How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (Sonnet 43) Admiration Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (line)

Quote #1

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. (2-4)

The kind of love described in this passage almost sounds more like admiration and esteem – loving someone to the greatest "height" that your soul can go.

Admiration

Quote #2

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints (11-12)

The speaker's love for "thee" is the kind of love she had for her childhood heroes and other people she admired. Either she has lost these people because they died, or she's been disillusioned about them.