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I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost Saints!—
The catholic faith presents saints as virtuous people who have already entered heaven. However,
Elizabeth wasn’t a catholic, so the meaning here is unclear. My guess is that Elizabeth learnt about,
and loved, the concept of saints as a child but as an adult rejected this catholic concept. Here she
remembers the love she had as a child and translates it to Robert. Is there a suggestion that her
love for Robert is unrealistic and will change as she learns the reality of him, just as she learnt the
reality of saints?
The positive image of ‘smiles’ is juxtaposed with
the negative image of ‘tears’ to suggest that
Elizabeth’s love echoes the wedding vows of
‘for better or worse’. Again we get the sense
that Elizabeth has very realistic expectations of
the limitations of true love, but embraces it all
the same.
-I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
The idea here is that, if God allows it, the couple
will go on loving after death when joined in heaven.
By bringing God into the equation it again suggests
a holiness and purity to the relationship.
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