The Face Of All The World Is Changed, I Think by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The face of all the world is changed, I think,
Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul
Move still, oh, still, beside me, as they stole
Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink
Of obvious death, where I, who thought to sink,
Was caught up into love, and taught the whole
Of life in a new rhythm. The cup of dole
God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink,
And praise its sweetness, Sweet, with thee anear.
The names of country, heaven, are changed away
For where thou art or shalt be, there or here;
And this . . . this lute and song . . . loved yesterday,
(The singing angels know) are only dear
Because thy name moves right in what they say.

This is a Petrarchan sonnet as shown by the rhyme scheme which clearly divides the sonnet into an octave and a sestet. This is a love poem, which the poet wrote to her future husband shortly before their wedding. She is talking about how everything has changed now that she has met her love, and that he has saved her from a life of loneliness. She says that she was scared of her happiness before, but can no longer resist its "sweetness", and that even the angels talk about how wonderful he is. The literary devices used here include hyperbole in line 1 "The face of all the world is changed, I think", personification in line 2 "Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul", figurative language in line 4 "Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink
Of obvious death", and religious allusion in line 8 "The cup of dole
God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink," and line 13 "(The singing angels know) are only dear". This poem fits in with my theme because it shows the nature of love.