Divine love protects all the living creatures of the world, and the speaker declares her unshakeable belief that the couple’s love is God-given as well. The love of her husband provides a shield against the ill deeds of others. As the sonnet progresses, the speaker details her belief in both the love of God and the love she shares with her husband. At the poem’s outset, the speaker describes the problems of the world as easily contained within a closed hand-the hand of love. It is written in iambic pentameter and follows the Petrarchan sonnet tradition: 14 lines comprised of an octet followed by a sestet.
“Sonnet 24” is a love poem written from the perspective of a woman to her lover-presumably, her husband. Like the other sonnets in the collection, “Sonnet 24” centers on the speaker’s feelings for her lover and bears religious references that suggest divine protection of her love.
The collection of 44 sonnets was published in 1850 and dedicated to her husband, the poet Robert Browning. “Sonnet 24: Let the world’s sharpness, like a clasping knife” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is part of her collection of poems entitled Sonnets from the Portuguese.
