet to the left.

So obviously the grey boxes will represent the standards.

Now a petro can sonnet begins with an octet, and that is made up of eight lines, hence the prefix oc.

Now the octet introduces an idea, a problem, a question, or an argument that is to be answered throughout the rest of the sonnet.

A Petrarchan also has a volta, which is indicated in the line in the diagram here.

And volta is a shift in tone in the poem and the shift in tone occurs between the octet and the sestet.

And the sestet is the final six lines which respond to the argument or the idea that was introduced in the octet.

So that is the very typical structure of a Petrarchan sonnet.

Now what I'd like you to do is in your anthology, I would like you to mark out the octet, the volta, and the sestet in on your poem in your anthology.

So I'd like you to count down eight lines, put a little line in for the volta, and then count the six lines for the sestet and label them in your anthology.

There is a reason we are doing this, so make sure that you undertake this activity please for me.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at marking out the different components of a Petrarchan sonnet.

So pause the video and off you go to do that now.

Fantastic and really well done.

So before we move on to thinking about the Petrarchan sonnet form in a little bit more detail, I'd like to just test your understanding.

I'd like you to match the components of a Petrarchan sonnet up to their explanations.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at doing that.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how much information you can remember about the structure of a Petrarchan sonnet.

So pause the video and off you go to match them up now.

Fantastic and really well done if you remembered that the octet introduces an idea, problem, question, or argument, the sestet responds to that argument, question or idea that is introduced in the beginning of the poem and the volta marks the shift in tone in the poem.

So really well done if you manage to remember that.

So let's have a think about that Petrarchan sonnet structure in a little bit more detail.

I'd like you to discuss the following.

Well, what do you think the idea or the argument or the question that is being raised in the octet in this poem actually is? And what is the answer or the solution to this idea or argument or question that's being offered in the sestet of this poem? And finally, how would you say that the tone shifts volta? Remember, you have marked out these components in your anthology.

You can use those markings to help you answer these questions.

Again, you can do this in groups or you can do it independently if you don't have access to a discussion partner today.

But I'd like you to pause the video and consider these questions now.

Fantastic discussions and really well done.

So let's have a look at the octet in more detail.

So here's the octet that you have marked out in your anthology.

And really well done to those of you that identified that actually, in the octet, the speaker is questioning how she can possibly articulate or prove her love to her partner.

Now, the question or problem that she poses is how she can possibly explain her love.

And what she starts to do is she starts trying to kind of quantify her love by explaining that actually she loves him to the breadth, depth and height of the universe.

Okay, so in this architect, she's very much trying to express how much she loves her partner.

And that is the question or the problem that she's trying to solve is that question of how can I possibly quantify or express or measure my love for you? So well done if you got that.

Now, here is the sestet.

Again, you should have marked this out in your anthology.

And in the sestet, the speaker presents her answer to the question of how she can possibly prove her love.

So she starts to express that she will love her partner forever, even after death.

And that is almost the answer to the question that she raises in the octet is, well, how do I love thee? Well, actually, I shall but love thee better after death.

That's the answer that she provides her lover with when she's trying to quantify or measure her love.

And she says that I love you so much that not even life itself can stop me from loving you.

Okay, so we can see here how in the sestet she's actually answering the question that she poses in the octet.

So let's consider the volta now, and I'd like you to think well, again, what might the poet be referring to here when she writes about her old grief and the love that she seemed to lose? So again, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that question, either with the people around you or thinking about it independently if you're working alone.

So pause the video and consider that question now.

Fantastic work and well done to those of you that identified that shift in tone from a very kind of spiritual and gentle and soft tone to a more sombre, a more serious and sad and reflective tone.

Okay, so well done if you notice that shift between the octet and the sestet, and it's as the speaker starts to talk about the loss that she might have experienced, that that shift in tone becomes really evident.

And we get feeling in this poem that the poet has suffered a previous loss of love.

Perhaps she's been heartbroken before or lost a family member, but she actually explains that the grief that she felt for her lost love has only strengthened the love that she feels for her partner.

So she's almost converted that kind of grief and that loss into more love that she's able to give to her partner.

So she's kind of almost saying that all of the experiences that she's had in her life have led her up to this moment and have prepared her to love this partner with the kind of depth of love that she explores in the beginning of the poem.

So really well done if you got that brilliant analysis.

Here are some annotations for the poem, and I would like you to use the suggestions below to help you to annotate your copy of the poem in your anthology, explaining how the speaker presents her love for her partner.

So these are the annotations that you can use, and you'll need to find a line that corresponds to each of these annotations.

So how do we know that the speaker's love for her partner is bountiful? Which line are you going to attach that to? You need to find a line that shows that the speaker loves her partner constantly, that the speaker chose to love her partner.

So again, you're attaching these annotations to specific lines that you choose in the poem.

Again, you're attaching this annotation, the love the speaker and her partner share is pure to align in the poem, the speaker's grief has only strengthened her love for her partner.

The speaker's love for her partner is transcendental and nothing can keep the speaker from her lover.

So these are all annotations that you will add to your anthology, and your job is to choose which lines to attach these annotations to so that you will have a full anthology full of annotations that you can use for your revision.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you use these suggestions to annotate your poem.

Pause the video, and off you go.

Fantastic work and really well done.

So here's how you might have annotated the poem.

First of all, we see that the speaker's love for her partner is bountiful in this quotation here.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height, okay? So that shows the extent of her love, the fact that her love cannot be contained, okay? Which shows that it's bountiful.

Now, in terms of the speaker loving her partner constantly, you might have chosen this line.

"I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need, by sun and candlelight." And the fact that she loves her partner by sun and candlelight shows that she loves her partner day and night, in darkness and in light, you know, for better or for worse.

So she loves her partner regardless, okay? That love is constant, it's consistent and it's persistent.

So well done if you attach that amputation to that line, brilliant work.

Now, in terms of the speaker choosing to love her partner, well, we really see that when she states, I love thee freely, okay? And that word freely shows that she has chosen to love her partner, okay? She's had autonomy over that decision.

And finally, the love the speaker and her partner share is pure, is really exemplified in this line here.

"I love thee purely", okay, and it shows kind of the innocence of their love and kind of the purity and the depth of their love there.

So really well done if you've got that there too.

And now looking ahead at the sestet, well, we see this idea that the speaker's grief has only strengthened her love for her partner in these quotations here, "Old griefs, I love thee with a love I seem to lose." So again, that shows us this idea that she's channelling all of her previous loss and grief into loving her partner.

So she's converting that love into something more positive and more light.

In terms of her love being transcendental, we see that in this quotation here, I shall but love thee better after death.

Okay, so her love for him is spiritual.

Even if she's not there in body, she will love him in spirit and mind, even after death, if that's what God has in plan or has in store for her.

It doesn't matter if death separates them because the love will live on spiritually.

Okay, so therefore her love is presented as transcendental as it can't be contained physically.

And finally, we see this idea that nothing can keep the speaker from her lover.

Again in that last line, I shall but love thee better after death.

Even if I die, it won't stop me loving you, okay? We will be reunited.

Our love will live on even if physically my body dies, okay? So really well done if you managed to attach those annotations to specific lines.

You may not have chosen the same lines as me, but that doesn't matter because poetry's super subjective.

And actually these were just suggestions of how you might have annotated the poem.

You know, you didn't have to do it in the same way, but massively well done because I can see some very full anthologies with some really useful annotations made there.

And equally, it was great to see many of you adding your own ideas to your anthology as you were using mine.

So really well done a brilliant lesson.

So onto the second half of the lesson now where we're going to begin exploring some of the context that might inform our reading of this poem.

So I'd like to consider, first of all, while bearing in mind the poem that we've just read, what do you think the poet might have been like? What kind of person might have written this poem? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that question either independently or with the people around you.

Pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic, and as you were discussing, our Oak pupils were also having their discussions, and Laura wanted to share her answer with you.

So Laura had this to say, "I get the impression that this poet was very determined and strong-willed, as it seems that nothing can keep her from loving her partner." And actually, Laura, and many of you who also said this, were spot on.

Okay, and we're going to learn a bit more about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and what kind of life she led now, and you will very much see how determined and strong-willed this woman was, and what an impressive person she was.

Okay, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of the context and how it might shape or change or enhance your understanding of the poem.

So first of all, it's worth noting that Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote these sonnets for Robert Browning, another really famous poet whom she later married.

And you might have already studied some Robert Browning earlier on in your time at school.

Now, Barrett Browning actually married her husband in 1846 against her father's will.

Okay, and before we explore that in more detail, I'd like you to think, first of all, how does this fact here show the poet's strong will? Why would this act have been particularly rebellious at the time? Okay, so we're talking about the 19th century of a woman marrying a man against her father's will.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider why you think that might have been so rebellious at the time.

I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic discussions and really well done.

As many of you pointed out that actually marriage in the 19th century was governed by very, very strict societal rules.

And marriage was often perceived as a union between a man and a woman that was based on social, economic and political factors such as social status and wealth.

And often it was unfortunately viewed as simply a legal contract that united two families for mutual benefit.

The marriages were often arranged by the head of the family, which was often the father.

Now, unfortunately, and this is really sad, love was often not taken into account when these marriages were arranged.

Now we know that Barrett Browning married Robert Browning against her father's will.

So she went against the wishes of the head of her family and formed a union with somebody based purely on her love for him, which is so rebellious.

And I love this about Barrett Browning because I think what an amazing woman.

You know, we love that kind of determination and strong will from a woman, especially in the 19th century when we know how much oppression women were faced with and how much restriction was imposed upon them, particularly by men.

So this is a really significant piece of contextual information that does definitely explain and exemplify how much of a strong will and how much determination, and in fact, how much love Barrett Browning had for her husband.

So I'd like you to think now, knowing what you now know about Barrett Browning and the way in which she married her husband, I'd like you to think, well, how might this change your reading of the line, "I love thee freely." I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you reread that line and consider how this new information might have changed your interpretation of that line.

So pause the video and off you go to consider that now.

Fantastic, and it was lovely to hear many of you saying how much more poignant this line now feels to you.

And actually, whereas once you didn't think this was perhaps one of the most significant lines in the poem, it has now become really significant and stand out to you because we know how much pressure Barrett Browning would've been under from her father to marry somebody that he wanted and not Browning, as he disapproved of this union.

So therefore, the fact that Barrett Browning says "I love thee freely", shows that she has actually turned her back on her family in order to pursue her love for Browning.

And that's a really bold move, and it's a bold statement for her to make to her family.

And also it was probably a very, very bold move to make in society, as well as we know kind of what the Institute of marriage meant for women back in the 19th century.

So Weldon, to those of you that did kind of use that new contextual information to look at that line from a slightly new perspective.

So as we've said, Barrett Browning's father really didn't approve of the union or the love between her and Robert Browning, and unfortunately, he disowned Barrett Browning because she married him anyway.

He then refused, as I said, to speak to her or see her ever again after he learned that she had eloped with Browning off to Italy.

So what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, how does this make you feel? Does it change the way you read the poem or feel about the poet in any way? So has what you've learned about Barrett Browning informed your reading of the poem or changed your perspective on her? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at considering that, again, either with the people around you or just independently if you would prefer.

Brilliant discussions.

And let's come back together as I'd like to share some ideas that I heard raised there.

Many of you were saying things like it's really changed your understanding of the depth of Barrett Browning's love, because I think often we hear these love poems on the radio, we read love poems, and we think, yeah, but you know, it's that love, do you really love that person as much as you're claiming to? And I think that what this context really illustrates is that, yes, you know what? Barrett Browning and her husband really did love each other.

And in a moment we are going to look at their lives together in a bit more detail.

And you will come to understand actually the depth and the breadth and the height of her love for her husband because she gave up everything to be with him because she loved him that much.

She defied her father, she defied social norms, she defied gender norms to be with this person that she really loved more than anything.

And I think that in itself is really kind of inspirational.

I think that level of passion is something that we all want to aspire to, and that level of determination, level and independence is really inspirational and aspirational for us as well.

And I just, I find it just fascinating, especially when you examine it against the context of Barrett Browning and Robert Browning's life together.

So let's have a look at that in more detail now.

So Barrett Browning wrote 44 sonnets for Browning before they married, expressing her love for him.

And he wrote her love letters in return, which is just lovely 'cause it shows us how in love they were.

And these two really were infatuated with each other.

And it's really, you know, that is evident in the poem, but it's also lovely to see that reflected in the life that they led together.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

True or false, this sonnet was the last of Barrett Browning's love poems to her husband.

I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you decide whether you think that is true or whether you think that is false.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic, and well done.

If you correctly selected false, you're absolutely right.

What I'd like you to do now is justify your answer using one of the two justifications below.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you decide which justification is the reason for this statement being false.

So pause the video, and off you go.

Fantastic, and congratulations if you correctly selected B, Barrett Browning wrote 44 sonnets to her husband.

And so this was the penultimate sonnet that she wrote in this collection.

So really well done if you managed to remember that.

Now, Laura, having heard all this context about Barrett Browning had this to say, "The poet seems quite preoccupied with the idea of her soul, afterlife and death in the poem.

I wonder why she's so focused on their love being transcendental." It's a really good point because actually this idea of spirituality and kind of life after death really permeates this poem.

And it's an interesting question as to why.

And the reason for it is arguably this, Barrett Browning was actually chronically ill from the age of 14.

Her health was actually so frail and she suffered from various health issues that were possibly related to a spinal injury that she sustained at the age of 15.

And unfortunately, she suffered with these chronic health issues her entire life.

So I'd like you to think, now, bearing that in mind, why do you think that she then talks so much about love after death and spiritual love in the poem? So I'd like you to use that contextual information to try and hazard a guess at why you think transcendental love is such a theme in this poem.

So pause the video and off you go to discuss that now.

Fantastic, some really insightful and useful suggestions made there.

So the reality of it was that Barrett Browning was actually very accepting of the fact that she would probably die younger, but she was determined that death would not part her from her beloved.

Okay, so that is the reason perhaps as to why she's so preoccupied with spiritual love and of love occupying the spiritual space rather than the physical body.

Because she says that even after death, death cannot stop their love.

It cannot prevent them, it cannot keep them apart from one another, perhaps because young death was a real possibility to Barrett Browning, and she worried that this might be the only thing that might separate them.

Okay, so she wants to kind of defy that by expressing her transcendental love her husband, and stating that it doesn't matter, even if she dies, they can still share in that love together spiritually.

Now, what is really tragic and very upsetting is that she sadly died in her husband's arms in 1861.

However, I suppose what isn't upsetting is the fact that she died probably in the way that she would've wanted to die, which was being embraced by her beloved husband, whom she clearly was so devoted and committed to.

So, although it is sad that she did die younger than him, you know, she died in the way that she would've wanted to die, probably, which is as I said, in the arms of her husband.

So on to the first task of the lesson, and I'd like you to consider this question, knowing what you now know about Barrett Browning, do you think that this is an uplifting and hopeful poem, or do you think it's a sad and sorrowful poem? And I'd like you to justify your answer by explaining why.

And I'd like you to present your answer to this question in the form of a brief response.

And as you're responding, I'd like you to make sure that you refer to how Barrett Browning presents her love for Robert Browning in the poem, and explain the context that has informed your decision.

So what you know about Barrett Browning's life that has influenced your decision and your response to this question.

I'm really, really interested and excited to hear what you have to say about this task.

Now remember that there is no right or wrong answer.

This is an opinion question.

So please don't worry about getting it right or wrong.

I'm just asking you for your opinion based on the context that we've studied, and for you to use that context to evaluate your existing impression of the poem and of Barrett Browning.

So please don't worry about right or wrong because there is no such thing in this task.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you go and respond to this question.

As I said, I'm massively looking forward to hearing your ideas.

So without further ado, I'd like you to pause the video and get going on your response to this question now.

Fantastic responses, well done, and a really diverse range of opinions.

So what I thought would be really interesting to do, seeing as you all have such different opinions, is to share and debate those opinions with somebody else.

So I'd like you to use the discussion prompts below to help you disagree respectfully or add to somebody else's ideas.

So you might say something like, well, that's a really interesting argument, however, I disagree with you because, or you might say, it's interesting you say that because I also thought that this, you might say you've argued your ideas really well, but have you also considered this? Or you might say, just to expand on your idea, you could say this.

Okay, so what I'm asking you to do is respectfully debate this question with the people around you.

Now, if you're working independently and you think, well, I can't do that 'cause I don't have someone around me, that's absolutely fine.

What you can do is start thinking about the devil's advocate and start looking at this question from the other side.

So for if you said, yes, I think it's sad and sorrowful, well, how might you also see it as an uplifting and hopeful poem? So if you don't have a partner, you are going to examine this question from the other perspective that you hadn't discussed in your response.

So absolutely everybody can have a go at debating this question in some form, it might be a debate with somebody else, or you might be debating it with yourself if you're working alone.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video and give yourself the space to debate that question, as I said, either with yourself or with somebody else.

So pause the video and off you guys to do that now.

Fantastic work and some brilliant, brilliant discussions to be had there and great to see many of you taking notes as you were discussing as these notes will be really useful for your revision.

So well done, thank you so much for your contributions.

It's been fascinating to hear your ideas.

So to summarise the learning from today, well, "Sonnet 43" is one of Barrett Browning's 44 sonnets that she wrote for her future husband Robert Browning.

And the poem follows the conventions of a Petrarchan sonnet.

The poem also explores the transcendental and bountiful love that the poet and her future husband will share together.

Now, we learned in this lesson that Barrett Browning disobeyed her father's wishes and married Browning in 1846, and she was unfortunately disowned for her disobedience.

And finally, we also learned that the poet struggled with chronic illness, which may explain why the poem has so many religious and spiritual undertones.

Thank you very much for coming to today's lesson and for engaging so actively in your learning.

I have loved hearing all of your contributions and engagement today, and I've been really impressed by the quality and the depth of your ideas and arguments.

So really well done.

Thank you for coming, and I really look forward to seeing you next time.